Bringing this post over for anyone that may want to read it. Gives some insight to the way sexual predators and serial killers think. How they choose their victims, etc.
Imo, due to JDW's escalation and three year sentence served in the pokey, I would not rule out the two boys mentioned in a prior post that he called police on as intended victims.
Victim Selection
How does a serial killer select victims? The traditional school of thought holds that generally they select victims based on certain physical and/or personal characteristics. This assertion presupposes that, within the mind of each serial killer, there evolves synthesis of preferred characteristics and, ultimately, a clear, specific picture of his "ideal" victim, be it male or female, black or white, young or old, short or tall, large busted or small, shy or forward, and so on. Then, when that "typical" serial killer begins an active search for human prey, he will go to certain lengths to capture and victimize only those individuals who closely fit the mold.
Unexpectedly, I have observed that most serial killers never actually find and kill their "dream victim." People fitting such detailed and perfected images may not only be hard to come by, but may also not be easily available in the venues haunted by "hunting" serial killers. So when that ideal victim cannot be found, and when their internal impetus becomes powerful enough, they will settle for a substitute.
In theory, a serial killer could reject all other easy prey until; at last, his "ideal" victim was to appear in circumstances perfectly suited to his caution. If that were often true, however, we may not have run across many instances of serial murders. But this intense and mounting hunger for real-life violence against a real-life captive can be contained only so long before it inevitably compels him to settle for second-best.
The ideal victim of a human serial killer may be a voluptuous blonde movie star or a beautiful brunette model, but his search for this richly imagined victim may well meet with failure. Failure is something the serial killer cannot tolerate, so he settles for an easier target, usually a prostitute, or a homeless or drug-addicted woman. These types of victims, although not the killer's "ideal or dream" victim, make easy targets. They are usually willing to go with the killer to another location with the lure of money and/or drugs, thus giving the serial killer the opportunity to have the victim on his turf.
Additionally, the killer may have prepared a killing scheme that can include restraints, knock-out drugs, or a variety of contingency plans that he has carefully prepared to snare his victim.
The first time he kills may not be perfectly choreographed. Sometimes it may actually take the perpetrator by surprise or be accidental in nature. But, inspired by the intense satisfaction the killing produces, he starts to plan in earnest. As he perfects his trade, future victims may increasingly undergo a more torturous, orchestrated, even ritualistic death.
<snipped from>
Serial Killers - A Homicide Detective's Take - By Nelson Andreu
http://www.expertlaw.com/library/investigators/serial_killers.html#victim-objectification
Credentials and Interest
Common Knowledge
Genesis of a Serial Killer
Victim Selection
Victim Objectification
Denouement
Case Histories
