They met when he walked into her office to inquire about a sizable life insurance policy. He was about forty years old, moderately handsome, and very well dressed. Ann said she was impressed by how attentive he was during their initial conversation. Although his purpose ostensibly was business, she remembered that they touched on many personal topics that day, including their respective marriages and expectations in life.
Six months later Lyle called to say that he was interested in another, much larger policy. They met for lunch at an expensive marina restaurant. At the time Ann was having marital problems, and she was depressed. Lyle’s compliments and the undivided attention he lavished on her during their meal were more than welcome. She was in need of a sympathetic listener.
He was intelligent, articulate, and also very funny. Their lunch lasted for several hours, and then they went for a drive. Eventually, they checked into a motel, where Lyle proved to be a considerate sexual partner.
Over the next month he sent flowers and other gifts and called often, becoming a confidante with whom Ann was comfortable sharing any problem. Their sex life intensified, too. To demonstrate her love, Ann agreed to Lyle’s request that she perform oral sex. He seemed extremely appreciative, which pleased her a great deal.
Robert Leroy Anderson. Like many sexually sadistic killers, his homicidal fantasies dated back to his early teens. South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
Glenn Walker. He led authorities to Larisa Dumansky’s remains. Robert Anderson later plotted to have Walker killed. South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
One of Anderson’s tire spikes. He fashioned them in his employer’s machine shop. South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
The Blue Ford Bronco. Anderson painted it black with water soluble paint the day he abducted and murdered Piper Streyle, then washed it off. A plywood platform in the rear was fitted with wrist and ankle restraints. South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
Piper Streyle’s torn shirt (ABOVE LEFT) and a photo taken inside Anderson’s mother’s house (ABOVE RIGHT). Searchers found a crevice between the wall and the ceiling in the basement. Using a hand-held mirror to see inside it, they found one victim’s necklace, another victim’s ring (PICTURED), and a gun. Both photos: South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
The mutilated doll and mannequin. Acting out against inanimate objects is normally not a crime. However, it may be the first evidence of a violent fantasy. Both photos: Collection of Roy Hazelwood.
Polly Nichols (I), Annie Chapman (II), and Elizabeth Stride (III). Three prostitutes who were victims of Jack the Ripper. Collection of Roy Hazelwood.
Faryion Edward Wardrip. At the time of his arrest, the Texas serial killer was telling friends that he planned to become a minister. Wichita County District Attorney’s Office.
James Mitchell DeBardeleben. Counterfeiter, rapist, kidnapper, and sadistic killer. He kept detailed records of his crimes and his fantasies. United States Secret Service.
The parking lot where Christoper DiStefano (LEFT) left the nude body of Christine Burgerhof (BELOW). Both photos: Pennsylvania State Police.
The undisturbed desk of Ms. Burgerhof at the store front massage parlor. Pennsylvania State Police.
The closet from which the safe was removed. Note the hammer that was used to loosen the safe from the shelving. Pennsylvania State Police.
A massage bed with wood fragments, coat hanger, and two screwdrivers used to remove the safe from the closet shelving. Pennsylvania State Police.
DiStefano’s bedroom wall reflects his “shrine” to Christine Burgerhof. Pennsylvania State Police.
Ms. Burgerhof’s picture was found beneath the covers of DiStefano’s bed. Pennsylvania State Police.
He encouraged Ann to leave her husband, and she did so for a month. Even after a marital reconciliation, Ann continued to meet and to have a sexual relationship with Lyle. Not surprisingly, her marriage eventually failed.
She moved into an apartment and gave herself even more fully to Lyle. Ann told me she had fallen so deeply in love with him that she believed he could never do anything to harm her.
Then their relationship began to change. Gradually, he induced her into smoking crack cocaine, and this habit became a repeated feature of their relationship. She would go to his house, and he would insist that she smoke crack before any other activities took place. One evening, while Ann was under the influence of the drug, he had anal intercourse with her. For the remaining year of their relationship, he never had vaginal sex with her again.
Step by step, with infinite patience, Lyle seduced her into a world of perversity and pain. Certain now of her emotional dependence on him, he told her that he preferred women with large buttocks. To please him, she agreed to consume large quantities of calorie-laden liquids. As Ann’s buttocks grew larger, Lyle periodically would measure and photograph them. Of course, this increased weight further lowered Ann’s self-esteem and dependency. Who else, she reasoned, would love her but Lyle?
Increasing her use of cocaine, he also began inserting foreign objects into her, including large flashlights, an ironing table leg, and a large cylindrical wooden club that he called “the donkey dick.” He recorded these and other acts with photographs as well as with charts and notes that were seized during the subsequent criminal investigation.
As is true with almost all sexual sadists, Lyle was aroused by bondage. Using ropes, belts, and handcuffs, he bound Ann in a variety of ways and postures, all designed to cause her pain and humiliation. He would fasten her wrists and ankles together. He would place her facedown with her wrists tied to her knees and with her buttocks raised to facilitate anal intercourse. Lyle routinely beat her so hard with a whip that she bled. Soon the whip end became frayed and had to be replaced.
