Brief highlights on the long career and extensive work of Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess who wrote her first clinical text “Psychiatric Nursing in the Hospital and the Community.” Whoa! Autoerotic fatalities; I never forgot her name.

At Boston College Dr. Burgess (RN) and Sociologist Lynda Holmstrom developed the concept of Rape-Trauma Syndrome. Dr. Burgess advanced the field of Forensic Nursing which established the “Sex Assault Nurse Examiner.” She destroyed the myths about rape; that it is more about power and control than the sex act itself.

What followed was the FBI becoming aware of their work which led to Dr. Burgess working for 2 decades with the FBI Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico to study serial criminal offenders. Leadership at the FBI was changing with a new way of thinking.

She was the only female working on the team as they analyzed horrific crime scene photos and the psychological behavior of hundreds of violent (many notorious) criminal offenders. At the time, Special Agents had been listening for hours to stories of murderers in prison without a cohesive, integrated plan.

Dr. Burgess had already developed core methodologies during her research of nearly 150 interviews of rape victims and immediately designed a standardized scientific investigative tool.

Together, they developed a method linking evidence from the crime scene and psychological behavior to the specific type of perpetrator likely involved; and that Dr. Burgess’s research embedded in the rape trauma study uncovered motivation (irrational nature of a killer) within a crime, into quantifiable data. A “profile” of a killer on each crime was developed.

Their first public profiling case involved the child abduction and murder of 7 yr. old Susan Jaeger taken from a Montana campsite. Their profile matched suspect David Meirhofer, with no evidence, and passing a lie-detector test. A break in the case came after many twists and turns over 15 months and finally he was arrested.

“A Killer By Design” explains her years of breaking apart the criminal mind.

She had a profound impact that most people never saw.

She is a genuine American hero.

Debra Becker

Chestnuthill Township