Piquerism

Piquerism or picquerism (from the French piquer - "to prick") is sexual interest in penetrating the skin of another person, sometimes seriously enough to cause death.^[1] Piquerism is a paraphilia. The most frequently targeted areas of the body are the breasts, buttocks, or groin.

Examples

Andrei Chikatilo

Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo was impotent and could only achieve sexual arousal through stabbing and cutting people with a knife.

Jack the Ripper

Dr. Robert D. Keppel and his colleagues concluded in an analysis of London's Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 that "the injuries sustained by the victims displayed the signature characteristic of picquerism."

Albert Fish

X-Ray of pelvis of Albert Fish showing over a dozen needles inserted.

Notorious serial killer Albert Fish has been said to have engaged in piquerism upon his victims and his own body, flagellating himself constantly with a nail-studded board. After his arrest and subsequent jailing for the murder of Grace Budd, an X-Ray revealed at least 29 needles that were inserted into his groin and pelvic region.

See also

• London Monster

Footnotes

1. Davis, MS (2002). The concise dictionary of crime and justice. SAGE Publications. pp. 196. ISBN 0-7619-2176-1.

References

• Keppel RD; Weis JG; Brown KM; Welch K (2005). "The Jack the Ripper Murders: A Modus Operandi and Signature Analysis of the 1888-1891 Whitechapel Murders". Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling. 2 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1002/jip.22.