The sex killer

Thirteen sex killers were compared to 13 nonsex killers and 13 nonhomicidal sexually aggressive men on sexual history, substance abuse, history of violence, mental illness and personality, brain pathology and endocrine abnormalities. There were more similarities among the three groups than differences. Among the findings, the presence of transvestism and the early appearance of sadism differentiated the sex killers from the other two groups. Sex killers also killed by strangulation more often than nonsex killers and more often victimized a female stranger. The sex killer was more often diagnosed as ‘antisocial’ personality and ‘sadist’ than the other two groups. They were more often considered psychotic at the time of their offence and more often considered not guilty by reason of insanity. Directions for future research are noted.