By Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.
December 11, 2006
While media sources profess apparent surprise that the latest serial killer to hit the headlines seems an unlikely candidate, in fact, the alleged murderer of twenty-three males in Louisiana is actually fairly typical, for several reasons: he blended in, he deflected attention with a deceptive persona, and he selected victims who might not be missed. He resembles many other serial killers who targeted men.
Ronald J. Dominique, overweight and seemingly unhealthy, behaves just as we might expect from a sexual predator who wants to continue doing what he's doing. He seems inoffensive, non-threatening, and even meek. People who knew him thought he was just an ordinary guy. That's precisely why no one would suspect him and just as precisely why he might utilize this manner: Sexual predators want their victims to trust them and they want to keep flying under the radar.
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| Ronald J. Dominique |
Like many serial killers, Dominique, 42, pulled his victims from marginalized groups, reportedly selecting wayward kids and homeless people between 1997 and 2005, thereby avoiding the type of urgent investigation that would be engaged for, say, the disappearance of a senator's son. His victims ranged in age from 16 to 46. With a smooth manner and a conversationalist's style, says Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, he persuaded his victims to have sex for money, usually back at his camper trailer. But there was a condition.
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| Sheriff Jerry Larpenter |
Once at the destination, these men had to agree to be bound; if a gay encounter, it was just part of the ritual that Dominique required; if the targeted victim was heterosexual, then Dominique supposedly had promised him sex with a nonexistent wife, who was "shy" and wanted her partners to be tied. Then once the victim was willingly bound, he was helpless. Dominique would rape him, strangle or smother him, and then dump his bound body in one of six jurisdictions in southern Louisiana. (At least one family disputes this account, provided by the sheriff to the press, insisting that their loved one who fell victim was not homeless, homosexual or easily led; they believe he'd been drugged.)
It was this ploy, which had worked for eight years, which eventually led to Dominique's arrest.
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