Re: Crimes of Passion and "Overkill"
I've been doing some reading and thinking about whether 17 stab wounds, in and of itself, is indicative of a crime of passion. One key word keeps popping into my head that's missing in the Jovin murder: "overkill".
Recall that only one wound was reported to be fatal. For comparison, here's another account of a murder believed to be of passion:
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Near a roadside shrine, Pete Lopez was gunned down. The crime scene contained few clues, but sheer excess suggests it wasn't a random killing.
By Jessie Milligan
TRIBUNE REPORTER
SOCORRO -- If every murderer leaves a signature, Pete Lopez's left an ugly, illegible scrawl.
The first gunshots knocked him to the reddish-brown dirt in front of a roadside shrine to St. Jude, the Roman Catholic patron saint of desperate causes.
He came to rest on his back, probably dead, but the killer with a 9 mm weapon did not stop firing.
About 15 bullets struck his body, leaving so many entry, exit, re-entry and re-exit wounds that later, during the autopsy, a medical investigator in Albuquerque was unable to tally the exact number of times he'd been shot. Twice in the face at close range. Once near the heart at close range. From a farther distance, two shots to the chest. Repeated shots to the arms, to the groin.
A gun jammed three times. The jammed bullets were expelled, and the shooting continued.
Bullet casings flew.
The killer or killers fled.
But who did it? The signature wasn't that clear.
A police investigator who later arrived at the scene was stunned by what he saw: "There's a message here," he thought. "The overkill. The shots to the face and groin. This wasn't a random killing. This is passion -- by someone who knew him."
abqtrib.com
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My guess is the 17 stab wounds were inflicted in a matter of seconds. They were all to the same area of the body. The intent was not to torment her. The intent was not to dehumanize her through gruesome wounds. The intent was simply to kill her. Contrast that to the above.
- Jeff |
