The six types of 'Facebook killer' revealed
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Police have so far tracked 48 'Facebook murders' in which killers used social media to hunt their prey or brag about sordid fantasies.
Now UK scientists have identified six personality types that fit into this category in the first-ever study on how the social networking site can affect criminal behaviour.
They believe each killer fits into the profile of either reactor, informer, antagonist, fantasist, predator or imposter.
UK scientists have identified six personality types that fit into this category in the first-ever study on how the social networking site can affect criminal behaviour. They believe each killer fits into the profile of either reactor, informer, antagonist, fantasist, predator or imposter
A reactor is the most common type of killer, responsible for 27.1 per cent of Facebook murders.
It describes someone who sees comments or photos that enrage them on Facebook, and they react violently with deadly force.
An example is Wayne Forrester, who killed his wife Emma in 2008 after reading her Facebook posts, claiming that they had separated.
An informer uses Facebook to tell others they intend to kill the victim, that they have killed the victim, or both.
An antagonist engages in hostile exchanges on Facebook that escalate into face-to-face fatal violence. This occured in April when best friends Jordan Means, 16, pictured left, and Anthony Bankhead, 18, pictured right, were both found shot dead in an apartment basement in Chicago after a Facebook exchange
Experts believe they use Facebook as a way of demonstrating their control over the victim and the situation.
LaShanda Armstrong is an example of an informer after she asked for forgiveness on her Facebook page following an argument with her partner.
Shortly after, she drove into the Hudson river, killing herself and her three children. She wrote: 'I'm sorry everyone forgive me please for what I'm gonna do … This is it!!!'
An antagonist engages in hostile exchanges on Facebook that escalate into face-to-face fatal violence.
They often try to gain a physical advantage when the conflict goes offline through arming themselves with weapons.
This occurred in April when two teenage boys in Chicago were shot dead after getting into an argument on Facebook over a stolen powercord.
Best friends Jordan Means, 16, and Anthony Bankhead, 18, were found dead in an apartment basement.
LaShanda Armstrong (left) is an example of an informer after she asked for forgiveness on her Facebook page following an argument with her partner (right)
At the time, Jordan's mother, Camille Cochran, claimed her son had got into an argument with his killer just the night before on the social network.
For fantasists, the line between make believe and reality becomes blurred and murder may be a way of maintaining the fantasy or preventing others from discovering the deception.
Meanwhile, a predator creates and maintains a fake profile to lure a victim and meet them offline; and an imposter posts in the name of someone else.
This could be the victim in order to create the illusion they are still alive or another person to gain access to and monitor the victim's profile.
Dr Elizabeth Yardley and Professor David Wilson from Birmingham University looked at examples from across the world.
The study found that 26 out of the 48 Facebook murders had occurred in Britain.
Scientists wanted to see whether murders in which Facebook was reported to have been involved were different to other homicides such as the recently committed by British banker Rurik Jutting (pictured left)
Dr Yardley said she wanted to see whether murders in which Facebook was reported to have been involved were any different to other homicides.
They found that that victims knew their killers in most cases, and the crimes echoed what we already know about this type of crime.
However, they did find that the age profile of victims relatively low, the proportion of murder-suicides as high and women were over-represented as victims.
Dr Yardley urged that social networking sites should not be blamed for these crimes.
'Social networking sites like Facebook have become part and parcel of our everyday lives and it's important to stress that there is nothing inherently bad about them.
'Facebook is no more to blame for these homicides than a knife is to blame for a stabbing – it's the intentions of the people using these tools that we need to focus upon.'
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