Post by Helen Dagner on Jun 23, 2007 4:47:30 GMT -5
Why Killers Pose Their Victims
Putting Bodies on Display
Some killers simply dump the bodies of their victims on a road somewhere. Others pose or display them, as if they're showcasing an accomplishment.
Bodies that are displayed can be found easily by police. The killer isn't trying to hide them. Some of the victims in the Atlanta child murders decades ago were displayed out in the open. The killer wanted them to be found that way. It was basically his way of saying: "I'm presenting my trophy here. Screw you, law enforcement. Try to catch me if you can."
Displays are usually directed at the authorities. Posing tends to be more personal. It's about the victim.
Convicted killer George Russell posed his victims in Seattle. He used what we call artifacts, or instruments, to pose the naked victims in sexually explicit ways. One woman was posed with a shotgun between her legs and another with a sex toy in her mouth. They were set up in a degrading manner, illustrating the killer's way of thinking: "These women are nothing but a bunch of sleepers."
Anger and hostility
This tells you something about the subject you're dealing with -- his anger and hostility. In the Atlanta case, it was more of a cat-and-mouse kind of game with police.
Then you have killers like Steven Pennell in Wilmington, Del., who lured prostitutes to his van, tortured them, kept them for a while and then dumped them like trash -- which is what he thought of them. No posing, no props.
helendagner.com/viewforum.php?f=30&sid=d8d393bcae46f737a24658b1550465ff
Putting Bodies on Display
Some killers simply dump the bodies of their victims on a road somewhere. Others pose or display them, as if they're showcasing an accomplishment.
Bodies that are displayed can be found easily by police. The killer isn't trying to hide them. Some of the victims in the Atlanta child murders decades ago were displayed out in the open. The killer wanted them to be found that way. It was basically his way of saying: "I'm presenting my trophy here. Screw you, law enforcement. Try to catch me if you can."
Displays are usually directed at the authorities. Posing tends to be more personal. It's about the victim.
Convicted killer George Russell posed his victims in Seattle. He used what we call artifacts, or instruments, to pose the naked victims in sexually explicit ways. One woman was posed with a shotgun between her legs and another with a sex toy in her mouth. They were set up in a degrading manner, illustrating the killer's way of thinking: "These women are nothing but a bunch of sleepers."
Anger and hostility
This tells you something about the subject you're dealing with -- his anger and hostility. In the Atlanta case, it was more of a cat-and-mouse kind of game with police.
Then you have killers like Steven Pennell in Wilmington, Del., who lured prostitutes to his van, tortured them, kept them for a while and then dumped them like trash -- which is what he thought of them. No posing, no props.
helendagner.com/viewforum.php?f=30&sid=d8d393bcae46f737a24658b1550465ff