Forensic Psychology-What kind of person would kill a woman like that?

One idea . . .

The motive seems a little thin. Even rich, spoiled guys don't get to sleep with every woman they meet. Perhaps you could ramp up the motive to something deeper, more personal, then the guy might act out of passion and feel an urge to do it himself so that he could see her face at the moment of death. He wants her to know that he has "won". For example only: perhaps the woman is the first woman he's really loved, but she turned him down flat. Instead she chooses a rival of the man, making his anger that much worse. To the reader it might seem at first that his anger does stem from her refusal to have sex, but we learn later that the real reason is his wounded pride and broken heart (remember, it's often good if even the bad guy has some good in him, or some trait we can all understand, such as a broken heart). For an added plot twist, the man could plan to put the blame on the rival, but he screws it up somewhat and that provides some additional clues. I'm assuming this could all fit within a cozy.

Paying some one to make a problem go away leaves the door to blackmail open.

I think someone who is very arrogant and self assured would plan a hand-to-hand killing. They would have to think that they were much cleverer than any one else. They would justify the taking of a life because their moral code allows it - so there would be no guilt at all. Not sure how to put this - they would be knowledgeable about forensics and scene of crime stuff and would take this into account in their planning, so their actions before, during and after the murder would be informed by their knowledge and would prevent them from making any mistakes - but their arrogance and contempt for the intellectual abilities of others (eg police) would give them the fatal flaw of carelessness. I hope that makes some kind of sense.

In short, a sociopath.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

Rowan said:

In short, a sociopath.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

Click to expand...

Yes!

Rowan said:

In short, a sociopath.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

Click to expand...

Yup, pretty much. No sense of write/wrong but extremely charming and manipulative.

Heres an article about difference between socio vs. psychpath (although it seems the terms seems interchangeable) so i'd say he's a psychopath

source

Strangling is very personal compared to shooting. And then you have to separate out the various methods of strangling. Garrotting is less personal than face to face.

Then factor in whether the killer is trying to hide evidence of the killing or doesn't care.

This all shows up in the anger level here, and the level of pre-meditation.

And sociopaths are not stupid people. They understand consequences, and will work to avoid them. Mainly they will feel that they can outsmart the police.

You're going to have to work very hard to make this credible.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

EdCarroll said:

I have found a few extensive web sites as well as a couple thorough books at the library, but none quite answer my question.

In my cozy a spoiled rich guy with no sense of responsibility kills his victim by strangling her where she feels safest (she works inside a Navy base). She would not have sex with him and a series of attempts to get even all fail, and escalate until he has no other choice than to kill her.

My wife says that a spoiled guy who thinks he is entitled to everything would more likely pay somebody to make the problem go away.

So, what kind of person would plan and practice a hand-to-hand killing?

Thank you,

[FONT=&quot]Ed[/FONT]

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This would be a classic power struggle. His power to control her failed so strangling her is a a powerful way of reversing the power balance between them. Strangling required looking into the victims face and eyes. It's the ultimate power trip, to watch a victim die face to face, the killer's face being the last thing the victim sees. It's like saying I beat you, I win, I have all the power.

Strangling is usually very much about power and control. Most sociopaths and psychopaths would fall in this category who take it to the next level and kill instead of torture emotionally or maim. Crossing the line for the first time is usually messy and disorganized though, the first time killer never really plans their first time, it's usually random timing based on chance meeting of the intended victim with an M.O. (like the one you describe) of heat of the moment or passion crimes.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-sociopath.htm
http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
http://yngathrrt.blogspot.com/2006/06/psychopath-sociopath-disorders.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2337343_identify-sociopathic-behavior.html

A few starter points. I've been doing research on sociopathic behaviors and psychopathic tendencies for a psych thriller I've been working on.