Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
P. BRITTNN
ROBERT
they can be quite tender-hearted in other ways not It is sufficient, however, to say that they
and vociferously condemn cruelty in others commonly relate to some of the following:
without appaxntly seeing any incongruity in De Sade and his works, sadism, torture,
this. To some at least, cruelty may be not so cruelty, Nazism, Hitler, Goering, Eicbmann
much the end they are seeking as the means and other Nazi leaders, concentration camps,
whereby they arouse extreme sexual emotion prisoner-of-war camps, atrocities, brutalities,
in themselves and it is the relief of sexual black magic, sexual perversions, obscenities,
tensions which is their true aim. erotica generally-xcidental and oriental, guns
Some are devotees of “chambers of and othw weapons, or uniforms. Less oftea
horrors” in waxworks and have paid many there are hooks on war, crime and criminals,
visits to such places. murders and murderers, psychology, psy-
A feature very frequently to be found in Chiatry, forensk medicine, toXicology or
sadistic murderers in a consuming interest in escapology ” or the tying of knots. As yet
Nazism and, in particular, in Nazi concentra- they do not Seem to have discovered the
tion camps. A number have fantasies of Writhgs of Machiavelli or Nietzsche (though
working in concentration camps and wiU Leopold, of the Leopold and Loeb case in
descnbe the tortures they would use. They America, is said to bave been a student of
can express strong anti-semitic feelings and Nielzsche’s writings), but it would not be
marked prejudices against coloured people. surprising if these were to be found in such a
Some collect badges, daggers, uniforms or case.
medals, particularly those related to Nazism There may be evidence of great interest
and may dress up in these. A I w usual, but in pornography, particularly heterosexual,
not rare, finding is an inordinate interest in, sadistic pornography as found in certai0
and even practice of, black magic. They may magazines (mastly American in origin). For
have stuck pins into photographs of people some of these there seems to be an almost
whom they wished to injure, or even have unvarying formula, even for the coloured
tried to invoke evil spirits. These interests in frontcovers which show soldiers in uniform,
Nazism and black magic Seem to arise because usually Germans; swastikas; a scene of
in both there is to be found the desired violence; firearms; scantily clad young females
admixture of cruelty, sex and power over in danger M distress; words such as sin, lust
others. They feel Nazism and black magic sex, nude, death, virile, vice, Salan, devil, etc.
grant them personal authorily to commit The sadistic man may have ma& additions
forbidden acts of extreme cruelty and absolve to the pictures, for example, manacles may
them from guilt and responsibility. be drawn on the wrists. Pornographic photo-
Another bizarre finding, also by no means g r a p h may be found. Sometimes porno-
rare. is an interest in monsters. ’These may graphic and sadistic scenes are drawn by the
be prehistoric monsters such as the dinosaur. man himself, and very masculine women are
They may be fictional ones of the King Kong not infrequently depicted. While such a draw-
type. They may be those of folklore, such ing is of a woman, with a feminine hair style
as the werewolf or the vampire, and the man and wearing a skirt, part of her dress is oflen
with this syndrome may say that he would a uniform, perhaps with a neck-tie, epaulettes,
like to be one of these. Finally they may Sam Browne belt, and sometimes with Nazi
be purely imaginary, half-human, half-animal insignia. Scenes of violence may be drawn,
creatures, or horrific, twisted, perverted and sometimes red ink or even blood may
parcdies of the human form, grotesque, be used in such drawings.
horrible. ugly and evil. They may make draw- Sadism and masochism are commonly
ings or models of thew, or have pictures of associated and there may be evidence of
them. masochistic practices There may be ropes for
A few write poetry which reflects their self-tying or seu-hanging, straps, chains or
abnormalities. handcutls (which may be homemade).
Thac people read, study and collect books whip or other instruments of punishment o r
which relate in some way to their perversion torture may also be present Sometimes the
and it would be easy to give a list of those murdw victim is tied up with ropes.
commonly found. Some are fiction, some are Evidence of fetishism may also be shown.
