This study aims to determine the factors associated with the victim’s death in sadistic sexual crimes. Specifically, this article examined whether the lethal outcome is more likely to be associated with an escalation of violence during the crime-commission process, an instrumental motivation, or the manifestation of specific sadistic fantasies. We used a database including 735 cases of sadistic sexual assaults. Among this sample, 100 sadistic sexual assaults ended with a lethal outcome. Bivariate analyses, logistic regression, and neural network models were used to identify how the different factors predicted the lethal outcome of sadistic crimes. Our results show that the expression of sadistic behaviors associated with torture and/or bodily punishment plays a fundamental role in the lethal outcome of sadistic sexual crimes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

本研究旨在确定与施虐性犯罪中受害者死亡相关的因素。具体而言，本文研究了致命结果是否更有可能与犯罪委员会过程中的暴力升级、工具性动机或特定施虐幻想的表现有关。我们使用了一个数据库，其中包括 735 起虐待性性侵犯案件。在这个样本中，有 100 起虐待狂性侵犯以致命的结果告终。双变量分析、逻辑回归和神经网络模型用于确定不同因素如何预测虐待犯罪的致命结果。我们的研究结果表明，与酷刑和/或体罚相关的施虐行为的表达在施虐性犯罪的致命结果中发挥着重要作用。