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Sexual murder
1Newcastle City Health Trust, St. Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Background:
Little is known about men who kill in a sexual context. The present study compares a group of sexual murderers with a group of men who had raped but not killed.
Method:
Twenty-one men who murdered women in the course of a sexual attack and 121 men convicted of rape were interviewed in six prisons. Victim statements were obtained in 103 cases (73%). Assessment consisted of a 90-minute semi-structured interview, the Eysenck 1-7 questionnaire, and the Schonell reading test.
Results:
The most notable characteristic distinguishing the men who killed was their lifelong isolation and lack of heterosexual relationships.
Conclusions:
A better understanding of the social and emotional isolation commonly found in sexual murderers may provide important insights into why some sexual offenders go on to kill.