FBI Profile: Organized Criminals

Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, contains useful information for writers to create believable antagonists. I've already covered the FBI's Profile Matrix in the last several posts. In my next two posts, I'll cover areas not included in the matrix, things that move beyond the crime, the crime scene, and the physical evidence. The FBI has classified violent criminals into two main types: organized and disorganized. Today I'll cover the personal characteristics of organized violent offenders and their behavior after the crime.

(Side note: I'm copying this next part word-for-word from Sean's book, and part of me feels that I'm cheating him by giving away his book in blog format. However, I skipped a ton of material near the beginning of the book, and I know I'll skip more in other places, so to get ALL the information, purchase his book. It's worth the investment.)

The personal characteristics of the organized violent offender may include:

• High intelligence (IQ 135+), may be college educated
• Social competence
• Sexual competence
• Living with a partner
• Being an only child or most favored child in family
• Having suffered abuse or harsh discipline in childhood
• Controlled moods
• Maintaining a stereotypical masculine image (note: I'll discuss female criminals at a later time)
• Being charming
• Having moods subject to situational cause
• Being geographically and occupationally mobile
• Following media coverage

The behavior of the organize criminal may include:

• Returning to the crime scene
• Volunteering information
• Being a police groupie
• Anticipating being questioned
• Moving the body
• Disposing of the body to advertise the crime

The organized criminal also:

• Plans the offense
• Personalizes the victim
• Controls conversation with victim
• Controls crime scene
• Requires victim to be submissive
• Uses restraints
• Acts aggressively
• Moves body
• Removes weapon
• Leaves very little evidence

There is a wealth of information here for the writer who is crafting a bad guy (please note the "may" before each bulleted list - not every organized killer will have all these traits). The organized violent criminal appears normal to the rest of the world. He's intelligent. He's socially competent. He's charming and in a relationship. He's got a job. Think of Ted Bundy. The fun (and creepy) part of fashioning this bad guy is the aftermath of the crime. He'll come back to the crime scene, and he'll have his answers well rehearsed when the detectives start asking questions. Good detectives know that sometimes the perpetrator returns to the crime scene, so they take pictures of the crowds and careful notes of who they interviewed. So how does the bad guy get away with it? How does he throw attention away from himself? How does he "take control" of the investigation without pointing a big neon arrow at his own head? That's the fun part! You, writer friend, must come up with a carefully woven plot to throw suspicion on other unsavory individuals who have sufficient means, motive, and opportunity, yet insert enough damaging information that the detective can nab the correct perp in the end--and have the reader think, "yes, that works perfectly, I should have seen it myself."

In my next post I'll discuss the disorganized violent offender.

-Sonja

FBI Profile: Organized Criminals

Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, contains useful information for writers to create believable antagonists. I've already covered the FBI's Profile Matrix in the last several posts. In my next two posts, I'll cover areas not included in the matrix, things that move beyond the crime, the crime scene, and the physical evidence. The FBI has classified violent criminals into two main types: organized and disorganized. Today I'll cover the personal characteristics of organized violent offenders and their behavior after the crime.

(Side note: I'm copying this next part word-for-word from Sean's book, and part of me feels that I'm cheating him by giving away his book in blog format. However, I skipped a ton of material near the beginning of the book, and I know I'll skip more in other places, so to get ALL the information, purchase his book. It's worth the investment.)

The personal characteristics of the organized violent offender may include:

• High intelligence (IQ 135+), may be college educated
• Social competence
• Sexual competence
• Living with a partner
• Being an only child or most favored child in family
• Having suffered abuse or harsh discipline in childhood
• Controlled moods
• Maintaining a stereotypical masculine image (note: I'll discuss female criminals at a later time)
• Being charming
• Having moods subject to situational cause
• Being geographically and occupationally mobile
• Following media coverage

The behavior of the organize criminal may include:

• Returning to the crime scene
• Volunteering information
• Being a police groupie
• Anticipating being questioned
• Moving the body
• Disposing of the body to advertise the crime

The organized criminal also:

• Plans the offense
• Personalizes the victim
• Controls conversation with victim
• Controls crime scene
• Requires victim to be submissive
• Uses restraints
• Acts aggressively
• Moves body
• Removes weapon
• Leaves very little evidence

There is a wealth of information here for the writer who is crafting a bad guy (please note the "may" before each bulleted list - not every organized killer will have all these traits). The organized violent criminal appears normal to the rest of the world. He's intelligent. He's socially competent. He's charming and in a relationship. He's got a job. Think of Ted Bundy. The fun (and creepy) part of fashioning this bad guy is the aftermath of the crime. He'll come back to the crime scene, and he'll have his answers well rehearsed when the detectives start asking questions. Good detectives know that sometimes the perpetrator returns to the crime scene, so they take pictures of the crowds and careful notes of who they interviewed. So how does the bad guy get away with it? How does he throw attention away from himself? How does he "take control" of the investigation without pointing a big neon arrow at his own head? That's the fun part! You, writer friend, must come up with a carefully woven plot to throw suspicion on other unsavory individuals who have sufficient means, motive, and opportunity, yet insert enough damaging information that the detective can nab the correct perp in the end--and have the reader think, "yes, that works perfectly, I should have seen it myself."

