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David Yarno and Becker Chapin are a pair of serial killers who appeared in the Criminal Minds novel Jump Cut.

Background[]

See sections on the David Yarno and Becker Chapin articles

Modus Operandi[]

Wandering through downtown Lawrence, the two, after spotting a vagrant who they found suitable for use in their film, would take a few pictures of them, approach them, and offer cash in exchange for doing a job they claimed they needed help with. If the victim accepted, David and Becker would take them to a restaurant or diner, where they would drug the food they bought with Rohypnol, to make the victim more pliable. The victim would then be taken to the boys' RV, where they would be groomed and clothed.

The victim would then be taken to a secluded area, where Becker, wearing a ski mask and all-black clothing, would chase them, terrorizing them and inflicting numerous non-fatal stab wounds, while David filmed and directed the scene. After some time, the victim would be finished off by having his or her throat slashed (with the exceptions of Frank Webster, who was stabbed in the heart, likely by accident, and his throat slashed post-mortem; and Roger Rondell, whose thigh was slashed). The body would be left at the scene and the footage they shot would be edited to resemble a murder scene from an obscure giallo film.

Profile[]

Originally, it was thought that only one unsub was committing the murders, but after evidence came to light that the slayings were being filmed, it became obvious that there were two killers. The unsubs were profiled as unassuming white males in their late teens or early twenties who would have juvenile records, fill every criteria of the McDonald Triad and likely, as the victims showed no signs of blitzing, use some ruse to lure them. The victims being drugged meant the unsubs lacked confidence in their abilities to overpower them unless they had the advantage, while the victims being groomed and dressed implicated the unsubs were acting out a fantasy of some kind and were socially immature, as the victims were all dressed as simple stereotypes that best suited their appearance. The murders were committed where the bodies were found, so the grooming likely took place somewhere else, where the unsubs would have more privacy.

As the unsubs continued to kill, they refined their skills and their confidence grew, resulting in the murders becoming more violent and frenzied. The unsubs tortured their victims before finishing them off, relishing in their fear and the feeling of power it gave them. As with all killing teams, there would be a dominant and a submissive; the killing would be apart of the dominant's fantasies and the submissive would merely be the tool used to help enact those fantasies. This may have lead to folie a deux, a rare psychological condition in which one person copies and incorporates the delusions and psychotic patterns of another person into their own personality.

Known Victims[]

  • Unspecified date: A victimless arson
  • 2006:
    • October 29: Elizabeth Hawkins (found in a soccer mom costume; her throat was slashed)
    • November 14: Frank Webster (found in a business suit; fatally stabbed in the heart and his throat slashed post-mortem)
  • 2007:
    • March 9: Paula Creston (found in a waitress uniform; her throat was slashed)
    • March 14: Roger Rondell (found in a business suit; his thigh was slashed)
    • March 18: Benjamin Gray (found in a police uniform; his throat was slashed)
    • March 19: Kathy Bonders (attempted, but survived; was non-fatally stabbed repeatedly; forced to wear a nun uniform)

Appearances[]

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