Modus Operandi and Signature

[Mitch Rowe]

I dont like the idea of MO and Signature being define as if they were two separate and distinct acts.
The way I define Signature is akin to a handwritten Signature.
The goal is to write your name but along the way you are making un/semi/consious decisions wich are affecting the way the ink meets the paper.
I refrain from imagining what JTR did but I use the results of what he did to evaluate whether I see some kind of Signature.

Example:
Part of JTRs MO is to kill the Women. A Signature he leaves behind while doing so is the deep cuts to the throat.
JTR could have chose to kill old invalid Women and mutilated them as his MO.
JTR chose Prostitutes instead. Thats a Signature.

[FrankO]

Hi c.d.,

But take this football analogy (and I mean the real kind not the other kind where you wear shorts, if you get my drift)---let's say a team has a reputation for running the football, I mean really pounding it up the middle. Very physical. That's their signature or MO. But now they play a team where the defense is much faster and bigger than they are used to. They get nowhere running the ball so now they are forced to pass. In other words, they adapt to the situation. So where you see Jack being inconsistent and maybe not Jack, I simply see him adapting to the situation and doing what he needs to do.

In your analogy, which is a nice one, one might say Jack was driven by his desire to score. This would lead to his signature, the scoring itself. How he got there, would be MO and could change, depending on the situation. So, in your example the very physical pounding up the middle wouldn't be signature, but 'only' MO. Or at least, that's the way I see it.

All the best,
Frank

[Doctor X]

. . . and I see not your question directed to me.

Can you link to it?

Thanks,

Yours curiously,

--J.D.

[Doctor X]

Hey,

I, asked, you, for, the, information, about, the, digestive, system, and, you, did, not, reply,Doc,

Sorry, I must have missed the question. I will look for it.

--J.D.

[NOV9]

No! USE the commas!!!

All of the COOOL people use them. . . .

--J.,D.

Hey,

I, asked, you, for, the, information, about, the, digestive, system, and, you, did, not, reply,Doc,

Wether,you,like,it,or,not,have,a,nice,weekend,

NOV9,

[Doctor X]

No! USE the commas!!!

All of the COOOL people use them. . . .

--J.,D.

[NOV9]

Hi NOV9

Nothing at all wrong with the spelling and grammar there, though the commas after the abbreviation full stops may be deemed by some people as unnecessary .

Thanks for the input, I'll try to watch for them.

NOV9

[Stephen Thomas]

Please excuse my spelling, and grammar, my apologies to those that might be offended by it.
NOV9

Hi NOV9

Nothing at all wrong with the spelling and grammar there, though the commas after the abbreviation full stops may be deemed by some people as unnecessary .

[NOV9]

The digestive system

1: Food passes from mouth to stomach approx., 10 seconds.

2: From the stomach to the small intestines approx., 3 hours.

3: From the stomach to the middle of small intestines approx., 6 hours.

4: From the stomach to the large intestines approx., 18 hours.

5: From the stomach to the colon approx., 32 hours.

This is common knowledge for forensic studies.
It is used for time line study.

Please excuse my spelling, and grammar, my apologies to those that might be offended by it.

NOV9

[paul emmett]

I do think Jack is cold, calculating AND adaptive. He does get away after all, and if ya keep runnin' the ball ya get tackled. But doesn't adaptability go with rationality?

I'm off to Friday lunch. See you much later.

Good thread.

[c.d.]

Hi Michael,

Serial killers can be rational or irrational, consistent or inconsistent and a combination of all the above just like so called normal people.

But take this football analogy (and I mean the real kind not the other kind where you wear shorts, if you get my drift)---let's say a team has a reputation for running the football, I mean really pounding it up the middle. Very physical. That's their signature or MO. But now they play a team where the defense is much faster and bigger than they are used to. They get nowhere running the ball so now they are forced to pass. In other words, they adapt to the situation. So where you see Jack being inconsistent and maybe not Jack, I simply see him adapting to the situation and doing what he needs to do.

c.d.

[paul emmett]

I think the notion that all serial killers are mad, and therefore incapable of planning or executing methodically is a myth,

Hello, Michael. I agree, and I like "executing methodically." I think JTR was methodical; I think he was cold and calculating--and driven by fantasy. So I am drawn to the concept of a signature, but I find it difficult to characterize one with a manifest action.

He wants control, for example, so at times he takes--possesses--an organ, at times he poses the body, at times he leaves an apron, . . .. Control is what seems basic to me, and I'm sure that control is a focal point of Jack's fantasies. But taking control is manifested in so many DIFFERENT ways.

So I ask again cuz I'm stumped, what is he driven to do ALL the time?

What puzzles me is why anybody would expect a serial killer to act in a rational and consistent manner.

c.d.

Well I guess we both have questions then cd.

I think the notion that all serial killers are mad, and therefore incapable of planning or executing methodically is a myth, and some like BTK kill methodically. The method of dispatch might change, but I dont think sequences and methods that have been field tested to work very well needed to change at all for this guy to still have been mad, and a serial killer.

Serial killers kill serially, not always recklessly.

Best regards mate.

[c.d.]

Hi, c.d.

First, couldn't it be irrational and consistent? Second, I do think that a serial killer, a neurotic, or a psychotic can at times function most rationally and consistently.

Hi Paul,

Yes, I agreee completely. It is hard enough to predict the behavior of the average person let alone that of a serial killer.

c.d.

[paul emmett]

What puzzles me is why anybody would expect a serial killer to act in a rational and consistent manner.

Hi, c.d.

First, couldn't it be irrational and consistent? Second, I do think that a serial killer, a neurotic, or a psychotic can at times function most rationally and consistently.