Kidnapping. An Investigator's Guide

199 Pages·2013·3.352 MB·English

by  Diana M. Concannon (Auth.)

Kidnapping
Kidnapping
An Investigator’s Guide
Second Edition
Diana M. Concannon
California School of Forensic Studies,
Alliant International University, CA, USA
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First edition 2008
Second edition 2013
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Biographies: Author, Evaluators,
and Contributors
Author and evaluator Diana M. Concannon is a Psychologist and Professional
Certified Investigator. Through her firm, DC Consulting Group, Inc., Dr. Concannon
conducts Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations and risk assessments on Mentally
Disordered Offenders and individuals deemed Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.
She also consults with government and nonprofit organizations to provide threat
assessment and management services. Dr. Concannon serves as Associate Dean and
is on the faculty of the California School of Forensic Studies, where she oversees
the School’s doctoral clinical forensic psychology programs, and spearheads its
Victimology Concentration.
The late Bruce Fain, evaluator for this book and a former Detective with the
Fresno City Police, was employed by the Department for 35 years, working with
numerous divisions as a Detective/Specialist.
Evaluator Dianna Fain is a Crime Analyst for the Fresno Police Department. She
has been a Crime Analyst for approximately 10 years. She received her education
from Sacramento State University, and is certified in Crime Intelligence and Analysis
by the State of California, and is the Treasurer of the Central Valley Crime and
Intelligence Analysts Association.
Evaluator the Honorable Alan B. Honeycutt is a Judge of the Superior Court of
California, County of Los Angeles. Judge Honeycutt presides over a criminal trial
calendar in the Torrance Court House. He is a former Reserve Police Officer and
City Prosecutor for the City of Redondo Beach. Judge Honeycutt is a frequent lec-
turer in the area of criminal and constitutional law. He has previously served as the
Chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the Los Angeles County Bar.
Contributor Mike Gillette is a leading Threat Management Specialist for high-
risk persons and organizations. His leading-edge behavioral analysis and conflict
resolution techniques have been put to use in a variety of industries. He has authored
counterterrorism training curricula for government agencies and is a frequent pre-
senter at professional conferences on the topics of violence management and per-
sonal safety. Mike is an Executive Vice President for Infinite Contingencies Group
based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mike is active as a close-protection specialist and pro-
vides services for some of the world’s wealthiest businessmen. His previous profes-
sional experience has spanned the fields of law enforcement, military service, and
the martial arts.
Contributor Brad Parker is a Director of Defend University, a research and
development group dedicated to the exploration of leading-edge techniques and
strategies for self-defense, security, and defensive tactics. Brad is currently respon-
sible for security for the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority and managing the
executive protection unit of a security services provider. He has more than 20 years
viii Biographies: Author, Evaluators, and Contributors
of martial arts experience and 15 years of law enforcement experience. In addition,
he is a state-licensed Private Investigator, former Gang Enforcement Training Unit
instructor, and former Emergency Medical Technician.
Contributor Jana Price-Sharps, EdD, is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at
Alliant International University’s Forensic Psychology Program. She has conducted
and published numerous studies on the effects of substance abuse on executive func-
tioning. Jana is also consulting psychologist to the Fresno Police Department.
Contributor Matthew Sharps, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology, California
State University, Fresno, and serves on the adjunct faculty of Alliant University. He
received his master’s degree in clinical psychology from UCLA, and his master’s
and doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Colorado, spe-
cializing in adult cognitive development and cognition. He is the author of numer-
ous published articles and papers and of the book Aging, Representation, and
Thought: Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Processing, in which he details his Cognitive
Asynchrony theory of visual cognitive aging and his Gestalt/Feature-Intensive
Processing theory of general cognitive representation. His research has been funded
by the National Institutes of Health; he has won numerous teaching awards; and he
has taught and conducted research at the University of Colorado, the University of
Wyoming, Stockholm University, and the University Foundation of Thailand. He has
served as an expert witness or consultant in over 150 criminal cases, and his cur-
rent research addresses cognitive processing and representation in high-risk circum-
stances, eyewitness identification, and forensic cognitive psychology.
