Chronic Catathymic Homicides

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The chronic form of catathymic process as conceived of by Revitch and Schlesinger (1978, 1981, 1989) is an updated and simplified version of Wertham’s (1937) catathymic crisis. Revitch and Schlesinger reduced the process to three stages: (1) incubation, (2) violent act, and (3) relief (see Table 6.1). During the incubation phase, the future offender becomes depressed and obsessively preoccupied with the future victim. His behavior at times may appear bizarre, while at other times his outward conduct or demeanor does not change. At this stage, he may have suicidal thoughts that later become mixed with homicidal ideas involving the future victim. The idea to kill slowly emerges, takes hold, and then becomes fixed. The future offender may notify friends, family members, his therapist, or even a member of the clergy. His pleas are frequently ignored or rationalized as the offender often reassures the confidant that he will not act out and that he is in control. But despite his inner struggle and efforts to seek help, he carries out the deed.

Following the violent act—usually a homicide—the offender experiences relief as the catathymic tension is discharged. Occasionally a chronic catathymic homicide may be followed by suicide or a suicide attempt. The event is often recalled in a detached, remote manner. In fact, the violent act—and even the offender’s thoughts and activities during the incubation period—impresses him retrospectively as being dreamlike and ego-dystonic. The inexperienced examiner may take such a lack of emotion to be an indication of callousness or indifference, especially given the often close relationship between the offender and the victim.

Although there are many similarities between the acute and the chronic catathymic processes, as noted in Chapter 5 (see Table 5.1), there are a number of differences as well (see Table 6.2). For example, acute catathymic homicides are unplanned, while the chronic are planned, often in the form of an obsessive rumination. The acute process is triggered by underlying emotionally charged conflicts that flood consciousness; often these conflicts involve feelings of sexual inadequacy or a transfer of emotion from a symbolic figure— typically, a mother figure—to the victim. The chronic process is triggered by a buildup of tension, a feeling of frustration, and conflicts involving inadequacy, usually extending to the sexual area.

The acute process has a short incubation period, typically several seconds, while in the chronic process the incubation period can last for days and even up to a year or somewhat longer. Here, the offender often becomes obsessively preoccupied with the victim and sometimes stalks her. Stalking rarely occurs in the acute process.

In the acute process, the attack is usually some type of sudden, violent assault involving strangulation or stabbing. The chronic process also involves violence, but it is not sudden; it is planned in the form of obsessive rumination. The crime scene in an acute attack is disorganized, a reflection of the lack of planning. The crime scene in the chronic process is less disorganized, a reflection of planning but not planning to avoid detection. Postmortem behavior in the acute process sometimes involves (vaginal or anal) necrophilia

Table 6.1 Stages of the Chronic Catathymic Process

and occasional dismemberment. Postmortem sexual activity and dismemberment are rare in the chronic process. Sexual activity occasionally occurs before the attack in the acute process; sometimes the offender’s inability to perform (sexually) triggers the attack. Sexual activity at the time of the homicide is rare in the chronic process. Following an acute catathymic homicide, the offender typically experiences a flattening of emotions and poor memory of the event as a result of its explosive nature. In the chronic process, the offender usually feels relief while often preserving the memory.

Most victims of acute catathymic homicides are strangers, while the victims in the chronic form of the process are close relations, former intimate partners, family members, acquaintances, and only occasionally (usually in catathymic mass murder) strangers. In fact, the authorities may cite jealousy and anger over the victim’s distancing herself from the offender as the motivation for the chronic catathymic homicide. Flere, however, the victim’s detachment is more likely the result of the offender’s obsessive preoccupation

Table 6.2 Differentiating Characteristics of Acute and Chronic Catathymic Processes

and attempt at control, stemming from his disorganizing conflicts; the offender’s behavior leads the future victim to remove herself. Thus, often the relationship itself shatters the perpetrator’s psychological homeostasis; the released emotion then disrupts his logical thinking and contributes to his obsessional preoccupation.

Recently, Sinnamon (2015) and Sinnamon and Petherick (2017) noted that in some cases the entire catathymic process might repeat itself, as the resolution of the conflict (through violence) is more apparent than real. These authors also elaborated Wertham’s (1978) original concept, emphasizing the delusional nature of the offender’s ideation. The idea to kill the future victim, “becomes increasingly obsessional with related thought processes becoming increasingly irrational, reinforcing the delusional thoughts and validating the obsession” (Sinnamon and Petherick, 2017, p. 53).