Abstract

The location and method of disposal of a homicide victim’s body can seriously affect the success of a criminal investigation. The location of a body is of particular forensic importance as both the body and the scene are essential sources of evidence and information about the victim and the perpetrator. From the perspective of the victim’s loved ones, finding the body facilitates the grieving process and accelerates “closure”. Indeed, without a body, the investigation is severely hampered. We propose that the relationship between the victim and offender influences the method and location of the disposal of the victim’s remains.

We examined 228 solved, UK, non-serial homicides which occurred between 1920 and 2020, through an exploratory open-source search strategy, and Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England and Wales. A Chi-Square Test of Independence and a Two-Step Cluster Analysis explored relationships between the victim-offender relationship, homicide location, and body disposal location, efforts, and methods.

Our findings show that a statistically significant relationship exists between the victim-offender relationship and the homicide location, and the body disposal location. As a result, our findings make a significant contribution to existing knowledge of the factors that influence choice of location and disposal method of victims’ bodies.

No database exists to capture homicides in the UK with elements of disposal, and so it was only possible to explore this project through an open-source, non-invasive research approach. Thus, our study recognises further research with UK police agencies could provide a more systematic dataset.

This is the first scientific study to compare the location and disposal method of the body with the victim-offender relationship. It could be used to inform UK police search strategies to aid the location of the victim remains, and, unlike a simple geographical profiling tool, it may even be used to predict the victim-offender relationship from the disposal method once a body is found.