Another favorite fantasy prop among sexual sadists is the slave contract. Lyle drafted and forced Ann to sign one that read: “I, Ann, do hereby bequeath to Lyle total ownership of my person and possessions. This entities him to do whatever he pleases to me. He has the right to expect total obedience and the right to impose punishment as he deems necessary. I release Lyle from all liability, both personal and financial. I will be responsible for all of my own bills. I have willingly entered into this contract.” (Signed)
“I became convinced I was his slave,” Ann later told me, “and he could do anything he wanted to me, even kill me. I didn’t enjoy what he was doing, and I didn’t want him to do these things to me. But when I refused to cooperate, he would hurt me so bad that I was afraid not to do as he ordered. If I did what he wanted, he would be nice and not hurt me so much. Because of this I wanted to be the best slave possible, and I worked hard at it.”
Among the humiliations Lyle forced on Ann was anal sex with at least two other men. On each occasion he forced her to get high by smoking cocaine, bound her, beat her, and placed her in a closet on her knees. He then led the other man into the closet and told him to penetrate her anally. Ann recalled that on one occasion Lyle instructed the other man to “fuck her so hard her head hits the wall.”
Interestingly, he would not permit the man to ejaculate.
Lyle isolated Ann from family and friends, but he could not completely mask the horrors he inflicted. Ann’s productivity dropped at work. On several occasions she had no choice but to wear clothing inappropriate to the season in order to cover her bruises. With nowhere to turn, she continued to accept the horrendous abuse.
Then Lyle demanded that Ann quit her job and devote her entire life to being his slave. She told me that her job was her final link to sanity, and she realized that if she complied with his demand to quit, she would not survive physically or emotionally.
One day, after he had gone out, she somehow found the courage to make a break. She gathered together the Polaroids he’d taken of her buttocks, plus the frayed whip, the written scripts she’d been forced to follow as he assaulted her, her bloody clothing, and fled.
Ann’s Quest for Justice
Ann
’s first step was to enter a substance-abuse program to kick the cocaine habit that Lyle had induced. Upon completion of the lengthy program, she went to the police to file rape, assault and battery, and false imprisonment charges against him.
The two Los Angeles police detectives who were assigned Ann’s case realized the difficulty of making such charges stick in court. How were they to prove that she wasn’t a masochist who had gone along voluntarily? Still, the two men were convinced of Lyle’s criminal behavior, and they vigorously investigated the case.
After reviewing the detectives’ findings, a male assistant prosecutor also thought the case too difficult to prove and declined to take the matter to court. A year later, however, he was replaced by Tamia Hope. She wanted justice for Ann. “I’ll try the son of a bitch,” Tamia reportedly said after hearing the details of Ann’s ordeal.
One potential obstacle was Ann herself, who feared confronting Lyle in court. She was unsure of her ability to stop him from regaining control over her. She asked that she be allowed to hold a stuffed animal during her testimony, as that might give her the strength to get through it. Tamia was supportive, and the judge approved the unusual request.
It worked. After effectively recounting her grim story at a preliminary hearing with Lyle sitting nearby, she told us, with some pride and relief in her voice, “He’s not as big as he used to be.” I thought to myself, What a wonderfully telling statement.
Tamia Hope proved herself a resourceful prosecutor, and I admired her strategy. Aware that Lyle would probably claim Ann was a consenting partner in everything that took place, she charged him with several crimes for which Ann’s consent or lack of consent were less of an issue or no issue at all. For example, she filed multiple counts of illegal possession of cocaine.
Hope also charged Lyle with false imprisonment, assault and battery, and accessory to rape. The accessory count became possible after the police had identified one of the men whom Lyle had invited to have anal sex with Ann in the closet. As part of a plea bargain, that man agreed to testify against Lyle.
Drug possession wasn’t going to be difficult to prove, since cocaine was seized during a search of Lyle’s residence. The charges of false imprisonment and assault would depend upon whether the judge believed that Ann was truly a victim and not a willing participant.
Tamia Hope was more than equal to the task. First, she had me explain under oath what sexual sadism is and how these men characteristically act out their aberrant fantasies against consenting and nonconsenting partners.
There wasn’t much that Lyle’s attorney could do to refute my testimony because at no time did I say that his client was a sexual sadist. I simply explained the beast, but didn’t give him a name.
Then the two detectives testified effectively about their interview of Ann and what they had learned in their subsequent investigation.
Then Ann testified. Unsurprisingly, she was subjected to a brutal cross-examination. Lyle’s attorney tried to demonstrate what he called her “willing participation” and attempted to document his argument with established facts.
One was the undisputed fact that Ann had, for months, driven to Lyle’s home on Friday evenings and returned to work on Monday mornings. She had also purchased some of Lyle’s sadistic paraphernalia for him, including the dog collar and the dildo.
The attorney’s intent was to characterize Ann as a masochist who didn’t just endure Lyle’s sadism but was aroused by it. She was shaken by the accusations and innuendo but clutched her stuffed animal and firmly rebutted the lawyer, explaining that what he called “willing participation” was really just fear of what Lyle would do if she didn’t comply.