Contributor Malinda Wheeler has been a Registered Nurse for 26 years, holding
a variety of positions. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Niagara
University, New York, her master’s degree as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Critical
Care from UCLA, and her Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from California
State University, Long Beach. Malinda was a Professor of Nursing for Long Beach
City College for 10 years and has worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner in various
settings. For the past 14 years, Malinda has been the owner and director of Forensic
Nurse Specialists, Inc., a private practice/business that provides forensic evidentiary
examinations 24 hours per day to law enforcement for victims of sexual assault and
domestic violence. She holds several contracts with cities, counties, universities, and
hospital systems. Forensic Nurse Specialists currently provides services to over 55
law enforcement agencies in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. She is nation-
ally certified as a pediatric, adolescent, and adult sexual assault nurse examiner.
Malinda is past member on the Board of Directors for the International Association
of Forensic Nurses and is Founding President of the Southern California Chapter of
IAFN. She was co-chair of the Los Angeles Sexual Assault Coordinating Council
for 4 years and helped establish certification requirements for all SART Centers in
Los Angeles County. Currently, Malinda is a board member with the Forensic Nurse
Certification Board and Pomona Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), and a child
forensic interviewer with the CAC. She has helped develop curriculum for the state
law enforcement educational requirements on sexual assault and domestic violence.
Malinda has lectured extensively on sexual assault, domestic violence, and drug-
facilitated sexual assault.
Preface to the Second Edition
In summer, preceding the original writing of Kidnapping: An Investigator’s Guide
to Profiling, child abductions were a tragic and regular feature on the evening news.
June and July of 2002 were dominated by stories of the kidnappings of then 14-year-
old Elizabeth Smart and 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, the miraculous escape of
7-year-old Erica Pratt, and the trial of David Westerfield, accused of kidnapping
7-year-old Danielle Van Dam.
In 2003, Ms. Smart was found alive, spotted 18 miles from her Utah home by a
biker who had seen a composite sketch of her alleged kidnapper on John Walsh’s
America’s Most Wanted. For 9 months, Ms. Smart was held captive by Brian
“Emmanuel” Mitchell—a self-proclaimed prophet to the homeless who had been
briefly employed as a manual laborer by the Smarts—and his wife, Wanda Barzee. It
was later learned that Mitchell abducted Ms. Smart at knife point, and forced her to
serve as his “second wife.”
From 2004 to 2009, Mitchell and Barzee were held on $10 million bond, each
having been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. Barzee was restored to
competency in November 2009, and sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in
the kidnapping. Mitchell was deemed competent in November 2010. He was found
guilty 1 month later, and is currently serving a life sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary,
Tucson.
Elizabeth Smart’s ordeal became the subject of a book and made-for-television
movie. It also catalyzed the founding of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, dedicated
“to prevent and stop predatory crimes.”
In May 2005, Alejandro Avila was convicted of first-degree murder after he kid-
napped, sexually abused, and strangled Samantha Runnion. Avila, whose ex-girl-
friend resided in the apartment complex in which Samantha lived, and who had been
accused and acquitted of molesting his ex’s daughter and niece, lured Samantha to
his car by telling her that he had lost his dog. Her body was found the next day in
Cleveland National Forest. Avila’s DNA was found under Samantha’s fingernail, and
her DNA was found in his car. Avila was sentenced in July 2005 and is currently on
death row at San Quentin State Prison in California.
Samantha’s mother, Erin, founded The Joyful Child Foundation, which is “dedi-
cated to preventing crimes against children through programs that educate, empower
and unite families and communities.”
Seven-year-old Erica Pratt escaped captivity from the empty house where she was
held by chewing her way through the tape that bound her hands and feet, kicking
open a basement door, and making her way through a window.
x Preface to the Second Edition
It was later learned that her kidnappers, James Burns and Edward Johnson,
abducted Erica for a $150,000 ransom, which they erroneously believed her fam-
ily received as an insurance payment following the death of an uncle. Johnson pled
guilty to the kidnapping. Burns was convicted following a jury trial.