204 ROBERT P. BIU'ITAIN
Rubber or plastic materials may be found or from cry& out. ?hen is no doubt that thcr
thur can be pietuns of fetishistic objects. is tmth in both of these explanations but thi
The murder itself may be carefully planned is not the complete story. Such men wi
in advance and preparations made for it even sometimes explain that shooting, for exampli
days or weeks ahead. He may, for example, is too sudden a way of killing the victim, fc
carry ligatures with him to use on an as yct their pleasure would be ended too quickl]
unsdected victim or he may follow his chosen They will explain that in asphyxia, by i n m a
victim over a considerable period. He can ing or decreasing the pressure, they have i
think it all out very clearly and wait until in their power to give their victim tbei
he fmds a suitable time, place and subject lives or to take their lives from them. Ihe
and manipulate circumstances to achieve this can fed this as a god-like power, and the
Such careful planning by an intelligent man, can play with their victims like a cat wit
and where there is little to associate the victim a mouse.
with the murderer, the victim being selected This desire to have power over omen i
by chance or for some reason not apparent an essential part of their abnormality aa
to others, can make the murderer's detection if the victim resists they bccome the mor
Particularly di5cult. This di5culty can be determined and brutal. If the subjection a
enhanced by the fact that he is commonly a the victim to their power is more importan
plausible liar and presents a front which to them than the idction of pain, this ma
can be mask-like, or one of injured innocence, help us to understand why they do not f e
and which is dacult to break. Even in the cruel, for they may be aware that cruelty i
lm common case where the sadistic murderer not their primary objective but only ttx
is of low iutelligeace, be can show a surprising means wbareby they achieve their end
degree of cunning. Other injuries, whether found in associatiol
At the time of the crime inelf he becomes with asphyxia or not, are most co?nmonly 01
very excited and usually llses more force than the breasts, on the genitalia, or in the rectum
is required merely to kill, though this is truc If there is gros, mutilating violence it is wig
of many other murderers also. He is now to &ect the. abdomen also, or there may b
transformed into a very different person from the finding of very many stab wounds Bit
tbe shy, timid, withdrawn individual he so marks may be found and arc most commonl:
o h appears to his aquaintanm. His reason on the breasts or neck of the victim but the:
is dulled and his sexual drive and his desire are not restricted to these sites They m
for power take over control of his actions. vary from being minor to being very severc
Ths sight of suEering can excite him They can occur in homosexual as weU a
further and his brutality can be increased by heterosexual sadistic murders.
the helplessness and fear of his victim. During Although these are essentially s e d
the act the ecstasy he experiences seems to motivated crimes, sexual intercourse or evu
make him frenzied and insensible to every- orgasm does not always occur. Sometimes Q
thing else. yet if something occurs which murderer masturbates beside his victim
threatens his safety he can take appropriate Sometimes also a phallus-substitute is u w
action. Excitement seems to be greatest during and a piece of wood, a cylindrical dectrit
the process of k d h g and the death itself may torch or other W a r object may be inSerta
be an anticlimax. -and this can be with grat force-into Q
The method of killing, except when gross vagina or rectum of the victim.
and mutilating violence or multiple stabbing Ibe victim is commonly found in th
is used-the less common f o r m s i s almost position in which tbe criminal assault tool
always asphyxial, and a gag may occasionally place, without any attempt, for example, tr
be employed. This could be explained as arrange the limbs but rather as if left in thi
being due to the positions of the murderer way as a final degradation. It is as if them
and his victim in a sexual attack beiig such were a deliberate attempt to offend modety
as to make manual strangulation, or some After the a i m e has been completed th
times strangulation by a ligature, an easy and murderer may, as he describes, feel relax=
convenient way. It could also be explained and experience a great relief of tension. Some
as being associated with preventing the victim times there is a feeling of disappointment a:
THE SADISTIC MURDERER
he may find he has not achieved the d e g m their own. They can even then appear self-
of pleasure, excitement and thrill which he righteous.
