Behavioral Characteristics of Stalkers Who Kill
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify behavioral characteristics of stalkers who
ultimately kill their targets, with the goal of creating a risk factor checklist to help identify
current offenders most at risk for escalating to homicide. The study involved case comparisons
of stalking-homicide cases from the United States, United Kingdom, and other Western cultures.
This study examines twenty cases involving stalkers who killed or attempted to kill their victims.
Stalking has evolved considerably with the introduction of new technology, yet the dangers
posed by stalkers who ultimately kill their targeted victims, the data was coded, compared and
analyzed to create a risk factor checklist to identify those types of offenders most likely to resort
to homicide. The data was gathered from public resources and news articles. The study
examined, age, race, gender, the type of stalker, the relationship between the stalker and the
victim, as well as other factors preceding the death of the victims. Not surprisingly, males were
found to be the most dangerous offenders the majority of the time. Of the known typologies of
stalkers, only one case of the predatory stalker was found, and no cases of the intimacy seeker
were found within the cases examined.
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- UCO - Graduate Theses [722]