Modus Operandi (20 page)

Serial Killer as Kidnapper

When you have offenders who abduct children or adults for the purpose of killing them, called serial killers, we classify them as kidnappers. Most serial killers prefer a certain type of victim, often a person who will not be readily missed. Prostitutes and the homeless are ideal victims. Most prostitutes are loners and have no real contact with family members or loved ones on a regular basis. Quick notification of the absence of these victims is uncommon.

Most serial killers follow a pattern because they are comfortable with it. They figure if it worked once, it will surely work again. The abductor will select a certain type of victim and will stay within that range. This range includes age, hair color, body type and area of abduction along with area of disposal, which will be a remote, desolate area. The abductor lures the victim into his vehicle and once inside, he will overpower and secure the victim. He may use duct tape, rope or hand cuffs and will also have some type of weapon on him. He may first sexually abuse the victim, then slowly torture, and finally kill. Some will kill their victims just for the pleasure of killing.

Apprehending Kidnappers

The chances of apprehension of a kidnapper seeking a reward, especially in the United States, is great. The apprehension will he made through the many contacts the kidnappers have to make to secure the delivery of their reward or when they attempt to retrieve the ransom. The arrest comes either at the location of the drop off to the kidnappers or the ransom carrier will be followed through surveillance, back to where the victim is located.

Kidnappers as ransom seekers, other than the Asian gangs, do not generally think through the consequences of their actions. In past kidnappings, almost all kidnappers were apprehended.

Prostitution has been defined by the law as the practice of offering your body indiscriminately for money or its equivalent. The President's Commission on Law Enforcement reports that there were over 50,000 arrests for prostitution and commercialized vice in 1985. In 1992, the figures were 76,400 arrests nationwide, which assumes that approximately 65,000 persons were engaged in such activity with a total yearly income of $322 million. Other studies have claimed that prostitution involves 100,000 to 500,000 men and women in the United States and that the profession itself grosses more than a billion dollars a year.

It is a simple fact of life that some people either prefer to or have to pay for sex, and as long as there are people willing to pay for it, there will be others willing to sell it. It is a classic case of supply and demand, just like any business.

Citizens complain that prostitution makes it impossible to carry on legitimate businesses in some parts of the cities. New Yorkers lament that prostitutes have caused a deterioration of Times Square; Hollywood merchants claim their area has become known as a hookers' paradise; officials everywhere point an accusing finger at court decisions that they say have made it almost impossible to control prostitution effectively. Boston has attempted to segregate vice areas of the city into red zones, while in Salt Lake City, police have taken to arresting the clients of prostitutes known as
johns.
In other cities cooperating news media publish the names of men picked up for soliciting prostitutes. Periodic vice raids are used to round up prostitutes in many cities, but in spite of these and other efforts, prostitution continues to flourish. Some officials have urged that prostitution be legalized as it is in Germany and other parts of Europe, which means not so much legalization as regulation. In the United States, Nevada has more or less adopted such a plan. But what works in Nevada might not work in other areas of the country, since those areas of the state where prostitution is legalized are very small towns, the inhabitants of which are fewer than those in a block of urban apartment buildings.

Today's brothel is likely to be right around the corner in the form of a massage parlor, a nude photo club, an escort service, dial-a-massage, a sauna house or some other thinly disguised market for sexual services. The motive for the prostitute's client appears to remain much the same: the craving for sexual variety, perverse gratification and intercourse free of entangling commitments. As for the prostitute herself, the evidence suggests that now, as in the past, her activity is voluntary, representing for some a considerable range of advantages including flexible work hours, contact with diverse people of power and influence, a heightened sense of activity, and the opportunity to make substantial sums of money.

A Brief History of Prostitution

In ancient Greece the lowest prostitutes were street walkers and brothel inmates. Far above both were the
hetaerae,
who were distinguished by being educated in the arts and by serving only the wealthy and powerful. They provided entertainment and intellectual companionship, as well as sexual gratification. The
hetaerae,
drawn from the population, compensated for the fact that wives and daughters were not permitted to entertain, go outside the home, or acquire an education. In fact, Demosthenes summed it up when he said, "Man has the
hetaerae
for erotic enjoyments, girlfriends for daily use, and wives to bring up children and to be faithful housewives."

Similarly, Japan until very recently had three classes of women outside of respectable family life: the
joro
in brothels, the
jogoku
or unlicensed prostitutes on the streets or in bath houses, and the
geisha
or dancing girls. Trained in dancing, singing and other methods of entertaining guests in tea houses, geisha girls were an indispensable adjunct to Japanese entertainment. However, not all of them were open to prostitution, and if they were, they were selective in their customers.

In modern society about all that is left of prostitution is the commercial form, in which one party uses sex for pleasure, the other for money. To tie intercourse to sheer pleasure is to divorce it from both reproduction and from any sentimental social relationship. This does not mean that people feel as strongly about prostitution as they do about thieves or arsonists. A recent survey conducted by
McCall's
magazine found that only 7 percent of the respondents said they would clear the streets of prostitutes if they had the chance. The distaste for prostitution is manifested mainly by reluctance to have a bordello in the neighborhood, or to be identified with the business or its personnel. Otherwise, it does not seem to bother the general population.