had anticipated, nor yet a solution to his In prison or hospital they are not O d Y
problems Therefore he can commit murder disliked by other prisoners or patienu who
again in further attempts to gain relief of a know of their offences but may be at risk
tension which is essentially sexual and recur- from them. and the added fact that they tend
ring. If he does commit further crima, as is to be withdrawn in their relations with others
likely if he is not apprehended, he tends to means that they mix poorly with the p p d a -
be reasonably faithful to the methods h e has tion of the institution. The greater
are. very well behaved whether in prison or
In court he can be self-po-, calm and in hospital. Herein lies another pitfall, for
unperturbed, listening to the evidence of his Years Of Such good behaviour, as a “model ”
actions with indiere- and, indeed, some- prisoner or patient, can lead the unwary at
thing close to boredom. a later date to use this as a principal criterion
It seems possible, the motivation and actions when considering transfer to a les
of such people being so little institution or even discharge. Much more solid
concerned in the legal evidence of a fundamental change is required
by
procgding$ the is ,,ften than g o d conduct, even over a long period,
in an environment where there is neither
that more of his abnormalities are not elicited
in court and exposed to consideration. He ~ ~ t a , ” p n a ~ w ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t h ~ m
may thus accept more readily and without . . . in the first place.
instltuhon
question the evidence which is produced. Occasionally such a man may be, and
When h e admits to his crime. or talks of it remain at times, very violent and dangerous
after being found guilty, any expression of within the institution where he is detained.
regret for what he has done carria little Their continuing may be
conviction. A few will never talk of their shown by their desire to learn to
crime at any time and may appear uninter- get books or magazines of the kind h t they
ested, contemptuous or evasive, but many will, fomeriy read or collected dealing with
and talk freely and f a y and without embar- Nazim, or sexual perversion$ or by
rassment or feeiig for their victims and often the pictures draw-not of
with bland unconcern. They can remember the scenes where warships, tanks and
circumstances and, if they will, can relate bear swastika marbngf
them c l e a r l ~and with a wealth of detail.
They often give an honest account and do not
somerealise that they remain dangerous
and are indeed relieved to find themdvcs in
seem to be very suggestible. a secure institution where they are protected
any part of their story is doubted and irritated. H~ is likely to recognise othen around him
relatively unimportant part of their IIaR’atiVe does not usually make close or continuing
s misunderstood. They seem exasperated at
i friendships with them. If there is any rumour
j the questioner’s shlpidity. They will make
great play with some trivial mitigating fact
of transfer or of discharge of such another
from the institution he will sometimes express
and become indignant if they think some his disapproval if he considers it safe for
injustice is being done to them,no matter how him to d o so.
slight it may be, seeing no incongruity in this Thus far the description given has rested
when. a t about the same time, they are relat- essentially on personal knowledge of sadistic
ing some particularly monstrous actions of murders and murderers. Theory derived from
206 ROBERT P. BRI'ITAIN
such knowledge would suggest that cenain also discourage men with this syndr mate1
other elements could also be present. Prophesy seeking medical help and make at Qum
is a dangerous business, better avoided, but treat them more diflicult still. [ion
it may be worth taking the risk of setting It samed important that this sy the It
down certain elements which it seems possible should be described so that it can be from
might be found in such a case. The justifica- wbkh
tion for doing this is that if they were not professionally. b m
mentioned, their significance, if they did Tie
occur, might not be. fully appreciated or they di5cult in these cases, b 11 ma
might seem particularly puuling features. is impossibte unless they some
The most that should be said, perhaps, is what tbey are. They tan=
that i t should cause no surprise if one or psycq.
other is found in a particular case. thaf L
In a place which is private to him there are m:
could be a hood, possibly of the Ku Klux diaie
Klan type, or a mask, oriental-typs clothing, win m;
a child's doll, a life-sized model of a woman, disci&
a rubber diving suit, a scarf or towel, a semen- It is
impregoated handkerchief, a cylindrical object of the
of some kind, anaesthetics, carbon tetra- practic
chloride, petrol, glue or other volatile such c
substances a bed-frame 01 some similar limited
construction or, finally, the place itself might partiCUl
be made to represent an execution chamber. any f l
There might be a history of an inordinate the ma
interest in under-water swimming or of the is so El
prauice of sceing for how long the suspect in the
could hold his breath under water, or of W Y .
