Criminology Student Tortured, Murdered by 'Mummy Maniac' in New York
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 01, 2006
A criminology graduate student in New York City may be the first victim of the man dubbed the Mummy Maniac, according to New York City homicide detectives.
The police do not have a suspect in the bizarre, ritualistic killing of 24-year old beauty, Imette St. Guillen, who was studying forensic psychology and criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The young woman's nude body was dumped in Brooklyn with her head wrapped with clear packing tape. According to police, she was mutilated, beaten and tortured before being killed.
Cops told the news media that they've ruled out men she dated in New York as suspects -- including ex-beau Ryan Kocher, 22 -- and in her hometown of Boston and believe she was murdered Saturday by a lone assailent who only met her a few hours before he attacked and murdered her, sources said.
Police are eager to track down the anonymous man who called 911 and told authorities where St. Guillen's body was located, said one of the detectives investigating the murder. There's some who believe the caller was the Mummy Maniac, who wished to make sure the victim's body was found.
During a news conference in New York, forensic profilers claimed that the killer was likely acting out his sick fantasies. They warned that if he remains at large he'll likely murder again with the same "signature."
"This amount of violence and drama on the part of the killer tells me he's killed before. This is pretty much a murderer who's trying to create a warped identity," said Sidney Francis, a former NYPD homicide detective who's taught at the NYC police academy. Det. Francis believes the killer may be reveling in all the media attention to the case.
"He may have killed before. This is pretty strong for a first offense," said New York Daily News source Vernon Geberth, a former NYPD homicide commander who wrote a textbook on investigating sex-related murders. "You're dealing with a psychopathic sexual sadist. These people will kill again."
St. Guillen's battered face and naked body displayed the MO (modus operandi) of a sexually deviant murderer: She was raped, sodomized and suffocated. Her dark hair was chopped short, her genitals sliced and a tube sock was rammed down her throat, according to police sources.
The brutal murderer covered the victim's face with vertical strips of clear packing tape from forehead to chin. When removed, detectives and crime scene investigators found it difficult to identify her.
Some forensic experts said the tape could be a sign that her attacker was acting out fantasies of bondage, control and rage, according to a New York Daily News's forensic consultant
"You can still see the face," forensic psychologist Marta Weber said. "That's important. Why is the face being preserved? Is it to see the person in agony?"
But the tape itself may have preserved clues that could lead to the murderer's capture, said Michael Baden, New York's former chief medical examiner, who stars in HBO's "Autopsy."
"Tape is wonderful at preserving evidence -- fingerprints, hairs, .fibers," Baden said. "Tape preserves this, especially on the sticky side, even if the body's been out there for a year."
St. Guillen, who was studying to become a crime scence investigator lived in uptown Manhattan. She was last seen at a trendy nightspot on early Saturday morning.
According to police, the beautiful student was out drinking with an old high school friend from Boston. They both departed from the bar together and later the women parted ways, investigators stated.
St. Guillen got a cell phone call from a friend who had gone home earlier. She told the friend she was fine and at another bar, police sources said. The unidentified friend told cops she could hear music playing.
The NYPD released photos yesterday of the bedspread that the killer wrapped around St. Guillen's brutalized body before dumping her on a desolate Brooklyn street, miles from the nightspots in Manhattan's Bowery section.
Cops found St. Guillen's body laying in the weeds shortly before 9 p.m. after an anonymous caller dialed the "911" emergency number from a payphone and told the dispatcher the location of the body. Sources said cops plan to play the 911 tape for St. Guillen's family in case they recognize the caller's voice.
Investigators are attempting to lift fingerprints from the packing tape and said they hope to have results as soon as today from tests conducted on DNA evidence recovered from her body.
The police do not have a suspect in the bizarre, ritualistic killing of 24-year old beauty, Imette St. Guillen, who was studying forensic psychology and criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The young woman's nude body was dumped in Brooklyn with her head wrapped with clear packing tape. According to police, she was mutilated, beaten and tortured before being killed.
Cops told the news media that they've ruled out men she dated in New York as suspects -- including ex-beau Ryan Kocher, 22 -- and in her hometown of Boston and believe she was murdered Saturday by a lone assailent who only met her a few hours before he attacked and murdered her, sources said.
Police are eager to track down the anonymous man who called 911 and told authorities where St. Guillen's body was located, said one of the detectives investigating the murder. There's some who believe the caller was the Mummy Maniac, who wished to make sure the victim's body was found.
During a news conference in New York, forensic profilers claimed that the killer was likely acting out his sick fantasies. They warned that if he remains at large he'll likely murder again with the same "signature."
"This amount of violence and drama on the part of the killer tells me he's killed before. This is pretty much a murderer who's trying to create a warped identity," said Sidney Francis, a former NYPD homicide detective who's taught at the NYC police academy. Det. Francis believes the killer may be reveling in all the media attention to the case.
"He may have killed before. This is pretty strong for a first offense," said New York Daily News source Vernon Geberth, a former NYPD homicide commander who wrote a textbook on investigating sex-related murders. "You're dealing with a psychopathic sexual sadist. These people will kill again."
St. Guillen's battered face and naked body displayed the MO (modus operandi) of a sexually deviant murderer: She was raped, sodomized and suffocated. Her dark hair was chopped short, her genitals sliced and a tube sock was rammed down her throat, according to police sources.
The brutal murderer covered the victim's face with vertical strips of clear packing tape from forehead to chin. When removed, detectives and crime scene investigators found it difficult to identify her.
Some forensic experts said the tape could be a sign that her attacker was acting out fantasies of bondage, control and rage, according to a New York Daily News's forensic consultant
"You can still see the face," forensic psychologist Marta Weber said. "That's important. Why is the face being preserved? Is it to see the person in agony?"
But the tape itself may have preserved clues that could lead to the murderer's capture, said Michael Baden, New York's former chief medical examiner, who stars in HBO's "Autopsy."
"Tape is wonderful at preserving evidence -- fingerprints, hairs, .fibers," Baden said. "Tape preserves this, especially on the sticky side, even if the body's been out there for a year."
St. Guillen, who was studying to become a crime scence investigator lived in uptown Manhattan. She was last seen at a trendy nightspot on early Saturday morning.
According to police, the beautiful student was out drinking with an old high school friend from Boston. They both departed from the bar together and later the women parted ways, investigators stated.
St. Guillen got a cell phone call from a friend who had gone home earlier. She told the friend she was fine and at another bar, police sources said. The unidentified friend told cops she could hear music playing.
The NYPD released photos yesterday of the bedspread that the killer wrapped around St. Guillen's brutalized body before dumping her on a desolate Brooklyn street, miles from the nightspots in Manhattan's Bowery section.
Cops found St. Guillen's body laying in the weeds shortly before 9 p.m. after an anonymous caller dialed the "911" emergency number from a payphone and told the dispatcher the location of the body. Sources said cops plan to play the 911 tape for St. Guillen's family in case they recognize the caller's voice.
Investigators are attempting to lift fingerprints from the packing tape and said they hope to have results as soon as today from tests conducted on DNA evidence recovered from her body.
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