ABSTRACT
Psychological analysis has its challenges when it comes to the type of certainty that the courts desire. Whether an investigator needs a psychological autopsy or a profile and whether it is for determining manner of death, linking crimes, or detecting staging, behavioral analysis remains an important aspect of evaluating and reconstructing incidents. The more investigators collect and interpret how to learn the finer points of mental state and human behavior, the fewer errors will be made. A cold case in which child killer John Joubert was linked to an unsolved murder in Maine, also demonstrates the value of behavioral interpretation for linkage analysis. So does the case above involving Torrez. Although the cold case was not fully resolved, the manner of death is clear, although with hints of familial abuse from a father with anger issues and an inability to make his life work.
