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Body Posing

Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides

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Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized dynamics in homicide investigation. Staging might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized.

A careful and intelligently guided examination of the crime scene and of the forensically analyzable evidence found there gives direction to and often determines the success or failure of an investigation. It is clear, however, that some crime scenes are difficult to evaluate when the victim’s body and perhaps other elements of the scene have been deliberately manipulated.

A number of authors have defined staging as the purposeful alteration of a crime scene in an attempt to mislead investigators and to frustrate the criminal justice process. An example would be making a homicide appear to be a suicide. Staging does not refer to efforts taken by a surviving family member or other loved ones to cover or dress a victim in order to avoid embarrassment.

In death investigations,...

Additional Resource: Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides (3584 downloads )

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Crime Scene Staging: An Exploratory Study of the Frequency and Characteristics of Sexual Posing in Homicides

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Abstract

Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized homicide investigation phenomena. Even though staging and sexual posing might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized, there are no reliable data on the frequency of occurrences. The results of a survey administered to 46 trained homicide investigators indicated that while staging may be frequently observed at crime scenes, sexual posing occurs infrequently. Of an estimated 44,541 homicide investigations, respondents indicated that sexual posing was present in less than 1% of the cases (n = 428). Results also indicated that most often sexual posing, in contrast to crime scene staging, was typically not carried out to mislead, but the offenders' motivation was more often based on a psychological need for sexual fantasizing or to satisfy anger at the victim. Homicide case examples are presented and discussed to elaborate on the characteristics of sexually-posed crime scenes The scene of a homicide is the most important criminal

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NCJRS | Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides

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Abstract:

Analysis of the cases revealed three specific motives for posing: fantasy (offenders pose a body to satisfy a perverse sexual fantasy), retaliation (offenders pose a body out of anger), and staging (offenders pose a body to make it appear to be a sex-related murder to mislead the police investigation). This study provides investigators with a frame of reference regarding staged homicide scenes involving posing. Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized dynamics in homicide investigations. Staging, if it goes unrecognized, might misdirect an investigation. This study collected data from 43 renowned homicide experts who regularly provided expert testimony and advanced training in their particular field of expertise, and who supervised or consulted on 44,541 homicide investigations collectively. Of these homicide investigations, 185 cases used for this analysis maintained full documentation, such as crime scene photographs, the offender’s statements and confession, and investigative reports....

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