Sexual burglaries and sexual homicide: Clinical, forensic, and investigative considerations

Burglary, the third most common crime after larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, is rarely the focus of forensic psychiatric study. While most burgl aries are motivated simply by material gain, there is a subgroup of burglar ies fueled by sexual dynamics. The authors differentiate two types of sexua l burglaries: 1) fetish burglaries with overt sexual dynamics; and 2) voyeu ristic burglaries, in which the sexual element is often covert and far more subtle. Many forensic practitioners have informally noted the relationship of burglaries to sexual homicide, but this relationship has not otherwise been studied in any detail. In this article, the incidence of (sexual) burg laries by 52 sexual murderers whom the authors evaluated, as well as the in cidence in cases reported by others, is reported. Implications of these fin dings for forensic assessments and profiling of unidentified offenders are discussed.