Kiss of Death (25 page)

Sex:

Male

Age:

Chronological: 30-45
Emotional age: 15-20

Race:

Caucasian

Type of offender:

Organized: The crime scene has been very well planned, with virtually no clues. The presence of the puncture marks, with no blood, also highlights the organized nature of our offender. He has planned this murder meticulously—from the location to the cause of death (which cannot be definitively advised by the coroner's office).

Occupation/employment:

Our offender sees his work, his job, as leading his group of vampires. However, it's possible he also works in the conventional manner, too. There are three options for our offender:

1. He works to support him self.

2. His followers are in paid employment, and he uses this money to survive himself.

3. He's self-funded in some other way.

Marital status:

Single; however, based on the Gothic and vampire culture, he will have multiple sexual partners and donors. Again, based on what we know of the culture, it seems likely that these will be regular partners.

Dependents:

No legal dependents; however, he will see any/all followers as his dependents and will feel emotionally responsible for their well-being and for ensuring their vampirism is nurtured.

Childhood:

Vampirism:
Research on self-proclaimed vampires indicates an early childhood experience that led to their fascination with blood and a psychological link between blood and sex.
Cult/Guru:
If our perp is operating in a true cult scenario, he will possess many of the childhood and adolescent psychological characteristics and events common to “gurus” who have been studied. These include:

• Early displays of charisma and charm.

• Early narcissism (as an extension of the primary caregiver's “lesson” that the world revolves around the baby/young child, so this narcissism continues beyond the toddler years).

• Absent father from a young age.

• Compulsive liar.

• A feeling of not belonging to any group (adolescence).

• Conflicts with authority (adolescence).

• Perceptive (adolescence).

• Fearless (adolescence).

Personality:

The leader of the group who killed Sherry Taylor and our second victim will be strong and charismatic. His followers/members will be completely devoted to him and will not question his authority or his claims of righteousness.

Personality:

In public he will be controlled and charming; however, in private he may be subject to childlike tantrums. However, it's possible no one, or only a few of his members, will see this behavior.
    From a clinical psychology perspective, cult leaders have been defined as having both Narcissistic Personality Disorder and/or as being psychopaths. Some traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder include: grandiose sense of self, need for admiration from others, lack of empathy, preoccupation with fantasy worlds (in which the person has unlimited success, followers, etc.), exploitation of others and arrogant behavior.
    In the case of a cult leader, this may be accompanied by compulsive lying—although this is debatable. If the subject believes everything that he says, he's delusional rather than lying.
    Many cult leaders have also exhibited high levels of paranoia, especially when it comes to perceived threats to their group.

Personality:

According to
Captive Hearts, Captive Minds
by Madeleine Tobais and Janja Lalich, cult leaders display the following characteristics:

• Glibness and superficial charm.

• Manipulative and conning behavior.

• Grandiose sense of self.

• Pathological lying (see comment above re lying vs delusions).

• Lack of remorse, shame or guilt

• Shallow emotions

• Incapacity for love

• Need for stimulation

• Lack of empathy

• Impulsive behavior (childlike)

• Early behavioral problems (conflicts with authority figures and/or poor academic results)

• Unreliable behavior

• Promiscuous sexual behavior

• No real life plan (cult is the life plan)

• Criminal or entrepreneurial versatility

 

Note:
Many of these fifteen elements overlap with traits of narcissistic behavior and some of the other personality traits mentioned in this profile.

Teachings/theories:

Some of his teachings may include:

• Vampires as superior race

•Sense of immortality (within the vampire mythology and also as part of a new religious movement if he's building up to mass suicide or proposing risky behavior)

•Friends and family are against you/us

•We can only rely on each other

•Preparations for apocalyptic event

Disabilities:

None

Interaction with victims:

The offender and his followers see the victims as inferior to them in every way. All the evidence suggests they reenacted a classic prey-predator dynamic during the murders (the victims showed obvious signs of a chase).

Remorse:

Our offender will show no remorse whatsoever. As far as he's concerned, he's simply asserting his right as a vampire and superior being to “humans.” Humans are for feeding, either through blood or through psi-vampirism (feeding off someone's life force).

Home life:

It is difficult to build a sense of our offender's home life, because “home” to him is his group/cult.

Home life:

It's possible that all the members live communally (in the traditional cult setup); however, it's also possible that they have their own residences and commune together at the many Goth/vampire nightclubs and at private parties. They would also find a sense of home online, through social networking sites.

Car:

Given our offender's sense of self-importance, coupled with his need to continually reinforce that through admiration, it's likely he drives a more expensive, flashy car. This, in conjunction with the European roots of vampirism, leads me to believe it's likely he drives a European prestige car, such as a new BMW, Mercedes or Audi. The color will be black and the model will be sporty.

Intelligence:

Our offender is extremely intelligent, but much of his strength of character comes from his charm and an acute perceptiveness that allows him to judge people and instantly ascertain their strengths, weaknesses and how he can manipulate them.

Education level:

Most cult leaders are not well educated in the sense of formal, traditional schooling. This is partly because of early clashes with authority and partly because from an early age they perceive themselves as better than everybody else, hence they don't feel they need a formal education. However, they are often self-taught in areas like religion, psychology, culture, and so on. This, coupled with excellent general knowledge and an ability to convince others of their wisdom, means our offender may
seem
well educated to his followers and to law enforcement.

Outward appearance:

In line with the vampire and Goth community, our perp will be extremely well dressed and in the Victorian Goth style. This includes black pants, leather pants, male corsets, dark-colored shirts/tops, white/cream shirts (billowy nature) and makeup.
    If he also has a day job, our offender will have a more corporate look, but he will see this as the mask he wears and the Goth clothes as a portrayal of his true nature.

Criminal background:

It's possible our leader has a criminal record, but it's most likely sealed (juvenile).

Modus operandi (MO):

The victims were abducted from an unknown location before being transported to Temescal Gateway Park. Once at this isolated, outdoor location the victims were stripped of their clothes and makeup and let loose in the park. Multiple offenders (numbers unknown, although we could estimate 7-10 based on eyewitness report of torch lights in the area) chased them and the girls were then restrained with minimal force (no ligature marks and no bruises that indicate manual restraint). Both girls were then bitten, probably by the leader. Once he was finished, the other members of the clan would have been allowed to feed.

Signature:

The signature of this perp is the ritual nature of the victims' deaths. The victims are literally human sacrifices and some sort of ritual/ceremony is observed after the victims have been chased and caught.

Post-offence behavior:

After the offence, the perp(s) will feel exhilarated, in line with what they see as their need for blood/energy and from the completion of an important ritual for them personally and their group.
    There was no attempt to hide the bodies—while they were off the main trails, one of the bodies was in a clearing frequented by walkers. The body could easily have been hidden after the murder in nearby brush, but the offenders and/or the leader chose to leave the body in the open. This indicates no sense of remorse or shame over the murders.

Media tactics:

Any media coverage specifically citing the possible involvement of L.A.'s vampires will either pander to our leader's ego and would be interpreted by him as validating his actions, or would aggravate any paranoia he may already be feeling. For the moment, the link with vampires for these murders should be hidden from the media and general public if possible.