The Psychology of Dexter - Bella DePaulo [28]
If we were to examine only the cases of Mary and Mike, we might see more to the victimology than what is really there. Both of those victims were white and middle-aged. However, if we take a look at Dexter’s other victims, we can immediately discount both characteristics. In regard to race, we need to look no further than the first season’s Jorge Castillo and Alex Timmons, a sniper, who were, respectively, Hispanic and African American. Turning to age, we see that both of these victims were considerably younger than Mary and Mike, but if we still are not convinced we can look to Freebo, a drug dealer and murderer of two college girls in season three, who was likely in his twenties when Dexter killed him. It is easy to see how, without the benefit of insider knowledge, just studying the traits of a few similar victims could lead to inaccurate beliefs about victimology.
Still, victimology has its uses. In many cases, understanding a serial killer’s victimology can lead to a greater understanding of his psychology. In season four, the Trinity Killer was so named because he was originally believed to kill in patterns of three—first a young woman, followed by a mother, and then a man. This basic victimology was first uncovered by Lundy and, paired with the MO, allowed the investigator to link many murders over a number of decades to Trinity. In Miami and too close to his man, Lundy was killed by Trinity’s daughter Christine, but Dexter persisted where the investigator left off. He soon uncovered a fourth victim in Trinity’s pattern—a young boy. We then learned that Trinity’s victims’ characteristics bore a shocking similarity to the psychological traumas he had experienced as a child. In fact, the young boy that began each of his killing cycles represented Trinity’s childhood lost due to the tragic death of his family. The murders that followed represented each of their deaths in sequence. First, there was the accidental death of his sister, who bled out from a cut to her femoral artery after falling in the shower. Following her loss was that of his mother, who presumably jumped to her death from grief. Finally, his father died from a trauma to the head, possibly inflicted by Trinity.
Although Trinity’s victimology was more apparent on the surface than Dexter’s, we can also see a strong link in both serial killers between their psychology and their choice in victims. Of course, this is because we have the benefit, as viewers, of insider knowledge, which includes information about both killers’ personal histories, MOs, and signatures. Combined, this information allows us to draw the most accurate conclusions regarding victimology. Most criminal investigators do not have the same benefit.
The Nail in the Coffin
We set out to discover the story told by Dexter’s crimes. Using three popular aspects of crime scene investigation (modus operandi, signature, and victimology), we were able to analyze Dexter’s criminal behaviors, psychological traits, needs, deviancy, and fantasies. If Dexter becomes sloppy, a similar analysis completed by his own police department could readily lead to his arrest. Due to frequent inconsistency in victimology and the evolution of MO over time, signature, according to some experts, can be the most useful tool for linking a series of crimes to one criminal and apprehending him.
This certainly seems to apply in Dexter’s case. Clean crime scenes, dumped bodies, and dissimilar victim characteristics leave little or no lead with regard to MO or victimology for investigators. Dexter