Erica Pratt was named TIME Magazine’s Person of Week in July 2002.
One month later, David Westerfield was found guilty of the kidnapping and first-
degree murder of Danielle Van Dam. Two small stains of Danielle’s blood were
found on Westerfield’s clothing and in his motor home. After a trial during which the
defense strategy appeared to center upon impugning the lifestyle of the victim’s par-
ents, Westerfield was sentenced to death. He awaits execution at San Quentin State
Prison in California.
As the headlines associated with these cases faded, new kidnappings claimed
prominence.
In February 2005, 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford was abducted from her
childhood home. She was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered by 46-year-
old John Couey. Couey, a convicted sex offender, was sentenced to death.
In 2008, Austrian Josef Fritzl confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a window-
less cell for 24 years, fathering seven children with her. Fritzl told investigators that
he tossed the body of one of the children into an incinerator when the baby died
shortly after birth. Fritzl, at age 74, was tried and sentenced to life in prison.
In 2009, Jaycee Lee Dugard—kidnapped at age 11 in 1991—was found in a con-
cealed area behind the home of convicted sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido and his
wife, Nancy. Jaycee, who bore two children during her captivity, was reunited with
her family. The Garridos pled guilty to kidnapping and sexual assault. Nancy Garrido
was sentenced to 36 years to life. Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years.
The prevalence of child abduction in the United States has remained relatively
constant over the past decade. The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children reports that approximately 2000 children are reported missing each day.
Consistent with past years, the majority of child kidnapping victims are abducted by
family members. An estimated 58,000—7 percent—are “nonfamily” abductions. Of
these, 115 are victims of what the Department of Justice labels “stereotypical” kid-
nappings, i.e., stranger or acquaintance abductions where the child is held overnight,
transported more than 50 miles, and murdered, held permanently, or held for ransom.
Kidnapping statistics for U.S. adults continue to remain elusive as the crime of
kidnapping is not separately analyzed by the Uniform Crime Report. According to
the National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC) Missing Person File,1 more than
65,000 individuals were categorized as “EMO”—defined as “a person over the age
of 21, not meeting the criteria for entry in any other category, who is missing and
for whom there is a reasonable concern for his/her safety”—in 2010. Given that law
enforcement completion of the Missing Person Circumstances field is optional, it is
probable that this number is understated.
Just as the number of kidnappings has remained consistent since Kidnapping’s
original publication, so too have the general categories associated with this crime.
1 Federal Bureau of Investigation, NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics for 2010.
Preface to the Second Edition xi
The original subtypes identified by the researchers—Domestic Kidnapping,
Predatory Kidnapping—Adult Victim, Predatory Kidnapping—Child Victim, Profit
Kidnapping, Revenge Kidnapping, Stage Kidnapping, and Political Kidnapping—
remain unchanged, as do the characteristics associated with these subcategories.
Consequently, the chapters related to subtypes remain largely unaltered in this sec-
ond edition.
There are two notable exceptions. First, a section on Human Trafficking has been
added to Chapter 6. In the 2 years following the passage of the amended Victims of
Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2008, federally funded task forces opened
2515 cases of suspected incidents of human trafficking, leading to 144 arrests. The
addition to Profit Kidnapping discusses the similarities and subtle, important differ-
ences between kidnapping and human trafficking, as well as the ramifications for the
prevention, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking cases that involve
kidnapping. Additional information regarding the distinctions between kidnapping
and human trafficking laws, and important milestones pertaining to the latter, have
also been included in Chapter 2.
As human trafficking legislation has opened new avenues for prosecution beyond
the confines of kidnapping law, so too has kidnapping law offered potential new ave-
nues for the prosecution of cases in which domestic violence victims use lethal force
to escape batterers. Chapter 3 includes a new section that explores the courts’ treat-
ment of those who kill to escape a kidnapping and those who kill to escape a violent
relationship.