running through the deserted countryside researct
wearing only a rubber mackintosh, w of so in
offences in churches, or d-tion of vaults 0ffelIC-S
or of graves or graveyards. There might be sional i
a daire to use explosives to blow up, for turn to
example, public buildings, dockyards or penal field an
institutions. cornpara
All these elements do a u t in certain who have not, at least as yet, co them an
sexual deviates and there is some reason to o5ence. The psychiatrist who paper a1
think that those in whom they are found respnsibility for them on an out- commen
have similatities to the sadistic murderer. is in an unenviable pasition. must ov
Thus bizarre though some of them are, the Generally we cannot treat, except perhaw
theoretical element is not whether tbey OCCUT, ally, what we do not understand
but only whether they will be. found to occur
in the cases being considered.
In conclusion it should be said that to
write of such material in our present state of
knowledge except for those legitimately con-
cerned and in a medical, legal or criminological
journal would be to render society a dis-
service. It would be as irresponsible as to
~ knowledge people are cruelly murdered, t31
draw facile, but entirely false, conclusions relatives s&w, and the mnrderm
from what has been written. It would be burden to society and to themselves. :
easy, but wrong, for example, to deduce that This paper only attempts
butchers or under-water swimmers are par- dercription of the sadistic
ticularly prone to commit murder. It would facts drawn from a large,
7 l i E SADISTIC MURDERER un
material accumulated over many years. criticisms (not normally because I doubted
Quantification of the findings, a fuller descrip- their validity but only because I could not
tion and discussion of each of the demenu, fuUy confirm them from my own experience),
the logical deductions which can be made or to my own subwquent additions to the
from the facts and a comprehensive hypothesis paper. are my responsibility alone.
which offers an explanation of the incredibly If yet others can,from their own experience,
bizarre picture found are all now possible. amplify or modify the descn'ption given
'lime alone is required for their formulation. here I, and I believe alI who have to deal
It may then be that the h d i n g s will throw with these case$ whether as forensic
some light on other areas of forensic impor- psychiatrists or as police oEicers, WiU be
tance and also on certain aspects of general greatly in their d e b t The problem is not an
psychiatry. I think this is so. I also think academic one.
that, in the field of forensic psychiatry, there
are many other neglected problems of imme- SUMhURY
diate importance which, when understood, An attempt is made to describe the sadistic
will make significant contributions to the wider murderer. The description rests on the
discipline. examination of many men of lhis kind near
It is hoped that the description here given the time of the crime and on continuing
of the sadistic murderer may be of some observation of them over periods of years. It
practical value t o those having to d o with rests also on examination of victims and of
such cases, even though the value be still a scenes of such crimes In addition, account
limited one, for they are cases which can be has been taken of others who show the
particularly difficult of solution and in which feature of the syndrome and who fantasy
any guidance may be welcome. In any event, committing similar murders although they
the matter is so little understood, and there have not done so.
is so little which is authoritative to be found
in the literature, that it seemed worth an
essay. There is still a need for descriptive
research in forensic psychiatry and especially Acknowledgmctll is gratefully made to: Dr. M. I.
so in relation to the less common major Harfst, W. M. Home. Esq., M.B.E.. Dn. 1. M.
L o u g h . P. G. McGmth. K. R. H. Wardroo and
-
offences. Having set down my own profes-
P. B. P&fmare.
sional experience it also seemed proper to I am a h grafefvl to a number of colleagues, at
turn to others specially knowledgeable in the home and abroad, w h o have asked me for ad- on
field and ask them if their experiences were such and who have generously made their oy
comparable. I have done this by showing material available to me.
them an w l i z r and incomplete draft of this
paper and I am greatly indebted to them for REFEamcm
comments and criticisms. While what is valid BRITIAIN.R. P. (1968). "The Sexual Asphyxias." in
must owe much to them, any defects, due Grodvohl'r Lrgoi Medicine. 2nd ed. Wiled by
perhaps to disregarding some of their F. E. Camps. p. 549. Bristol: Wright.