Causes of Prostitution

If prostitution offends the moral principles of people, why does it exist? And, if it denigrates women, how does it recruit its members? To explain prostitution in economic terms is begging the question. Since prostitution is defined as selling sexual favors, one might say that retail merchandising has economic causes.

Prostitution arises from the demand for the prostitute's services. This need for service arises out of the regulation of sex itself and the limited liability of a commercial sexual relationship. If the customer has money, he can obtain satisfaction with no further obligations. In the case of a female prostitute, the only clients that she needs to procure are men. A john, or client of the prostitute, does not become enmeshed in courtship, friendship or marriage. Let's face it, every male finds himself sometimes, and some males find themselves most of the time, in circumstances where sexual release through more reputable channels is impossible.

Our experiences have shown that, of course, not all males visit prostitutes, but those who do depend on them for a major portion of their sexual activity. About 30 percent of men have never had contact with prostitutes. Of the rest, most have had only one or two experiences. No more than 15 to 20 percent of men visit a prostitute more often than a few times a year. This still leaves a substantial portion of the adult male population. For them, what does prostitution provide that other outlets cannot?

The primary advantage of prostitution for these men is its impartiality, impersonality and economy. Attracting and seducing a woman can be costly. By its effort to contain sexual acts in a meaningful and enduring social relationship, society creates advantages for prostitution. For less than the cost of a single date with a girl who is not a prostitute, a male can engage in whatever sexual fantasies he desires with a prostitute. Additionally, the impersonality of prostitution makes it particularly suited to strangers. The man away from his wife or circle of girlfriends cannot, in a short time, count on seducing a respectable woman. Also, since certain sexual acts are considered immoral for wives and sweethearts, the prostitute has an advantage. That is, the prostitute, as long as she gets paid, will usually perform 99.9 percent of the services requested by the client. The demand for prostitution will not be eliminated or seriously altered

by a change in the economic system. The underlying basis for the demand is inherent in human society.

Prostitute Categories

Now it's time to put on our hot pants, lipstick and high-heeled shoes and check out the action on the streets.

The Legalized Brothel

In some countries prostitution is
a
legal, commercial venture. Brothels are licensed and regulated by the government in an effort to minimize the negative impacts of venereal disease and organized crime. These two side effects of prostitution are generally present in situations where prostitution is illegal.

In Nevada, the practice of legalized brothels is accepted in almost all of the seventeen counties of the state. The Mustang Ranch, one of the fifty or more licensed brothels is the largest, doing an annual business of between S3 and $5 million. The house rules are not too strict. Drugs and sloppy clothes are not allowed. There are between twenty and twenty-five women working in this establishment at any given time. They are regularly inspected by physicians and are required to hang their health certificates on the walls. The average income of the women is approximately $600 to $700 per week, of which $300 goes for room and board. The women are free to accept or reject customers for any reason. They may, for example, discriminate against clients from different ethnic backgrounds. Whether or not the legal brothel has resulted in an increase or decrease in venereal disease or AIDS cannot be established. It has, however, decreased the activity of the police and courts in Nevada in dealing with prostitution.

The Illegal Brothel

In the United States most brothels that operate do so illegally. A common scene in New York City is luxurious east-side apartment houses, catering to New York and visiting businessmen.

Sue, the proprietor of the brothel, receives a minimum of $700 every few days tax free. A
trick,
which is a sexual act, costs anywhere from $35 to $75 and the money is divided equally with the hooker. Sue calls the hookers or prostitutes to work when they are needed. Sue is perpetually looking for new women to satisfy her customers. She usually hears of women from other hookers.

Sue considers her apartment a clean, respectable place that gentlemanly clientele can frequent. She avoids troublesome or aging hookers. Troublesome hookers are those who give out their home telephone numbers, which Sue considers stealing, and those who don't share the money that they have made from a client.

To prevent detection by the police, Sue pays off the doorman and the building manager, and the owners of the building seem oblivious as long as the rent is paid. Every two or three years, Sue changes her apartment and her telephone number, in the process dropping a few johns, who either showed violent tendencies or didn't pay enough money. However, Sue must always stay on the right side of the clients she drops because they can always go to the police.

The Street Walker

In many respects the street walker is at the bottom of the prostitution hierarchy. The most common scene that we have experienced is a young girl, either a runaway or a throwaway child, who drifts to the big city after leaving her home. She could be running away from sexual abuse by family members or friends. She often works as a waitress or clerk and for a time lives a rootless, disorganized life without friends and without ties to any social institutions. During this crucial period she is dissatisfied, tense, bitter and bewildered. She is far away from home and away from things that, even though they were uncomfortable, were her mainstay in her younger years. Her shiftless, alienated way of life brings her into contact with established prostitutes, who on the surface seem to be very well off and have good job security. Her morals are at a low, and she hungers for some kind of friendship and affection, so she will accept