ABSTRACT
Linking the cause of a person’s death to the actions of an FDP offender is difficult to conceptualize and prove. Recognition of the presence of FDP behavior resulting in a death often occurs only after multiple FDP victims have endured chronic abuse. This abuse may have resulted in either permanent or temporary physical victim damage or risen to a lethal violence level. Evidence gathering in FDP death cases requires that uncommon investigative techniques are applied within standard investigative parameters relating to unresolved historical death investigations. As Vernon Geberth so eloquently noted, “an effective homicide detective is usually a person who has taken his experience and enhanced it with knowledge, flexibility and common sense.” The investigation of homicide with an FDP factor will test the ability of seasoned investigators taking professional investigative ability to a new level of sophistication as detectives navigate the world of the FDP offender.
