Editors --- "Opinion" [2001] AltLawJl 98; (2001) 26(6) Alternative Law Journal 268

• OPINION
• Serial Killers

OPINION
Serial Killers

Reading crime novels such as those by Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs and Michael Connelly is great escapist reading. What will bring the serial killer 'undone? What is the modus operandi, what clues are left along the way? The crime novel provides a glimpse into a world many of us will thankfully never experience. The forensic pathologist, the police, the chilling visits to the crime scenes and morgue are all common ingredients in the story of the serial killer. The dogged investigator invariably gets his man and all is well with the world.

How narrow is the line between fact and fiction with the crime novel of the serial killer and the real thing? What makes a serial killer, are these people mad or bad? Samantha Helsham presents a challenging view in her article which suggests that the serial killer may not be evil but lacks the presence of serious emotional and cognitive pathologies and this renders the person incapable of any moral knowledge. Along this line of reasoning the serial killer is mentally defective. If, as some research suggests, the serial killer is a psychopath born with a brain disorder how then must the law deal with such a person? Helsham's article will no doubt stimulate much debate over this highly vexed question.

Kimberley Tyrrell takes us into the world of cinema and the representation of the serial killer in film. The profile as presented in the movie is in a number of cases very close to the description which emerges in recent research. The serial killer is portrayed generally as a white heterosexual male aged between 20 and 40 years, who has been abused as a child, is employed, and is able to function in social situations. The serial murderer kills over a period of days, weeks or months and generally sexually abuses his victims to gain a sense of power over them. Tyrrell provocatively raises the issue of why there is very little discourse in academic and popular cultural analyses about why the white male serial killer rarely has his race figured as an important element of the serial killer film. The article presents much thoughtful critique of the serial killer film and will no doubt provide many film buffs of this genre with food for thought.

Brian Simpson also questions whether the focus on the individual pathology of the serial killer might be misplaced. He argues that it may be time to refocus our concerns on the nature of society as a possible cause for the young white male serial killer. His concern is that many of the victims of serial killers are prostitutes and that this type of victim is too often portrayed as being a death of less importance than the death of the 'innocent woman'. Serial killing is, as the title suggests, a feminist issue which relates very much to a patriarchal society.

With all that is known about the serial killer, in the end it is the quality of the evidence gathered at the scene of the crime which is of crucial importance to establish the link between the killer and his victim. Gale Spring suggests that too often the importance of photography as an evidentiary tool is not heeded. He argues cogently for the need for appropriate standards to be developed for forensic photography at a State, national and international level.

He indicates how important the good photograph can be as a documentary record of transient evidence which will only exist for a short period of time. This can have particular significance in serial killer cases where similarities in evidence may not be apparent until a number of murders have been committed. Spring compares the role of the medical photographer with that of the forensic photographer in Australia and notes the value of standardised procedures in the medical field which would greatly benefit law enforcement in this country. The importance of standardised procedures are exemplified with the variance in appearance of the photographic example in Spring's article. Without knowing that the photographs were taken at the same time of the same person one could easily assume they were of different people. The visual impact of the photographs leaves a lasting impression of how valuable the skills of the forensic photographer can be in accurate documentary recording of evidence.

The serial killer continues to both fascinate and horrify society. It is to be hoped that as the special theme for this issue, the topic covered from a range of different views and disciplines will generate vigorous debate and further research.

Cheryl Simpson

Cheryl Simpson teaches legal studies at Flinders University.

ALTERNATIVE LAW JOURNAL