Researchers at Murdoch University have identified a new strategy to connect serial killers to victims based on subtle similarities. The idea for the study came to a head when Mr. Chapman was watching the Ted Bandi movie, Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil, and Vail. “Ted Bundy’s victims had a number of physical similarities about them that I think the rest of us, non-psychopaths have similarities between sexual partners such as ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends, said Mr Chapman.
“We found that the geometries of the faces of most of the victims in Bundi were randomly more than the faces randomly selected from the public database which provides the first demonstration of what we call the serial killer victim’s facial resemblance linkage”. Mr Chapman said the potential applications of the study were far-reaching, providing law enforcement with an additional intelligence tool to work on unresolved and cold cases.
“Let us say in a situation like this, the 10 known victims of sexually induced serial killers we may be able to look back at the unresolved case and find the victims who may be considered the 11th victim”. The study used the same techniques used in facial biometrics, including technologies that can be used to unlock phones using our faces and pass through airports using digital passports. They used this technology to analyze photographs of Bundi victims and found that most of them shared facial geometries, a significant amount compared to analysis of random faces selected from public databases.
Chapman and colleagues called the analysis a “link between the faces of serial killer victims” and hoped the method would have applications as an additional intelligence tool that could help law enforcement find new information about old crimes. The technology is still in the early stages of development and requires more legitimacy and more advanced means of data collection before it is suitable for the purpose, but if successful, the novel’s method can identify victims who have not previously been associated with serial killers, providing valuable information in ongoing cases, Can stop.
