Sex and the Serial Killer Part 2: The Seduction

For the purposes of this paper the seduction under the normal (i.e. not sexual homicide committing) circumstance will occur in the span of one night out...because it's not like a serial killer really gets the chance to re-attack a victim once he's killed her.

The Seduction

Let's assume  the average Joe has finally worked up the courage to ask out that special girl and she's said yes.   For the purposes of comparison the interaction from then until, let's say, the walk to the door that would normally be considered the end of the date all include seduction.  Once he begins the seduction it starts, at its bare bones, with how the man appears.  He'll be clean, well shaven, and dressed to impress...whether this is in a suit or something else depends on both the girl he's trying to attract and the circumstances of date.  After appropriate appearance comes behavior and interaction.  Wanting to make a good impression a man on a date may do a number of things...open doors, pay for meals, offer his coat, and walk her to her door after.  ...Those more into "picking up" women than dating them may also use pick-up lines, special move or ploys (like those involving a "wing-man"), or even wear certain clothes to vastly accentuate something they consider a good aspect of themselves and distract from more negative ones (aka "peacocking").  Whatever tactics are used the goal is ultimately the same, to get the young woman to feel comfortable, even enamored with him, enough to trust and get close to him.

With serial killers, Foyet or otherwise, the goal of seduction stage is almost disturbingly similar...actually it's pretty much the same.  A serial killer wants to lower a persons defenses enough so they can get close.  Like the average gentleman it starts with their appearance.  What they decide to look like depends greatly on what they think will work best to attract the type of victim they wish (assuming they have a preference) and their hunting grounds.  A nice suit will work wonders in trolling for victims around an upscale neighbor or in a business district where the killer can mix in with those getting off work.  Going into a lower socioeconomic part of society?  Jeans and a tee shirt might just do the trick.  And, if they want to get fancy, pretending to be disabled or putting on some kind of uniform (police officer, repairman, etc) can work wonders.  Presuming they're not drooling, staring like a complete psycho, or making a big scene they've got the correct behavior down just fine.  After that there's the "pick-up" line which can usually be any of a number of things including, "Need some help?" "Can you help me?" "Repairman!"and "Hey, wanna see my puppy?"  Once the person falls for whichever ruse (basically the killer's version of a seduction) the killer has used and gets close enough frequently they're just a knock on the head away from victimhood after that.

Foyet himself was shown using two ruses while hunting, though it's likely there was a third not shown to get into Hotch's building (I am not including his ruse of a victim since it wasn't used to get near victims but to avoid capture).  For the first one he was just an average driver on the road offering help to a couple who'd gotten a flat, for the second he played at being a traffic cop pulling a couple over.  The third was likely that of portraying FBI Agent Derek Morgan, colleague of Hotch, by using the man's credentials previously stolen...he later did pretend to be Morgan when dropping off Hotch after stabbing and, well, torturing the man so it stands to reason he'd have used it should he needed a way to enter Hotch's building and possibly even the apartment itself (if someone, like the superintendent or maintenance man, had let him in rather than him having picked a lock or used an open window).