April 2009

Female Sex Killers: The Devious Predators

April 30, 2009

Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin As an expert criminal profiler who has studied and investigated serial killers for over 20 years, Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin has had contact with some of the world's most elusive hunters. Dr. Schurman-Kauflin is also the only profiler who has ever interviewed and profiled a large group of female serial killers. As a result of her first-hand experience, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin has come away with a vast knowledge of female predators - a knowledge that gives her unique insight into the Sandra Cantu murder case.

"Though rare, such predators are more common than the general public knows," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin told Investigation Discovery. "Why? In most instances, when a female rapes and kills a victim, the act is done in conjunction with a male partner. As such, when caught, the females play innocent and blame the male. This strategy has proven highly effective over the years because people are hesitant to believe that a woman could rape and murder. But it does happen, and sometimes, the female will act alone."

Of the many interviews that she has conducted, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said that the only offender who ever made her feel uncomfortable was a female sex killer who bragged about the pleasure she felt whenever she drew blood with a knife. That same offender also told Dr. Schurman-Kauflin that given the opportunity, she would kill again.

"These offenders are a unique breed in that they have a real taste for hurting helpless victims," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "They enjoy the feeling they get when using objects to rape. In fact, female rape killers will often use jagged instruments when they attack. These women are especially brutal with female victims, and will almost always mutilate the genitalia. Such women have told me that they chose to hurt their victims so viciously because it turned them on. Like their male counterparts, it was sexually exciting."

According to Dr. Schurman-Kauflin, it is the gender of these "super predators" that allows them access to almost any type of victim.

"To capture their prey, these women use a rouse to trick their victims who are always smaller in size," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "They use their gender as a cover for their evil intentions because most people find it hard to believe that the fairer sex could rape and kill a child. However, children are not their only victims. Such offenders have been known to target adults since everyone is less wary of a woman."

Through her studies, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin has learned that female killers are drawn to traditionally feminine jobs, such as nursing, care giving, teaching and the sex trade.

"These fields give them natural cover to get close to victims," she said. "Like their male counterparts, female sex killers fantasize about rape and murder. However, unlike men, women tend to be less selective about the type of victims they choose. For instance, male sex killers typically prefer certain types of victim such as twenty-year-old blondes. But for the women, victim age and gender are less important than opportunity. Female predators search for that which is easy to get. If she works in a nursing home, she may go after the elderly and rape them in their beds. If the woman works as a prostitute, she will target customers. If she teaches, she often sets her sights on students. These women crave what is familiar to them, and they watch their prey over time to assess how easy it would be to attack. The killers tend to have spotty work histories as well as a string of failed relationships. They dabble in sexual relationships and will try everything from lesbianism to child molestation.  Emotionally they find it hard to be centered, and family will cover for the women when they engage in strange behavior."

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Dallas DNA

Dallas DNA chronicles a pioneering unit within the Dallas County District Attorney's office where post-conviction DNA testing is being used to clear the innocent, as well as confirm the guilty.

Dallas DNA

When Craig Watkins ran for district attorney in Dallas County, he promised to fight for justice and through an innovative and unconventional new division he founded; he's been true to his word. In July 2007, Watkins created the nation's first Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) run by a DA's office and tasked it with re-examining hundreds of petitions submitted by inmates seeking post-conviction DNA testing and reinvestigating the cases that could be possible examples of injustice.

Dallas County has more exonerations than any other jurisdiction in the nation since state law began allowing post-conviction testing in 2001. In that time, more than 40 cases have received post-conviction DNA evidence analysis and the results have stunned the nation - to date, 19 cases were found to have wrongful convictions, and under DA Watkins' leadership ten innocent men have walked free.

The legal drama and the astounding ramifications including exonerations after men wrongfully spent decades behind bars is captured in Investigation Discovery's new six-part series DALLAS DNA, which is now on Investigation Discovery Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

Click here to learn more about the show

Where is Brittanee Marie Drexel?

April 29, 2009

Brittanee Drexel Police in South Carolina are trying to determine what happened to Brittanee Marie Drexel, a 17-year-old junior at Gates Chili High School in Rochester, New York. Brittanee disappeared after a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach last week.

Brittanee's friends last saw her at about 8:00 p.m. Saturday, when she left the Bar Harbor Hotel to walk about a half-mile to the Bluewater Resort to visit a group of male friends from Rochester. The men, identified as Peter Brozowitz, Phillip Watson, Matthew Abrams and Keith Cummings, had first met up with Brittanee earlier that day at Club Kryptonite.

When the Myrtle Beach police questioned the men, they said that Brittanee had come to their hotel and visited with Brozowitz, but she supposedly left roughly ten minutes later to return an item of clothing to a friend back at the Bar Harbor Hotel.

At about 8:45 p.m., Brittanee sent a text message to one of her travel companions, informing the companion that she was on her way back. What happened to Brittanee after that remains a mystery.

When Brittanee failed to return phone calls from her friends, they became concerned, and notified others that Brittanee was missing.

According to Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel, she was unaware that her daughter had gone to South Carolina last Wednesday and thought that she was staying at a friend's house. Dawn said that she kept in regular contact with her daughter and had spoken with her on Saturday afternoon.

"I asked her what she was doing and she says, 'Oh, mom, I'm at the beach.' And it was an 80-degree day in Rochester so, of course, I thought maybe she was at the beach in Rochester with one of her girlfriends," Dawn said during an appearance on HLN's Nancy Grace last night. "I said, 'I love you, Brittanee,' and she says, 'I love you, Mom.' And then we hung up the phone."

Dawn did not learn of the deception until Sunday morning, when friends called to tell her that Brittanee was missing.

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David Lohr has been writing about crime and criminals for over 15 years. Readers and critics alike regard Mr. Lohr as one of the most prominent crime writers of the 21st century.
Email David
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