Lust Murder

Characteristics of Lust Murder

Lust murder or erotophonophilia is a specific form of homicide, with unique underpinnings and a specific motive. With this type of murderer, there is a vital connection between violence and sexual arousal. The motivating factor in lust murder is the sexual catalyst, as well as the paraphilic behavior. Moreover, erotophonophilia itself is a paraphilia yet also comprises several other types of the disorder. Commonly associated forms include necrophilia and necrosadism[Page 282](sexual arousal and gratification with a dead body), sadism (sexual arousal and gratification received from the punishment and suffering of others), anthropophagy (an intense desire to consume the flesh of another), picquerism (intense desire to stab, wound, or cut the flesh of another), vampirism (intense desire to drink the blood of another), and flagellation (intense desire to beat, whip, or club another).

In addition to the sadistic dimension of erotophonophilia is the role of lust or eroticism, resulting in a strong need to not only kill but also ravage the victim. The lust murderer is motivated by the need for ultimate sexual satisfaction, which is exemplified in the torture of the victim, either pre- or post-mortem. The perpetrator tortures the victim for the sole purpose of achieving an orgasm.

Lust murderers exhibit a progression of brutality with their offenses, with each subsequent murder becoming more vicious and sadistic. These offenders experience exhilarating feelings of sexual arousal and satisfaction from their actions. They are impulsive in their actions and experience the inability to escape their own fantasy worlds. In their internal thought processes, they yearn for victims with whom they can act out the themes of their fantasies. In this way, they establish “relationships” with their potential victims and often rehearse their crimes in the fantasy mode. The victims ultimately become mere props the murderers use to play out their sexually violent fantasies. Victims can be male or female and are primarily heterosexual and interracial in nature.

Profiles of Lust Murderers

Efforts have been made to determine the likelihood of persons capable of committing lust murder. Special agents within the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI have been successful in profiling potential perpetrators of such crimes. According to their classification, there are two types of individuals who commit lust murder, the organized nonsocial and the disorganized asocial personalities. The common denominator of both types of lust murderers is the vital role of fantasy, the motivating factor. It is for this reason that both types of these murders are considered premeditated offenses, for within these fantasies lie the blueprints of the crimes likely to be committed.

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