Theme 4: Violent Crimes

• Theme 4 focuses on Violent Crimes

Violent Crimes

• Include murder, assault, rape, sexual violence and robbery

Definition of Violence

• Violence involves inflicting physical and/or psychological harm, applying force or coercion, and can result in criminal or civil liability
• Violent crimes involve threats, actions, or attempts that cause physical injury, force, violence, damage, death or use of weapons

Learning Outcomes

• Understand types and subtypes of violent crimes
• Define murder, assault, and robbery including subtypes
• Distinguish between different types of murder
• Discuss assault elements
• Define commercial and non-commercial robbery

Murder

• Also referred to as homicide
• According to South African law, is defined as unlawful and premeditated
• It involves deliberate or intentional killing of a human by another

Elements to Convict for Murder

• Killing must be unlawful
• Prohibits all forms of killing
• Direct application of force via shooting, stabbing, beating or poisoning
• Can be non-direct by causing a heart attack or driving someone to commit suicide
• Must be committed against a living, breathing human
• Requires intent as culpability form
• Unlawful negligent or accidental causing of death is classified as culpable homicide

Murder Subtypes in South Africa

• Multiple murders consist of serial, mass, and spree killings

Serial Murder

• Killing multiple victims over days, weeks, months, years or decades
• The FBI says that at least 2 people need to be killed in separate events to be classfied as "serial killings"
• Involves a cooling-off period between killings which may last days, weeks or years
• Murders are premeditated, and victims selected based on characteristics like age, hair, or eye color
• Fantasy plays an important and integral role, intensifying with each murder

Characteristics of Serial Murderers

• Organized murderers are highly intelligent, charismatic, socially competent, sexually capable and controlled
• They often live with a partner or family
• Disorganized murderers have below-average intelligence and are socially immature
• They seldom date, often live alone, and show uncontrolled emotion during crimes

Serial Killers Example

• Ted Bundy confessed to 36 murders in the USA but the exact total is unknown
• Moses Sithole was convicted of 38 murders and 40 rapes in South Africa in 1997

Mass Murder

• Is the killing of four or more victims in a single episode/event, within moments or hours
• There is no cooling off period
• It is triggered by stressful events
• Carefully planned and executed by socially isolated individuals without support networks
• Killings are deliberate and symbolic

Types of Mass Murder

• Classic mass murder = individuals barricade themselves and randomly killing, and can be perceived as belonging to a specific group
• Family mass murder = individual kills three+ family members and often themselves with warped sense of love/loyalty wanting to save loved ones

Spree Murder

• Single person kills three or more victims in two or more different locations within hours with no cooling off period
• A subtype of serial murder due to multiple murders in different locations
• Serial murder has a cooling-off period, spree murder does not
• Perpetrators are agitated, make no effort to avoid detection and prone to suicide
• The perpetrators kill randomly with little similarities between victims

Contract/Hired Killings

• One party hires another to kill an individual or group for monetary gain
• It allows the employer to avoid direct involvement
• Three parties are involvd, namely the employer, hitman and victim

Muti Murder

• Derived from the Zulu word meaning root, plant, medicine or tree
• Is defined as collecting human body parts for use in traditional African medicine
• It is a violent crime
• Traditional healers, known as sangomas, utilize traditional medicines and communication with ancestors
• Body parts are taken from living victims because powerful medicine cannot be derived from the dead
• Human body parts are more powerful than usual ingredients because they contain the person's spirit

Farm Murders

• South African common law does not define attacks as a specific crime category
• Crimes committed against people residing on farms/small holdings
• Attacks target residents, workers, and often involve murder, rape, robbery, or bodily harm
• Farm murders are estimated to be 700% higher in South Africa than globally
• Attacks are violent, often involving torture, resulting in the victim's death before the offender leaves