• Notes officers should be able to read crime scene, recognise signatures, and prove link via DNA testing
• Urges expansion of DNA database to include DNA profiles of those arrested for serious crimes

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody The following, in continuing from the article published in The Morning yesterday (14) describes the investigations into the suspects that were linked to 17 murders that took place in Kahawatta, Ratnapura, between 2010 and 2015. First, second, and third murders A 35-year-old suspect was arrested in 2010 in connection with the third murder. He was produced before the Consultant Forensic Pathologist of the Provincial General Hospital in Ratnapura. The suspect confessed for the first, second, and third murders. He admitted that he had an affinity to elderly females and that he had had sexual intercourse with the first three females. He was referred to the Forensic Psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health Hospital in Angoda. It was revealed that he had a paraphilia, a disorder of sexual preference in the form of sadism and necrophilia. However, the vaginal smears of the first and third victims did not produce exogenous DNA. Sixth murder A suspect who was a toddy tapper was arrested. He confessed and revealed that the victim went to the backyard at around 7.30 p.m. for a body wash and that he had had sexual intercourse with her by force and then killed her because she had shouted.  Eighth and ninth murders (first double-murder) A neighbouring couple and a three-wheeler driver were arrested. These two murders were alleged to be drug-related killings. According to the alleged history, the 19-year-old daughter had been given a “lunch parcel” by the neighbour regularly, which was to be handed over to a person in the Ratnapura Town when she goes for classes. When the recipient had not turned up and after returning home, the mother and daughter had opened the “lunch parcel”. However, they found a packet containing some powder rather than food and the mother had then blamed the neighbour. The next day, both of them were killed at the house and the daughter’s body had been transported to a tea estate by a three wheeler.  Twelfth and thirteenth murders (third double-murder)  Four suspects were arrested. However, the male DNA profiles of the vaginal swabs did not match with any of the four suspects arrested, and all were acquitted. Fifteenth murder  Initially, the cohabiting partner was suspected for the killing, but later, a neighbour was arrested in connection with an issue that had occurred in a kovil (Hindu temple). Sixteenth murder  The victim’s son was arrested in connection with this murder. He revealed that he had demanded money to buy a present for his girlfriend and that when the mother had refused, he had murdered the mother in the kitchen and dumped her in the Kotakethana Canal.  Of the murders, 14 were in the Kotakethana administrative division, two in the Dimulwala administrative division and one in the Niladuramahayaya administrative division.  According to the date of the postmortems, the incidence of the murders is two in 2008, none in 2009, two in 2010, three in 2011, seven in 2012 (majority), none in 2013, two in 2014, and one in 2015.  In this series, the age groups of the victims (ranging from 19 to 88 years), marital, and employment status are: one between the ages of 10 and 29 years (eighth victim), six between the ages of 30 and 49 years, nine between the ages of 50 and 69 years (majority), and one between the ages of 70 and 89 years (fourth victim); nine were married (majority), one was cohabiting (15th victim), seven were unmarried; 10 were unemployed or were housewives (majority), six were labourers, and one was a small-scale business woman (16th victim).  In the single murders, the victims had been living alone while in the double-murders, there had been only two occupants.  Until November 2015, there had been 11 arrests. Most killings had occurred during the night. None of the incidents had eyewitnesses. The number of injuries included one with one (14th victim), two with two to five (fifth and eighth victims), 10 with six to 10, and four with over 10 (ninth, 11th, 13th and 17th victims) and the cause of deaths (COD) were cut injuries to the head in 12 (most common), two with blunt injuries to the head (third and 15th victims), two with ligature strangulation (fourth and 10th victims), and one due to manual strangulation (first victim). According to the autopsy findings, seven victims had defensive injuries (fifth, eighth, 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, and 17th).  According to the number of murders in each incident, there were 11 single murders and three double-murders (eighth and ninth; 10th and 11th; and 12th and 13th). The suspects and the reasons were known in four (eighth and ninth which constituted the first double-murder, 15th, and 16th). There were identical scene profiles in three (first, second, and third). There were identical DNA profiles in six (fourth, seventh, 10th, and 11th which constituted the second double-murder, and 12th and 13th which constituted the third double-murder).  The suspect/s was/were not identified in four (fifth, sixth, 14th, and 17th). The male DNA isolated from the fourth, seventh, and 13th murders and the crime scene stains of the 10th and 11th, which constituted the second double-murder were identical and were screened against a DNA database having more than 1,000 DNA profiles of suspected and convicted felons of previous crimes that had undergone DNA testing since 2003 in Sri Lanka.  