adolescent and enacted them on high risk victims as he grew bolder.” She turned slightly and nodded toward Urban’s photo still showing on the screen. “Pairing the profit motivation with the deep-rooted sexual deviation could have taken years to develop.” She caught the warning in Cam’s eye and paused, annoyance trickling in. Although their ill-fated time together hadn’t seemed to factor into their working relationship as she’d feared, they still had professional differences and this was one of them.
“It’s also possible that the victim selection isn’t suggestive of an evolving signature at all, but an indicator that we’re working with a team of offenders, who have dueling motives.”
The room erupted in a flurry of questions and comments. Sophia raised a palm, waited for silence. “It’s a possibility,” she stressed. “Although no offender DNA has been recovered on the bodies of the victims, we do have two very different styles of sexual assaults before and after death. While the victims are alive, they are savagely and repeatedly tortured in addition to, or more probably in conjunction with the rapes. But during the post-mortem sexual assaults, there are no corresponding injuries beyond some abrasions and lacerations that could have occurred during the body disposal. This may indicate one offender who is gratified by the sight and sound of his victim’s terror. Or,” she lifted a shoulder lightly. “It could mean a team. One assaulting the victims while they’re alive, and the other after. When you consider the difficulty involved in controlling the victim as she’s released to go into the bank, and then having her come back to the vehicle with the money, a team sounds plausible. One to drive, one to secure the victim.”
“Statistically, how probable is it that we’re talking about a team of killers, Dr. Channing?”
Cam’s question was no less irritating for being expected. “It’s thought that as many as twenty to thirty percent of serial killers work in teams.”
“So we can be eighty per cent certain our guy is working alone.”
Honesty forced her to admit, “Statistically that’s probable. But we should remain aware of the possibilities. This offender has defied statistics in other ways, by targeting victims interstate and straying outside one race in his selection of them. In some ways that makes him—or them—outside the norm for this type of offender.”
“Next steps?”
Sophia’s gaze went to the woman in the front row who had listened in silence up to now. Maria Gonzalez had risen through the male dominated ranks of DCI to the position of Special Agent in Charge for zone one in the Major Crime Unit a year and a half ago. Sophia had worked with her on cases in the past, but she was difficult to read. Gonzalez wasn’t given to casual conversation. Sophia couldn’t recall one fact about her personal life. She was slight, with intense dark eyes and silver threading through the black hair she kept pulled back in a no-nonsense style.
Cam answered. “I’ve received status updates from the lists we sent out to law enforcement around the state regarding violent sexual offenders released in the last few years. There are a few on the lists we’ll be following up on. We’re also working on a location profile. Until we get approximate time of death on the victims, we can’t be sure how long the UNSUB kept them. But Dr. Channing thinks it’s likely the women were held for weeks at a time. We’ll also continue trying to match vics to those on the ViCAP list and follow up with DNA matching when samples are submitted to the missing persons databases. There are still calls coming in from sheriff offices in state wanting us to check suspicious sites in county cemeteries.”
“You haven’t checked them all?” Gonzalez’s question was sharp.
“We prioritized them according to proximity.” He glanced at Sophie and she stood to address the question.
“I’ve included
“It’s also possible that the victim selection isn’t suggestive of an evolving signature at all, but an indicator that we’re working with a team of offenders, who have dueling motives.”
The room erupted in a flurry of questions and comments. Sophia raised a palm, waited for silence. “It’s a possibility,” she stressed. “Although no offender DNA has been recovered on the bodies of the victims, we do have two very different styles of sexual assaults before and after death. While the victims are alive, they are savagely and repeatedly tortured in addition to, or more probably in conjunction with the rapes. But during the post-mortem sexual assaults, there are no corresponding injuries beyond some abrasions and lacerations that could have occurred during the body disposal. This may indicate one offender who is gratified by the sight and sound of his victim’s terror. Or,” she lifted a shoulder lightly. “It could mean a team. One assaulting the victims while they’re alive, and the other after. When you consider the difficulty involved in controlling the victim as she’s released to go into the bank, and then having her come back to the vehicle with the money, a team sounds plausible. One to drive, one to secure the victim.”
“Statistically, how probable is it that we’re talking about a team of killers, Dr. Channing?”
Cam’s question was no less irritating for being expected. “It’s thought that as many as twenty to thirty percent of serial killers work in teams.”
“So we can be eighty per cent certain our guy is working alone.”
Honesty forced her to admit, “Statistically that’s probable. But we should remain aware of the possibilities. This offender has defied statistics in other ways, by targeting victims interstate and straying outside one race in his selection of them. In some ways that makes him—or them—outside the norm for this type of offender.”
“Next steps?”
Sophia’s gaze went to the woman in the front row who had listened in silence up to now. Maria Gonzalez had risen through the male dominated ranks of DCI to the position of Special Agent in Charge for zone one in the Major Crime Unit a year and a half ago. Sophia had worked with her on cases in the past, but she was difficult to read. Gonzalez wasn’t given to casual conversation. Sophia couldn’t recall one fact about her personal life. She was slight, with intense dark eyes and silver threading through the black hair she kept pulled back in a no-nonsense style.
Cam answered. “I’ve received status updates from the lists we sent out to law enforcement around the state regarding violent sexual offenders released in the last few years. There are a few on the lists we’ll be following up on. We’re also working on a location profile. Until we get approximate time of death on the victims, we can’t be sure how long the UNSUB kept them. But Dr. Channing thinks it’s likely the women were held for weeks at a time. We’ll also continue trying to match vics to those on the ViCAP list and follow up with DNA matching when samples are submitted to the missing persons databases. There are still calls coming in from sheriff offices in state wanting us to check suspicious sites in county cemeteries.”
“You haven’t checked them all?” Gonzalez’s question was sharp.
“We prioritized them according to proximity.” He glanced at Sophie and she stood to address the question.
“I’ve included
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