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Sadistic offenders are often described as individuals who are forensically aware, who carefully plan their offenses, and preselect the location of their crime. Despite this emphasis on strategies to avoid police detection, no study has specifically examined whether this behavior or trait was specific to sadistic offenders. Utilizing a sample of 350 cases of sexual homicide from Canada, sadistic sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) are compared with nonsadistic SHOs on their investigative awareness. Results from logistic regression analyses show that sadistic SHOs are more likely to use various precautions to avoid detection and select a deserted location, in comparison with nonsadistic offenders. In addition, sadistic SHOs, despite having a lesser time to body recovery than nonsadistic offenders, are more likely to see their case remain unsolved. Implications for the assessment of sexual sadism as well as for the police investigations will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to establish whether medico-legal practitioners differ in their autopsy conclusions within and across medico-legal institutions. Data include 459 violent deaths (homicides, suicides, and accidents) autopsy reports written by more than 20 death certifiers from four medico-legal institutions in two countries (France and the United States). Multinomial models show that compared with accidental deaths, weapon use and decedents' characteristics both influence a homicide verdict, but not a suicide one. In addition, French practitioners are more likely than Americans to reach a conclusion of homicide or suicide compared with accident, and homicides are more likely to be certified by male practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]