What are several of these elements?
STUDENT REPLY #2 STACEY WHITLOW
The population I chose to describe as being vulnerable to serial and mass murders is LGBT community. This vulnerable population is four times more likely than non-LGBT people to experience violent victimization, including murder, rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault. LGBT people are more likely to experience violence both by someone well-known to the victim and at the hands of a stranger. Important Elements in Victim Profiling is Physical traits, Marital status, Personal lifestyle, Occupation, Education, Personal demographics, medical history, psychosexual history, Court history and Last activities. “One description is anti-LGBT prejudice at home, work, or school, which would make LGBT community particularly vulnerable to victimization in numerous areas of their everyday life.” Gay (closeted) serial killers were sometimes more effective because both they and their victims were living a secret double life. They were already acclimatized to surreptitious behavior covering up what they are and more so angry at this community because they cannot come out and they take their rage out, because they were abused by a male in their childhood. “Much of the research on serial murders has concentrated on finding similarities among these murders. With few exceptions, the victims of serial killers have been ignored. One of the greatest similarities among serial killers is their consistent choice of victims. The serial Killer preys on people who tend to be vulnerable or those who are easy to lure and dominate.” (David Ford 1980s) Closeted people are still particularly susceptible to victimization by predators. If there are no witnesses, confidantes, family members are not able to link the victim’s disappearance to the killer, that gives the killer an advantage.
From 2007 to 2008, serial killings of Gay men startled the whole city of San Paolo, Brazil. It was reported by investigators that the killings occurred during the Great LGBT Parade and took place in “The Paturis Park” because of which it also has the name “Paturis Park murders.” It is among those countries with the most numbers of LGBT people. One of the meeting points for gay people in Sao Paolo was Paturis Park where they used to meet. People had hatred towards the LGBT community which sometimes increased the death of many of the community. Exactly after two weeks after the Great LGBT pride, police announced the presence of a serial killer aiming at gay men. The first killing was reported on 4 July 2007, but it was believed that the killer claiming himself to be the rainbow maniac has already preyed on his first victim when a gay male was found dead in Paturis Park in the same manner. Police officials explained that the killer has murdered all his victims in a brutal way showing his hatred towards the Community. They stated that 11 of 13 victims were shot dead on the forehead with lowered pants worn by gay males. Police started surveilling the Paturis Park as all murders occurred there. It was a meeting point for the LGBT Community. The officials arrested Jairo Francisco Franco. Though the culprit was Franco, he was released by the court because of the majority vote by jury members four for not guilty and two for guilty on 23 August 2011.
References:
https://forensicyard.com/rainbow-maniac-of-paturis-park-murders/
Targets of Predators: Part 1: Chapter 1 “Victims of Serial Killers”
Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool. Chapter 15, “The Victim in Criminal Profiling”
STUDENT REPLY #3 Allie Bullard
Holmes and Holmes (2009) state that “the most obvious element in the profiling process is a physical description of the victim.” With this in mind for this week’s discussion, I believe that school children are a population that would be vulnerable to both a serial killer and a mass murderer. As covered in earlier weeks, a mass murderer has four or more victims in one incident and does not repeat or have a cool-off period. On the other hand, a serial killer has 3 or more victims in multiple locations and with multiple incidents along with a cool-off period. We see children all too often be the victims of mass murderers with the all too frequent school shootings that happen all over the country. In the 2022 school year alone, there have already been 40 school shootings. The Atlanta Monster is an example of a serial killer targeting children. I believe children are a vulnerable population because of their lack of knowledge and ability to fight back. Younger children especially are at times not believed when they speak up, often being dismissed as imaginative or just being playful. With them at times spontaneous decision-making to, for example, run away from their parents or guardians in large public places or to wander off because something caught their eye, children can get lost easily and a lost child is likely to be taken by someone with devious plans. Holmes and Holmes (2009) again state that a person’s daily activities can be a reason why they are picked by serial killers. If a child walks home alone from school this can make them an easy target as well.
Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool (4th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781452241128