Becoming the victim: Beyond sadism in serial sexual murderers

The behavior and characteristics of sexually sadistic serial murderers have been described primarily in relation to their paraphilic arousal to the control and torture of their victims. Sadistic sexual murderers who demonstrate both sadism and masochism have been described, but less is known about this type of offender. This article will review a number of hypotheses proposed to explain these behaviors. Next, the authors describe two cases demonstrating a separate phenomenon in which the offender assumes the identity of the victim that has been tortured to enhance his sexual gratification. It is proposed that these cases represent a grandiose form of sadism in which the offender extends his control of the victim beyond life and death. This form of sadism will be distinguished from sadomasochism, and its possible implications will be discussed.