The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey Into the Minds of Sexual Predators by Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood Read Free Book Online Page B

window on his way home.
    Roy noted in his later analysis that Monica Smith was what the BSU calls a “low-risk” victim; that is, she had gone nowhere and done nothing which normally would have placed her at risk of being the victim of a violent offense.
    Her murder, however, was a chancy, “high-risk” crime. Trawick had followed Monica to the apartment complex parking lot, where Smith’s chances of encountering someone she knew were quite good. Moreover, he spent ten minutes with her there. Also, after killing her, he disposed of her body almost casually, at a site where she very likely would soon be found, and she was.
    Even when he had her under his control, Trawick improvised his actions. An organized killer would have brought with him what the BSU calls “weapons of choice.” Trawick simply used what was at hand in the van: a knife, a hammer, duct tape, nylon rope, and the tarp.
    Trawick clearly put almost no planning into his murders, at least not the final three. That is not to say he hadn’t repeatedlyfantasized committing them. But the murders themselves were spontaneous, free-form crimes in which Smith and the others were all victims of opportunity.
    His motive also clearly was irrational, a generalized and deep-rooted anger toward women. The mutilation of the prostitute and the extreme force he used against the completely passive Monica Smith bespoke an enormous rage.
    Trawick’s impulsiveness, lack of planning, irrationality, and apparent willingness to take risks suggested strongly that he was a loose cannon, out of control. Anyone who’d ad-lib homicide in the way he did surely wouldn’t give much thought to the presence or absence of a guard at the apartment complex that night.
    Or would he?
    Hazelwood combed carefully through the mass of available evidence, from trial testimony to Trawick’s personal correspondence. He read all the depositions and police reports, reviewed photos, studied the autopsy report, and personally visited the shopping center, the apartment complex, the crime scene, and even Trawick’s neighborhood.
    He examined every jot and tittle of evidence, and extracted from the whole a surprisingly consistent behavior pattern.
    First, Roy noted that many of the crimes Trawick committed early in his criminal career—offenses such as obscene telephone calls—involved no physical contact at all with the victim, and therefore posed a minimal risk of arrest for him. Trawick was aware of what could get him into trouble, and what was less likely to.
    He apparently remembered these lessons. His various comments to the police suggested that although he seemed to act willy-nilly, in fact he paid close attention to protecting his anonymity.
    He had fled when the girl in the mall went in search of a security officer. He carefully searched the department store for security devices before committing his murder there. Hecoolly escorted his third murder victim down a street and into an alley before killing her.
    “Trawick,” wrote Hazelwood, “is the type of offender who kills out of anger, but it is a controlled anger. That is to say, he will not engage in behavior which poses an immediate threat to his well-being.”
    That is why, Roy continued, Trawick took note of the missing guard the night he killed Smith, and proceeded onto the apartment complex premises in pursuit of her for precisely that reason. He even told the police about it.
    “Had a guard been present,” Roy wrote, “Ms. Smith would not have become a murder victim.”
    Trawick was convicted of capital murder in criminal court and sentenced to death. Before a civil jury was given a chance to reflect on Roy’s analysis, a settlement was reached in the case. Mrs. Smith received an undisclosed sum, which she donated to charity.
    In a second premises liability case, Hazelwood again was engaged as an expert, this time by the defense team.
    Although the behavioral issues in the case were less nuanced, its reality was far starker.