Afterward, we all agreed that the single most important prosecution witness at the hearing was a psychiatrist. He testified that after examining Ann for several hours, he believed she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was therefore incapable of giving informed consent to her own abuse. The defense naturally attacked that opinion, but the psychiatrist was magnificent on the stand: calm, firm, professional, and highly credible.
The defense lawyer resorted to a familiar tactic: If you can’t attack the evidence, attack the collector of the evidence. He asked the psychiatrist how much the state of California was paying him. But the defense attorney had forgotten the first rule of a lawyer in court: Never ask a question to which you don’t know the answer.
In a clear voice the doctor said he had waived his fee. Because he had never seen or heard of such a horrendous crime, he had examined Ann at no cost and agreed to testify without compensation. He had also volunteered to treat her at no cost until he believed she had recovered from PTSD.
The defense had no further questions.
Rather than risk the impact such testimony might have on Lyle’s jury, the defense agreed to a plea bargain. Plea bargains are not unusual in such cases. Once the issue of consent has been overcome, the defense is confronted with dealing with a jury of citizens who tend to focus, not on the complicated nuances of the law, but rather on the horrors that one human being can inflict on another.
I believe it likely that many of the battered spouses seen by mental health professionals and victim advocates may also be compliant victims of sexual sadists. These men may go unidentified because of the battering’s masking effect—the treater focuses only on the battering and not the rest of his behavior—or because the professional does not have the experience to recognize the sexual sadism in the relationship.
When I teach a course that includes discussion of compliant victims, it is not unusual for psychologists in the class to begin questioning their female patients, probing to see if they, too, are in a sadistic relationship. Judging by the phone calls and letters I receive from these professionals, many of the women are.
Tragically, many cases of sexual sadism remain hidden from society because, by their very nature, the compliant victims are unable to reach out for help.
8
Profiling
“Discovery,” the chemist Albert Szent-Györgyi once said, “consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.”
In Szent-Györgyi’s case, the discovery was vitamin C. The Hungarian Nobelist’s insight applies equally well though to the study of aberrant minds, particularly to profiling them. When done correctly, a profile is a detailed analysis that reveals and interprets significant features of a crime that previously had escaped notice or understanding. Profiling is thinking about a case in a way no one else has.
Let’s try it out.
At 2:00 A.M. on a summer Thursday not too long ago, a state trooper stopped for a cup of coffee at a convenience store located on a heavily traveled four-lane road. He found the store’s front doors open and all the lights on, but the clerk, eighteen-year-old Kathy,* was nowhere to be seen.
Her car was parked outside. On the counter by the register were a quart of chocolate milk, which had begun to sweat, and a package of powdered-sugar miniature donuts. Kathy’s purse was in its usual place on a shelf behind the counter. Nothing seemed to be missing from it.
The store lacked both an alarm system and surveillance cameras. There were no signs of a struggle, and an appropriate amount of money was in the cash register, suggesting that no theft had occurred. The rear door was locked and chained.
The officer found a telephone beneath the counter. According to phone company records, Kathy had made no calls that evening. Her last known customer was a young man who had purchased some gas and milk at 1:10 A.M. He was cleared of any involvement in the disappearance.
Nothing was known of Kathy’s fate until nine months later when two rabbit hunters came upon her skeletal remains twenty-seven miles away. The men had been hunting in a remote area accessible only via an unpaved road that ended on an undeveloped parcel of land about two miles square, bounded by farms and pastures. Its owner resided in another state and had no contact with the property other than to pay taxes on it.
The hunters
were walking about 500 yards from the road when they came across some lingerie, pornographic magazines, and an inflatable doll. They ignored this material and continued to hunt. About 250 yards deeper into the woods, they began to follow a path cut through the heavy scrub-tree overgrowth.
Approximately 125 feet farther on, they encountered a circular clearing about twelve feet in diameter. In the center of the clearing was a wooden rack shaped like a large upright X. Across the top of the rack was a wooden pole with rope suspended from it. Three leather straps were attached to each of the two wooden cross pieces. The hunters noticed a woman’s slip, obviously weather-worn, hanging from the center of the rack.
They immediately called the police.
A Chilling Discovery
One of the first items that officers noted at the scene was a continuous length of colored, plastic-coated wire that led into and away from the clearing. In one direction it led back down the route the hunters had taken along the cleared path, past the doll, lingerie, and pornography, to the dead-end road. The wire also led in the opposite direction from the rack. Investigators followed it for fifty feet until they found scattered bones and tattered clothes: Kathy’s remains.
The clothing appeared to have been cut from her body. Around her neck were the remnants of her brassiere, together with two circular lengths of twisted coat hanger wire. One piece was five inches in diameter and the other three inches. The victim’s hair was entwined in each.
None of her bones were broken or fractured. The medical examiner determined that Kathy had been strangled to death with the smaller piece of wire.
Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide And The Criminal Mind Page 12
