BooksChatter: ✉ Five Steps to Profiling a Serial Killer

Today author Carolyn Arnold takes over our blog to tell us about "Five Steps to Profiling a Serial Killer". Carolyn Arnold is the author of the Brandon Fisher FBI Series, a Police Procedural Mystery, currently spanning six stand-alone novels.

“I find that a lot of suspense books nowadays often make the lead character this perfect cop or agent who is rugged and tough, never backs down from a fight, always gets their man and almost seems untouchable. But the lead character in this book is far from any of those things. He is a new agent, he doesn’t always know what to do, he has made mistakes in his past, he allows his emotions to rule him, and he seems to seek approval from his fellow agents as to whether or not he is a good agent.

“And what makes Brandon Fisher even better is the fact that he is surrounded by other characters you can’t help but love. Such as Paige the strong willed agent who shares a personal history with Brandon and can more than handle herself in a world of evil. Zachery the smart agent who has a photographic memory and a bit of a sarcastic attitude. And Jack the supervisory agent who is rugged, tough, holds little to hope and has seen more than his fair share of bad crap. I can’t wait to read what’s next for this amazing team of agents!” ~ Danielle Young, Consuming Words

The Series || Author's Guest Post || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

Five Steps to Profiling a Serial Killer

by Carolyn Arnold

He’s five seven, in his thirties, walks with a limp, works in temporary placements, and is single. He targets women because he was abused by his single mother, who slept around with men while he was growing up.

If you’re a fan of serial-killer fiction, whether it be on TV or in books, you are probably left shaking your head sometimes when the FBI sees some crime scene photos and immediately has a profile of the killer. What are they, psychic?

As it turns out, profiling is actually a science, though not an exact one. In fact, many profiles prove to have been wrong once the unsub is caught. So why bother profiling at all? Well, even if some facts are off, profiling establishes a foundation from which investigators can begin their search for—and hopefully catch!—the killer.

So what do investigators consider when building a profile?

Investigators focus on the crime itself. What do the crime scene photos show? What are the autopsy findings? Are there any witnesses, and if so, what are they saying? What have police officers noted in their reports?
Investigators visit the crime scene. They use their six senses—sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and intuition—and make a record of their reactions. They analyze where the body was found, whether the murder was committed in the same location that the body was found or the body was dumped. They question any and all aspects of the location and what it might tell them about the killer and/or the killer’s victim selection, aka victimology.
Investigators look for a signature or method of operation (MO). Don’t confuse these two terms, though, as they are not the same thing. Every crime has a MO, which is how the murder was carried out, but a signature is not present in all cases. A signature only exists when a killer chooses to leave behind a personal mark.
Investigators consider what kind of unsub might commit the crime at hand. For example, are they organized or disorganized? Are they a hunter or a sexual sadist? Is gender, age, or religion relevant? Is there is a geographical element to the crimes?
Investigators take a closer look at the victims. They factor in similarities and determine whether the victims are low-, medium-, or high-risk people. Can any of the victims be connected to one or more person or place? How were the victims approached? Is there evidence of resistance, or is it possible the victims knew their killer?

Sometimes the answers to all these questions can be harder to piece together than others.

In my novel, Remnants, Brandon Fisher and his FBI team struggle to build a profile on the killer they’re hunting, as the identities of the victims are unknown and aspects of the MO vary among the murders. But when a torso painted blue and missing its heart is found—something they haven’t seen in any of the previous deaths—the case takes a dark turn that begins to provide them with some new leads.

As the story unfolds, the FBI is drawn deeper and deeper into a creepy psychological nightmare. One thing is clear, though, even if they don’t have all the facts yet: The killing isn’t going to stop until they figure it all out. And they are running out of time…

I invite you to read Remnants, and the other titles in the Brandon Fisher FBI series, and profile alongside the FBI to stop a serial killer in Savannah, Georgia.