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Body Transportation after Homicides: Offender and Offense Characteristics
Author(s) -
Lee Seo Jin,
Park Jisun
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13989
Subject(s) - homicide , poison control , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , blunt , medical emergency , torso , medicine , psychology , forensic engineering , criminology , engineering , surgery , pathology , anatomy
Body transportation is defined as moving the body of the victim from the scene of a homicide to another location. We analyzed data on 513 South Korean homicide cases with convictions to compare 104 homicides involving the transportation of victims’ bodies with 409 homicides that did not. Offenders who transported their victims’ bodies were significantly younger and more likely to be related to the victims and were less likely to use sharp instruments and more likely to use blunt instruments or strangle the victims than offenders who did not. Victims of homicide involving body transportation were more likely to suffer injuries to the neck and head and less likely to suffer injuries to the torso. Finally, offenders who transported victims’ bodies were more likely to have planned the offense and destroyed evidence. The present findings have practical implications for police investigations.