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Chapter 14 - A Focus on Males in the Family

from Part II - Biographical Sketches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

Frederick Toates
Affiliation:
The Open University, Milton Keynes
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Summary

This chapter looks at killers who were subject to abuse from their fathers. Heterosexual killer Richard Ramirez was subject to severe punishment and witnessed punishment of his brothers, while his cousin showed him photographs of the sexual assault of Vietnamese women. He consumed large amounts of drugs, which could have had a sensitizing effect on his violent tendencies. It appears that masturbatory fantasy involved domination and sexual violence against women. Danny Rolling is a heterosexual killer who had a terrible upbringing in which nothing seemed to go right. Rolling described the thrill of house-breaking. He took souvenirs from his killings and left his victims sexually posed, suggesting a signature. He described a struggle between right and wrong and showed dissociation. Heterosexual lust killer Keith Jesperson described the thrill that he derived from arson. Jane Toppan described a sexual thrill that she got from killing her patients with morphine injections.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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