Until October 2015, none of the searches generated a significant hit. In late November 2015, a 39-year-old suspect was arrested as his DNA profile matched with the vaginal samples of three victims, namely, the fourth, seventh, and 13th (of the third double-murder) and the crime scene stains of the 10th and 11th which constituted the second double-murder. Therefore, he was found responsible for those six murders. E.W. Hickey’s “Serial murderers and their victims” noted that the initial suspicion is the most important step of the investigation of serial killings. Per R.D. Keppel and W.J. Birnes’s “The psychology of serial killer investigations: The grisly business unit”, some of the special aspects in such an investigation include reviewing previous crime scenes, postmortem photographs, Police reports, laboratory reports, victimology information, and discussing the matter with other investigators. There were 17 murders committed in Kahawatta and there were four clusters of murders. In the first cluster (eighth and ninth which constituted the first double-murder, and the 15th and 16th), the killer and the reasons were known to the victims and were excluded from the “serial murders”. The remaining 13 murders that did not have a known cause or suspect were potential cases of “serial murders” and were divided into three more clusters. The second cluster had an identical scene profile with butts of smoked white beedi at the scenes (first, second, and third). According to R.D. Keppel’s “Signature killers: Interpreting the calling cards of the serial murderer”, such distinct or unique behaviours that can be used to link a series of crimes to the same individual are called the “signature”.  In 2010, a suspect was arrested and he confessed to the first, second, and third murders and was found to be a paraphilic. The third cluster had an identical DNA profile (fourth, seventh, 10th and 11th which constituted the second double-murder, and the 12th and 13th which constituted the third double-murder). On November, 2015, another suspect was arrested and his DNA tallied with the vaginal samples of the fourth, seventh, and 13th victims, the latter of the third double-murder and the crime scene stains of the 10th and 11th which constituted the second double-murder and was found to be responsible for six murders. In the fourth cluster, the suspect/s has/have not been identified.  When the second and third clusters are considered, both suspects who were arrested in 2010 and 2015 had committed “two or more” murders. The “2010 suspect” committed three murders (first, second, and third) and the “2015 suspect” had committed six murders (fourth, seventh, 10th and 11th which constituted the second double-murder, and the 12th and 13th which constituted the third double-murder). Further, those nine (second and third clusters) were “independent” murders, because there was no relationship between the victims and the suspects. They were unexpected attacks by unknown offenders. Moreover, those nine (the second and third clusters) were “planned” murders. As Morton and McNamara noted in “Serial murder”, the “planning” of a serial murder is defined as any action committed by an offender in preparation of the murder and involves the accumulation of items for use in the selection of the victim, abduction, murder, and disposal. Similarly, in these two series’, females who were living alone were selected and killed at night in order to avoid eyewitnesses. In some instances, the bodies were dumped in distant places in order to avoid detection. Though all murders were reported from the Kahawatta area, they were committed at separate locations such as Kotakethana (14), Dimulwala (two) and Niladuramahayaya (one). Moreover, nine murders were committed at “separate locations”. Further, these two groups of murders had been done for “personal gratification”. According to V.J. Geberth and R.N. Turco’s “Antisocial personality disorder, sexual sadism, malignant narcissism, and serial murder”, sexual murder is common among serial killing. In such cases, there is evidence of violence and sex together. In Kahawatta, such combinations of sexual assaults and gross injuries were seen. A sexual orientation was suspected in 12 cases. In the first case, the skirt was found raised above the knees. In case three, genital tears were found.  The “2010 suspect” expected to have sexual intercourse after killing the first, second, and third victims (necrophilia) because his paraphilia has both sadism and necrophilia, per Geberth and Turco. The male DNA of the “2015 suspect” was found in the vaginal samples of the fourth, seventh, and 13th victims, and genital contusions were found in the 12th, and those indicated that he had had sexual intercourse with those females. In addition, in the sixth and 17th victims, clothes and undergarments were found separately. Also, these two groups showed that they had committed such murders “over a period of time”. The “2010 suspect” operated for over two years from July 2008, to June 2010. The “2015 suspect” also operated for over two years from December 2010, to July 2012. To be continued. (Part three of this article will be published in a subsequent edition)