In my next post I'll discuss the disorganized violent offender.

-Sonja

FBI Profile - Organized Criminals

Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, contains useful information for writers to create believable antagonists. I've already covered the FBI's Profile Matrix in the last several posts. In my next two posts, I'll cover areas not included in the matrix, things that move beyond the crime, the crime scene, and the physical evidence. The FBI has classified violent criminals into two main types: organized and disorganized. Today I'll cover the personal characteristics of organized violent offenders and their behavior after the crime.

(Side note: I'm copying this next part word-for-word from Sean's book, and part of me feels that I'm cheating him by giving away his book in blog format. However, I skipped a ton of material near the beginning of the book, and I know I'll skip more in other places, so to get ALL the information, purchase his book. It's worth the investment.)

The personal characteristics of the organized violent offender may include:

• High intelligence (IQ 135+), may be college educated
• Social competence
• Sexual competence
• Living with a partner
• Being an only child or most favored child in family
• Having suffered abuse or harsh discipline in childhood
• Controlled moods
• Maintaining a stereotypical masculine image (note: I'll discuss female criminals at a later time)
• Being charming
• Having moods subject to situational cause
• Being geographically and occupationally mobile
• Following media coverage

The behavior of the organize criminal may include:

• Returning to the crime scene
• Volunteering information
• Being a police groupie
• Anticipating being questioned
• Moving the body
• Disposing of the body to advertise the crime

The organized criminal also:

• Plans the offense
• Personalizes the victim
• Controls conversation with victim
• Controls crime scene
• Requires victim to be submissive
• Uses restraints
• Acts aggressively
• Moves body
• Removes weapon
• Leaves very little evidence

There is a wealth of information here for the writer who is crafting a bad guy (please note the "may" before each bulleted list - not every organized killer will have all these traits). The organized violent criminal appears normal to the rest of the world. He's intelligent. He's socially competent. He's charming and in a relationship. He's got a job. Think of Ted Bundy. The fun (and creepy) part of fashioning this bad guy is the aftermath of the crime. He'll come back to the crime scene, and he'll have his answers well rehearsed when the detectives start asking questions. Good detectives know that sometimes the perpetrator returns to the crime scene, so they take pictures of the crowds and careful notes of who they interviewed. So how does the bad guy get away with it? How does he throw attention away from himself? How does he "take control" of the investigation without pointing a big neon arrow at his own head? That's the fun part! You, writer friend, must come up with a carefully woven plot to throw suspicion on other unsavory individuals who have sufficient means, motive, and opportunity, yet insert enough damaging information that the detective can nab the correct perp in the end--and have the reader think, "yes, that works perfectly, I should have seen it myself."

In my next post I'll discuss the disorganized violent offender.

-Sonja

The Profile Matrix, Part 3

Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, contains information helpful for authors trying to  create believable antagonists. In the last couple of posts, I covered questions 1- 3 from the FBI's profile matrix. Today I'll cover the last three questions.

4. Where?

A. Where did the crime occur? In a private home? An executive's office? The cold streets of the city? A corn field?

B. Where was the body or victim (if still alive) found? Was the body found at the kill site, or did the killer move the vic? 

C. Was the victim abducted from another place, and if so, where did the abduction occur? If your killer targets teen runaways, he's unlikely to be hunting for them in rural neighborhoods. 

Most of these questions will be answered by the setting of your book, but there could be some variations. 

5. How?

A. How was the crime committed? From a distance? With bare hands, face-to-face? From behind? 

B. Was the crime method specific, or does the method vary? Does your killer learn with each act he commits, and therefore he changes his methods? Or does he figure he's got something that works, so he sticks with it?

C. Was there anything unusual about the methods? 

6. Why?

A. Does the crime appear to be sexual in nature?

B. Does the crime appear to be profit motivated?

C. Does the crime appear to be spontaneous?

D. Does the crime appear to be planned?

Hopefully, these questions can help you. The more you know about your antagonist, the more realistic you can make him on the pages of your novel.

