Classification of serial homicide and comparison of serial homicide with single homicide in Japan

Abstract

It is reported that there are no victim-offender relationships in serial homicides, so offender profiling is useful for resolution of serial homicide cases. The present study aimed to describe characteristics of serial homicide offenders as a part of offender profiling and compare characteristics of serial homicide with those of single homicide offenders. We found that serial homicide characteristics were divided into 3 types (Destruction, Mission, and Antisocial). On the other hand, single homicide characteristics were divided into 4 types, which included Domestic in addition to the 3 types mentioned above. Overall, serial homicide offenders try to avoid detection of their murders compared to single homicide offenders. However, there was not much difference between the patterns of serial homicides and those of single homicides. Therefore, we conclude that there are few qualitative differences between serial and single homicide offenders.