Module 5 - Criminal Profiling

The Case of the Missing Lower Mainland Children

In his dissertation, Dr. D. Kim Rossmo used the Clifford Olson serial homicide case as an example to illustrate his theory of geographic profiling.

Early Years

Clifford Robert Olson was born on January 1, 1940, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Despite being raised in a reportedly stable home with no signs of abuse, at a young age he showed signs of delinquency. Olson was known as a bully and a show-off who loved to be the centre of attention. He skipped classes by Grade 4 and failed several grades in school; and it was rumoured he had tortured and killed animals. Olson was a loner who had no close friends and who was frequently in trouble for compulsive talking. He skipped school frequently and was first arrested for theft at age 13. Olson left school at age 16. From then until he was 40 years old, he was convicted of 83 criminal offences. As an adult, Olson lived outside of prison for only four years by the time he was 40 years old. In terms of various lengths, he had spent more than 22 years in prison.

The Murders

Olson owned a construction company and hired young boys and girls by promising them money. Some of these youngsters did legitimately work for Olson; however, many became his victims. Often, he picked victims in the middle of the day offering them a ride or a job. Then, he would either sexually assault and/or kill them.

Olson murdered his first victim in November 1980. He abducted a 12-year-old girl in Surrey, British Columbia, strangled her with a belt, and stabbed her repeatedly. The body was found on Christmas Day. In April 1981, Olson killed a 13-year-old girl, but her body was not found until five months later. Next, Olson abducted a 16-year-old boy, smashing the boy's head with a hammer and tossing him into a ditch.

In May 1981, near the time Olson married and his wife gave birth to his only child, he was accused of molesting a five-year-old neighbour girl. However, he was never formally charged due to lack of evidence. In May, just four days after his wedding, Olson abducted and murdered a 16-year-old girl; the following month, he killed a 13-year-old girl.

In July 1981, Olson killed seven youngsters of various ages—the youngest a 9-year-old and the oldest an 18-year-old German tourist. Unlike his first three female victims, two of the six victims were boys. He sexually assaulted all his victims, but he killed them in various ways. Four of the victims he strangled to death; three of the victims he bludgeoned to death. Olson dumped most of his victim’s bodies in remote locations, but kept evidence from each murder as a souvenir.

Within nine months, Olson had killed two children and nine youths. Initially, the cases were not linked by authorities because the victims were of both sexes, of varying ages, and murdered in various ways. Also, only three bodies had been found at that time; the other seven were tentatively considered probable runaways. However, in late 1981, when police realized that a serial killer was responsible for the deaths, a major investigation was initiated.

Prime Suspect and Surveillance

Clifford Robert Olson became a prime suspect early in the investigation because he lived in the Surrey area and he had a lengthy criminal record. Police brought Olson in for questioning, but they had insufficient evidence to hold him. However, because their suspicions about him were high, he was put under surveillance.

Olson was not easy to follow. He would often stop in the middle of a street, make sudden U-turns, or go down one-way alleys, stop, and reverse. Olson also drove continually in various rental cars. In a 3-month period, he travelled more than 20 000 kilometres in 14 different rental cars.

Attempted Abduction Leads to Arrest

In August 1981, Olson was arrested for attempting to abduct two young female hitchhikers. Olson picked up the girls near Nanaimo, BC, and drove them up a dirt-logging road. Two RCMP surveillance cars followed him and blocked the entrance to the road. Two officers on foot then followed the car until it stopped. When Olson began yelling at one of the girls, police moved in and arrested Olson.

Olson’s Controversial Deal

When police investigators began questioning Olson about the string of unsolved murders, he soon offered them a deal. He would confess to all 11 murders and show them where the bodies were if his wife and young son were given $10 000 for each victim. At first, this deal infuriated investigators. However, because they had little evidence to tie Olson to the murders and because the families of the missing children were desperate, the deal was eventually made.

In January 1982, Clifford Robert Olson pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder and took police to each of the bodies. Olson was given 11 concurrent life sentences, and his wife and son were given $100 000.

Create Your Own Geographical Profile

You are part of a Police Task Force that is responsible for investigating a series of armed robberies committed within the northeast quadrant of a large Canadian city over the past four months. To date, 14 robberies have occurred, and everyone is concerned that the suspect is becoming increasingly violent. You and your team must identify this person as quickly as possible, but resources are limited and you have very little time to follow up the hundreds of tips received from the public. Therefore, you decide to create a geographic profile map to help shorten your long list of suspects.

Fourteen sets of coordinates have been provided to indicate the locations of the robberies. Plot the following crime location coordinates on the graph paper provided to create a mock geographical profile map. You also have a list of three possible suspects, but only one surveillance team is currently available. Therefore, you need to use the geographic profile to shorten your list of suspects so that you can utilize your resources as effectively as possible.

After you have plotted all fourteen coordinates, determine which of the three suspects lives and works closest to the ‘hotspots’ identified by the geographic profile.

Which suspect will you ask your surveillance team to follow?
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