-Sonja

Dare to Suck - by Keith Cronin

Found a great post I feel the need to share. Click here to be inspired, get over that writer's block, and do some writing today. 

-Sonja

The Profile Matrix, Part 2

I'm offering information from Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, in an effort to help novelists create believable antagonists. In the last post, I covered question #1 from the FBI's profile matrix. Today I'll cover #2 and #3.

2. What?

A. What was the cause of death? There are many ways to kill a person, and the method tells investigators a great deal about the killer. For instance, poison is more often used by female perps, while guns are more often used by males. But what does it tell you about the killer who uses a sledgehammer? Or a garrote? Or a miniature statue of the Venus de Milo? Choose carefully what your killer will use to do the job, because it reveals something about his character. An organized, mission-oriented killer will probably not use a weapon of opportunity, like a chain saw he happens to find in his victim's garage. Instead, he'll bring his own weapon.

B. What kind of deviant sexual behavior is evident? This question gets squishy and gross, and I don't really want to talk about it. Your imagination can fill in the blanks. One thing I will bring up, though, is the lack of sexual behavior. If the opportunity existed for the perp to rape the vic, but he didn't, that's also a valuable clue for investigators. It might point to motive, or physical problems, or even gender. 

C. What are the unusuals? What stands out about the crime or the scene? Does it match any other crimes? Was a unique weapon used? Were any "souvenirs" taken from the victim? Was the vic posed? These types of things help investigators profile the killer, and it helps you as the author to create a believable antagonist.

3. When?

A. When did the crime occur (time of day, time of month, time of year)? Does your killer get the blues in the winter when there's not enough sunlight, so to jazz up life a bit, he goes out on the town with a set of brass knuckles? Is your killer incapable of facing the anniversary of his mama's death every June, so he kills older women every May and June to help him through that tough time? Is your killer a morning person, killing his victims during their morning commute? Know who your killer targets and his motive for killing will often provide this question of when.

B. Did the crime occur on or near a particularly significant event or date? Christmas is a great time for homicides due to memories of holidays past. Ditto anniversaries, birthdays, and death dates.

C. Did the crime occur on a religious-related date or occult-related date? It's easy to offend people with this one, so tread gently. Does your killer target observers of Ramadan? Or does he kill every Halloween to appease his dead ancestors? 

D. Is there anything special or unusual about when the crime was committed? You know your killer, why he kills, and how he kills. Figure out why he kills WHEN he kills, and you can weave that into the story.

The next post will cover the last three questions on the FBI's profile matrix.

-Sonja

The Profile Matrix, Part 1

I'm dispensing information from Sean Mactire's book,  Malicious Intent: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists, and Other Criminal Think, in an effort to help novelists create believable antagonists. Today's discussion is on the profile matrix, which I think is the best part of creating a bad guy.

The FBI has a matrix of six questions they use to profile a criminal. Let's begin with the first one:

1. Who?

A. Who are the victims? Women, children, gays, prostitutes, elderly, or men? Are they targeted specifically, or are the targets varied? You've seen this on crime tv shows, where the investigators try to figure out what the victims have in common. Sometimes the commonality is obvious (they're all young blond women) and sometimes it's impossible to connect them (because they're random). 

B.  What type (organized or disorganized) of killer is involved? Is the killer:

• 1. Visionary: He's received word from God, or angels, or aliens, that someone needs to be killed, and he's just the guy for the job.
• 2. Mission oriented: He's going to save the world from blue-eyed blondes. Or he's going to save himself from nosy social workers. Or he's going to save the children of New York City from pedophiles dressed in Santa suits who encourage children to sit in their laps and whisper secrets in their ears. 
• 3. Comfort oriented: He's number one, and his desires must be satisfied. He must have cash, bourbon, and expensive works of art or life isn't complete.
• 4. Lust motivated: He's got a thing for Asian women with long black hair, and life isn't good unless he's having sex with all of them.
• 5. Thrill motivated: Jumping out of planes and climbing rocks without a rope used to be enough, but now it's not. He's escalated to murder to get that rush of adrenaline.
• 6. Power/control oriented: He must be the one calling the shots, making the decisions, and being god. Without power, he's worse than nothing.

Just with this first question, you begin to create a magnificent antagonist. A disorganized killer who targets runaway teenage girls is much different from an organized killer who targets wealthy white males. The killer who's on a mission from God to clean up the streets of San Francisco by clearing out the homeless men and hookers is different from the guy who lusts for older women who remind him of his mama (I kind of grossed myself out there for a minute). 

On a side note, I keep using "he" for a pronoun, but your killer can be female. But that's a discussion for another time. In the next post, I'll cover questions 2 and 3 from the FBI profile matrix.

-Sonja