Interesting article in Toledo Blade this AM about "profile" of killer...
STAFF WRITER
The grisly way in which a little girl's body was disposed of along a remote stretch of the River Raisin in Monroe County could yield important clues to the identity of her assailant, a top criminal expert says.
The body, believed to be 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan, was found Thursday covered in cement by fishermen who smelled a strange odor and chipped away at what they thought was a concrete block. Nevaeh had been missing from her Monroe apartment complex and presumed abducted since May 24.
While the average person recoils at such gruesome discoveries, the evidence tends to point to "organized" killers who could pass as average Joes, said Ken Lanning, a consultant on crimes against children and a retired FBI agent.
Mr. Lanning and veteran Toledo Detective Frank Stiles, in separate interviews late last week, cautioned it is too soon to conclude there was a sexual motivation to the killing of the young girl.
"It's a possibility, but there needs to be more evidence," said Mr. Stiles, author of two books on high-profile Toledo homicides and chief investigator for the Lucas County prosecutor's office.
Police have identified two sexual offenders - friends of the girl's mother - as persons of interest. They are not suspects, Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield said.
Detective Stiles and Mr. Lanning said they had no direct knowledge of this case and said they were speaking about such crimes generally.
Sexual assault is the first thing that people think of when they hear about the abduction and killing of a child, Mr. Lanning said. But it is one of many motivations. They can occur as a result of kidnappings gone wrong - either by someone seeking ransom or out of a desire to raise a child. They can be carried out by killers with no sexual interest in the child. They can be revenge killings committed by someone with a grudge against a family member.
Despite public perception, 99 percent of child abductions end in the quick return of the victim, Mr. Lanning said.
But one study of 500 abductions that ended in a homicide found that the child died within three hours of being taken, he added.
"You look at what happened and then you try to evaluate why it happened and hopefully it will lead you to the kind of person who did it," Mr. Lanning said.
Haphazardly discarded bodies found quickly tend to point to killers who are "disorganized" because of drug use, alcohol use, mental illness, youth, or other factors.
In other situations, assailants deliberately "display" bodies along heavily traveled highways where they will be seen. These crimes tend to be committed by perpetrators who are sending a message to the victim's family or society, Mr. Lanning said.
"Organized" killers who seek to conceal remains are generally thought to be more intelligent, more calculating, and calmer than other killers. And it can be a sign that the assailant has killed before. "These are not absolute categories," he cautioned
So according to them, they're not looking for some haphazard killer here. Or and accidental killing cover up. As I said before, I believe this guy planned this and knew exactly what he was doing.
I'm not quite sure why LE has said they don't think it's a boat. The only explanation would be was a poster said before, that there might be concrete dust going up hill or something, but if we take that one step further, if you were a REALLY smart sociopath, why not just sprinkle it there yourself to throw off cops...to lead them to believe that you came in a car, not a boat? Then the cops wouldn't even ask about boat sightings or rentals and they'd spend all their time chasing a car lead.
I give LE alot of credit, I really do. BUT, having been married to a LE officer , cops get what's called "boxed" syndrome. They jump on what they "think" happened, and then fit the clues into that box. It's hard for them to get out of that box once they decide, and trust me, they've already decided what happened. My ex used to actually have classes and continuing education in trying to break the syndrome because it really makes cases difficult to solve or leads to the arrest of an innocent person. And no offense to any police on the board, but cops are notorious ego maniacs and black and white in their thinking, it's very hard for them to think in gray terms. They focus on what they think and then make the clues fit, because they CAN'T be wrong. Plus you have the grandstanding and the mutual hate of different departments and levels of law enforcement. Local cops HATE to call in other jurisdictions...it's THEIR case and they want to run the show, there's are numerous pissing contests going on between agencies. State police think they're better than local LE of course, so when they come in they try to take over and treat local LE like they're rubes. EVERYONE hates the feds. Truly. There is so much disdain for the FBI in local and state LE agencies it's unbelievable, because once the feds come in, everyone else is OUT. My ex was a deep undercover narcotics officer and while I truly support our police and thank God for them, there is ALOT of politics and hatred among different agencies. We would, as average citizens like to think that they all work together, but truly..it's not the case most of the time.
I'm still not convinced there was no boat used, especially after the profile of an organized, intelligent killer.
Plus, I know people have been talking about 90# bags of concrete and such, but it's not like 90 pounds of concrete were poured out. A big drywall bucket would have been enough of quickcret to carry. Just a layer was poured over the body, a thin enough layer where the fisherman didn't have to do to much to see skin.
Here's link to article..
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090607/NEWS16/906070319
I'm going to go back and see if I can find the link where she's not.
