Adrienne Bishop
PSY 310: Criminal Psychology
3-2 Milestone One
The case provided is an investigation of serial murderer, Frank Timmons. According to
this case, Timmons has been charged with several crimes, that of abduction, rape, murder, and
burglaries. These crimes have occurred over a several years beginning with Timmons in high
school. The first accusation against Timmons occurred during his senior year of high school
where he and his brother were arrested for the rape of a young girl, but no charges were pursued.
He was charged with trespassing a few years later, and with driving under the influence the
following year (SNHU). During his late 20s Frank charged with the abduction of a woman and
brutally raping and bludgeoning her. Timmons admitted to receiving oral sex from the victim but
denied raping and killing her. He was sentenced to 15 years for the abduction and 21 years for a
robbery (SNHU). Frank was released just after 13 short years in prison for being a model inmate
After being released from prison he moved in with his wife in which he began the serial murders
one year after his parole. Timmons was accused of forcing three teenage girls behind a church
and molested two of the three. It is believed that shortly after that and he committed a series of
assaults, robberies, and a total of eight murders.
Police were able to connect Timmons to these assaults, robberies, and murders through
matching shell casing that they found at each crime scene. They were able to determine that the
shells were from the same gun. Murders were particularly brutal, with the killer often shooting
the victims in the head. In addition, there were reports the suspect was sexually assaulting
females as young as 12 years old at gunpoint within a four-mile radius (SNHU). Surviving
witnesses described a "light-skinned black man" often wearing various disguises, such as a
Halloween mask, and attempting to impersonate a homeless man or drug addict (SNHU).
Timmons parole officer was able to provide information to the police suggesting that Timmons
matched the description of the suspect. Parole officers then searched Timmons home where they
found a toy handgun and a ski mask. That gave police enough to retrieve a search warrant to gain
access into Timmons home where the found additional evidence that connected him to the
murders. While in police custody he was connected to two additional sexual assault attacks
against two sisters, one of whom was pregnant.
The crimes were distinguished by having no apparent motive (SNHU). Timmons only
targeted women and young girls, he wore a disguise, he snatched them from a public corner, he
assaulted them and killed them with a shot to the head. There are some possible motives that
would motivate Timmons. One being his background and how he was raised. Timmons came
from a very large family and his family relied on government assistance. His mother was not that
involved with the children and his father was an alcoholic and