The aetiology of necrophilia is murky, confusing, and rests on theoretical assumptions and propositional analysis. Although Havelock Ellis[49] suggested a congenital defect as a basis for necrophilia in the case of a gravedigger who suffered from anosmia (inability to perceive odours) and whose mother was highly sexed. Ellis argues that because the man thought the act of necrophilia normal—and that he lacked the sense of smell—then his acts were caused by congenital defects, blaming the man’s mother, her sexual proclivities, and lack of intelligence for her son’s necrophilia—if this categorization were applied to the general populace, it would mean necrophilia was more prevalent than studies suggest. Brill[50] argues that heredity could play a part in the emergence of necrophiliac tendencies, documenting a man whose aggressive and criminalistic father and psychologically feeble mother caused him to be effeminate, this, Brill claims, mixed with an oral fixation resulted in necrophiliac acts. ‘But Christie had frightened her. Although Mrs Christie wasn’t there, he had done some strange intimate things, asked her to open her mouth so he could look down her throat with a mirror on the end of a rod, and asked her to lift her skirt up to mid-thigh level.’[51] Case studies cite trauma as a potential cause, head injuries causing a shift in sexuality and attendant aggression causing a desire for sex with dead bodies—see below the cases of John Reginald Halliday Christie and Fred West for possible trauma- induced aetiology. In Christie’s case, sexual inadequacy may also have been a cause—Christie had a very small penis and felt inadequate when confronted by living women, preferring them to either play dead or be dead before he had sex with them. Alcoholism and drug use may be contributing factors, see below Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen as examples of homosexual necrophiles who used alcohol and drugs to not only embolden themselves but to incapacitate their victims. ‘His body went rigid. He grabbed my jumper with both hands, shouting inarticulately. Hot bright pain shot through my chest as Dr Drummond’s incision came open again. I sliced at Sam’s fingers, felt the blade scrape across bone. He made an awful sound halfway between a sob and a scream. I imagined him trying to comprehend what was happening through his alcoholic haze, and I cursed myself for drinking enough to make me clumsy. I’d meant to send him off quick and clean. This was no better than butchery.’[52] Temporal lobe anomalies—severe headaches, hallucinations, sometimes caused by alcohol and drugs—are evident in paraphilias such as necrophilia. Poe’s use of opium may have fuelled his necrophiliac stories: ‘And again I sunk into visions of Ligeia—and again, (what marvel that I shudder while I write,) again there reached my ears a low sob from the region of the ebony bed. But why shall I minutely detail the unspeakable horrors of that night? Why shall I pause to relate how, time after time, until near the period of the gray dawn, this hideous drama of revivification was repeated; how each terrific relapse was only into a sterner and apparently more irredeemable death; how each agony wore the aspect of a struggle with some invisible foe; and how each struggle was succeeded by I know not what of wild change in the personal appearance of the corpse?’[53] Aggrawal cites harsh treatment, excessive criticism, and childhood neglect as contributory factors; and Ted Bundy, Fred West, and other necrophiles suffered from one or all of these, yet so have a large number of children. Fred West also suffered sexual abuse in childhood, another possible cause of necrophiliac tendencies. Some or all of these aetiologies may combine to create a personality disorder[54] that results in a desire for the dead; but, I would argue, in the majority of cases does not. Theories as to the cause of necrophilia range from congenital deficiency, feeble-mindedness, mental weakness, to neo-Freudian analysis of childhood, dreams, and language, viewing necrophilia as a revenge sexual act on the displaced and transferred body of the mother—see the later analysis of Jerry Brudos.
There is also a question of power and possession, the body relegated to that of sexual slave and passive object used and abused, fucked and discarded—an element of role playing and sadomasochism, not wholly connected with necrophilia—but taken to its extreme, it results in lust murderers like Dennis Nilsen and Gary Ridgway. Conversely, lack of control may ignite violence and result in the passive victim enacting revenge: as in the case of a 16-year-old student who killed his mother after years of forced incest and then anally and vaginally raped her dead body. Fear of castration, an ongoing infantile sexuality, narcissism, and the Oedipus complex have all been cited as factors in the psychology of necrophiles and so have mourning, obsessive love, opportunism and rejection by a partner. No single cause creates a necrophile. All of the above may contribute to a desire to have sex with dead bodies—Bertrand himself was a narcissist with a possible Oedipal complex who may have suffered head trauma and hallucinations. If this is the case, then how widespread is necrophilia? Aggrwaal provides an epidemiological overview.[55]
As the aetiology of necrophilia shows, the contributing factors that cause a sexual desire for the dead could also create other paraphilias, or none at all. As Aggrawal points out, necrophilia is possibly the most secret of acts with the partner/victim forever silent. Is necrophilia more widespread than reports and studies show? As necrophilia was not until recently considered a crime, then the lack of reporting on the subject is understandable—it can be argued that it is a victimless crime, but then one could argue that it is a crime against property if the family or religious denomination claim the body as their own. Aggrawal uses Rosman and Resnick’s ‘Sexual attraction to corpses: a psychiatric review of necrophilia’[56] as the basis of an epidemiology and as character analysis. Out of a study of 122 necrophiles, they found an age range from 16 to 65—a normal range for sexually active men and women of all persuasions. 95% of these were men, 14 of whom had committed murder for necrophiliac purposes. Intelligence levels across the group ranged from signs of insanity to those with a high IQ (the means of assessment). Heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality in necrophiles corresponded to statistical evidence in society. Alcohol and drug use may contribute to necrophiliac acts, however Rosman and Resnick’s analysis failed to find evidence in the reports they analyzed. Sex of corpse—10% of necrophiles chose same-sex corpses, this statistic was higher—50%—among necrophiliac killers. Marital status—60% single, 26% married, and 14% divorced or widowed. A large percentage of all necrophiles showed a prior tendency towards sadism and cruelty. The survey found no evidence that psychotics, people suffering personality disorders, or having unusual belief systems, made up a large proportion of the group. Occupation—although Rosman and Resnick found evidence that hospital orderlies, cemetery employees, morgue attendants, funeral parlour assistants, soldiers, clerics, pathologists, anatomy students, ambulance drivers, and volunteer firemen had all been found to have a predilection for sex with corpses it was not stated whether the necrophilia was a result of opportunity—all professions having access to corpses—or that the person had manoeuvred themself into a job in which they had access to the objects of their desire.[57] Helpful as the aetiology and epidemiology are, neither provides any firm conclusions as to the cause or profusion of necrophilia in history and society. ‘He needs to do it so much and knows that he can’t live without it—and in any event, no matter how hard he tries, he’s already done it and there can never be any real peace or any hope of forgiveness. His life is tainted and he can’t go back.[58]
49
See: Havelock Ellis,
50
See: A. A. Brill,
56
‘Sexual attraction to corpses: a psychiatric review of necrophilia’, Bull. Am Acad. Psychiatry Law. 1989; 17 (2), pp. 153–163.