The Serial Killers: A Study in the Psychology of Violence by Colin Wilson, Donald Seaman Page A

the context of the violent 1980s, yet nonetheless a series of murders which continue to excite worldwide interest – fascination, even – both because of their savagery, and persistent conjecture as to the identity of the Ripper and his fate.
    While his identity may never now be satisfactorily established, modern criminal profiling techniques enable us to discern a clearly identifiable pattern in the five Ripper murders.Their significant behavioural thread lies not so much in the modus operandi which governed all five homicides – the ‘pick-up’, followed by the slitting of the victim’s throat – as in the post-mortem mutilation which accompanied four of the murders (the Ripper was disturbed during the course of the other one).
    Such a ritual, sexually sadistic trait is a hallmark of a certain kind of serial killer.The modus operandi may vary over time; it is chosen basically because it is practical – and because it works.Changes may be introduced should some flaw emerge (perhaps during the early murders, which do not always proceed to plan), or even deliberately to try to confuse the investigating police.The ritual aspect of the crime, however – which is conceived of fantasy, and endlessly rehearsed in the offender’s mind before he kills for the first time – is his ‘signature’, his mark; and it is principally this ‘signature’ which enables a series of crimes to be linked through behavioural analysis.
    The most advanced, systematic profiling technique in use today – the Criminal Investigative Analysis Programme, devised and developed by agents of the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit at Quantico, Virginia – is based on the tenet that behaviour reflects personality.Thus, expert crime scene interpretation (based on police and medical reports, photographic and forensic evidence, etc.), translated into identifiable behavioural characteristics, enables the FBI analyst to profile the type of offender responsible – as distinct from the individual.Such detailed behavioural analysis is not a theoretical aid to criminal investigation: it works.It is used every day by FBI analysts at Quantico, and is especially effective when dealing with apparently ‘motiveless’ murders (i.e.where there is no apparent connection between murderer and victim).The same behavioural analysis technique is used to combat a variety of offences, notably serial murder but also in cases involving abduction, rape, arson, drug trafficking and certain planned terrorist crimes, such as hijacking and hostage-taking.The scope for expansion would appear to be almost limitless, given time for research; meantime its greatest immediate value in the United States lies in aiding local law enforcement agencies in the tracking down and arrest of serial offenders.
    No violent criminal instils a greater sense of fear and outrage among the community than the serial killer.The sadistic nature of his crimes, especially in the relatively rare cases involving torture and/or mutilation, inevitably attracts maximum publicity; while public alarm is further heightened by an awareness that – unlike most other murderers – many serial killers deliberately target total strangers as their victims.The net result is a vicious circle of ever-increasing fear and publicity as each new murder is discovered, all of it combining to add significantly to existing pressures on the police concerned.However, thwarted from the outset by a lack of clues to the murderer’s identity (a situation aggravated by the apparent absence of any connection between assailant and victims), the investigation may drag on for years in the face of mounting criticism and even hostility.(One recent example in Britain involved the six-year-long hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, alias the Yorkshire Ripper, who killed thirteen women before he was caught in 1981 – and then during a routine police patrol check, as mentioned in Chapter 1.)
    Man’s quest for a composite profile of ‘the murderer’