Roger L. Depue (born 1938) is a criminal profiler. Following a career in the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, he served on the panel investigating the

Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree killer, spree shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Tech, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksbu ...

and its handling by the university. Depue is the coauthor of ''Between Good and Evil: A Master Profiler's Hunt for Society's Most Violent Predators''.

Early life

Roger Depue was born in Detroit, Michigan, in February 1938. Depue, is one of five sons of police officer Alvoy Depue.

Career

He worked for the

, where he served as Unit Chief for the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy at Quantico,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He was a pioneer of the FBI's Behavior Science Unit. Depue was first assigned as a Supervisory Special Agent in 1974. He served as an instructor and

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

until his promotion to the position of Chief of Behavioral Sciences in 1980. He retired from the FBI in 1989 and founded The Academy Group, Inc (AGI). He coauthored ''Between Good and Evil'' with Susan Schindehette. Regarding his work with violent predators, Depue said:

Understanding the
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
is very important. Many times in crime scene you can see fantasy. Many times the criminals with intense fantasies will draw victimizations. In
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...
and criminological research you will find all kinds of drawings where the fantasy is still alive.Chasing the Dragon: A Conversation with the Academy Group. (Interview with Roger Depue), Millennium TV series Fox DVD documentary, 2004

This led him to coin the term "leakage", which basically means that people's fantasies tend to leak into behavior. This insight allows

profilers Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrato ...

to better understand criminal motivation.

Cases

One of Dupue's most important contributions involved the cold case of Terri Brooks. She was an assistant manager at a

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She was found murdered with her head wrapped in a trash bag and a knife in her back. Money was missing, and as a result, the detectives ruled it a robbery that went bad. Terri's fiancé James Keefe was interviewed, but not interrogated. Depue became involved years later, and the memory of it haunted him. He applied profiling techniques and interviewed the fiancé. This convinced Depue that Keefe was the main suspect. Law enforcement officials were complacent and did not follow up on Depue's finding. This caused him angst as he was retired from official law enforcement. Years later, Chief Arnold Conoline of Falls Township reopened the case. With

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

evidence, Officer Nelson E. Whitney II got a signed confession from the fiancé. Another important case was that of James Joseph Richardson. Even though Richardson was viewed as a victim of injustice, Depue disagreed and made a compelling argument as to why he was guilty of killing his seven children.

Personal life

Depue's wife died of

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

. He then joined a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in an attempt to cope with his despair. This eventually led him to transform his work into preventing rather than solving crime.

Sources and further reading

* * Chasing the Dragon: A Conversation with the Academy Group. (Interview with Roger Depue), Millennium TV series Fox DVD documentary, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depue, Roger Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Law enforcement officials from Virginia Offender profiling Living people 1938 births