Law students: What are the laws surrounding prosecution of serial killers who have killed prostitutes?

Question

Would it be difficult somehow, for example, to prosecute someone who killed a prostitute because the prostitute had also been engaging in an illegal act (prostitution)? I'm guessing this is not the case, or else no one could prosecute murders of drug dealers or other such unsavory types of people, and that would add up to a lot of murders. I'd appreciate any reliable information and websites.

Answer 1

Like the prior poster said, it doesn't matter who the victim is. Once apprehended, it should not matter if the victim was a prostitute or a business person with a 9-5 job.

However, although this is how the law is supposed to work, it might not work like this in practice.

For example, it may be harder to find and identify the killer of a prostitute. Many prostitutes are on their own and don't have families that will notice if they don't come home. This means that the person's disappearance may not be reported or investigated for several days after the crime has taken place. This, in turn, means that there might be less evidence to tie the killer to the crime. Additionally, if the case goes cold and the investigation comes to a stand-still, the prostitute will be less likely to have a family urging the police on than another victim may have.

Once someone is arrested and charged, the prosecution shouldn't be too different. However, once the case goes to the sentencing phase it is possible that a person who kills a prostitute will get a lesser sentence than someone who kills someone with a more "respectable" job. In an area that has mandatory sentencing guidelines for crimes, this wouldn't be an issue, but if the case goes to jury and the jury can choose to sentence the person for 15-25 years, for example, they *may* be more likely to sentence someone who has killed a prostitute to 15 years but to sentence someone else for 25 years because of the sympathy factor (seeing the person's family in the courtroom, perceived loss of quality of life, etc.)

hope this helps

Answer 2

A murder is a murder and it makes no difference what the occupation the victim is.