Scientific advances also continue to influence both the investigation and the pros-
ecution of kidnappings. Genetic fingerprinting, also known as DNA profiling or
DNA fingerprinting, is arguably the most significant investigative and prosecutorial
tool to be employed in the twenty-first century. Since its first forensic application
by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1986 in the Enderby murder case—where it was, ironically,
used to exonerate an innocent man who falsely confessed to the rape and murder of
two young girls—DNA has become a standard and often conclusive tool for bringing
criminals to justice.
As with many forensic scientific advances, the use of DNA evidence has opened
new discussions regarding the right of the state v. the right of the individual. In the
United States, the appropriate balance is being explored before the Supreme Court
which, in 2013, agreed to hear the case of Maryland v. King in which DNA col-
lected at the time of arrest for one crime led to an arrest and conviction for an unre-
lated offense. Chapter 10 explores the manner in which courts are adjudicating the
dynamic tension between scientific advances such as DNA, thermal imaging, and
global-positioning system and civil liberties.
The powerful and compelling evidence offered by scientific advances notwith-
standing, victim–witness testimony remains an important facet in any kidnapping
investigation. Despite this, investigators and mental health professionals are provided
with limited support and training to conduct these important, and often extremely
complicated, interviews. During lectures based on the premises of the original edi-
tion, it was clear that concepts such as developing rapport, victim resiliency, and
addressing trauma responses were well known. However, the best approaches to
xii Preface to the Second Edition
applying these concepts practically and effectively were often elusive. Appendix E
has been added to bridge this gap.
It is hoped that changes offered in the current edition augment the original
research, supporting those who engage in the prevention, investigation, and prosecu-
tion of this devastating crime.
Diana Concannon
Preface to the First Edition
On the evening of July 24, 2002, I watched the televised funeral of Samantha
Runnion, a 5-year-old girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and left for dead
on a California hiking trail. I listened as CNN’s Aaron Brown spoke with restrained
passion of the “summer of child abduction,” the feared legacy of 2002’s sunny season.
In Colorado, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart remained missing. Seven-year-old Erica
Pratt miraculously escaped from the Philadelphia home in which she had been held.
The trial of those who murdered 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was concluding in a
San Diego courtroom.
Nightly, the pain and terror of these children’s families aired over television and
radio stations. Parents sacrificed their right to privacy for the need to keep their story
before the public and the one or two citizens who might provide information related
to their child’s whereabouts. Or the whereabouts of their child’s body.
Their suffering was beyond what any parent should have to bear.
I had witnessed this hellacious form of parental anguish firsthand: When I was 5,
my youngest brother disappeared in a mall teeming with families capitalizing on
Washington’s Birthday bargains and clamoring for free cherry trees. My parents braved
the consumer rush by anchoring their four children in hand-holding formation between
them. My mother paused outside Woolworth’s, releasing my sister’s hand, unintention-
ally signaling that my sister could do so with me, and me with my brothers. My mother
assumed that my father still held us. My father had assumed the same about her.
Within a matter of minutes, my 16-month-old brother was swept away, and my
mother was screaming. She planted her remaining children before a display case, yell-
ing at me, her eldest, to make sure everyone stayed put before grabbing at every pas-
serby. She frantically called my brother’s name while my father sought a security guard.
At the suggestion of a level-headed older woman, my mother sought an employee
who could call my brother’s name over a public address system.
I watched my mother’s frantic departure and tracked her return with my father.
I heard my brother’s name and our location announced over the P.A. I watched my
mother’s cries turn into sobs.
A security guard joined us a few moments later with a little boy who was not my
brother.
My parents continued their frantic search. When they returned to the display case,
my mother looked just beyond me and started screaming anew. Something in her
tone had changed, and I followed her movements as she bent down and scooped my
theretofore missing brother into her arms.
He had found us before we had seen him.