Sexually sadistic serial killers regularly utilize asphyxiation to control, torture and kill women. Because they typically target strangers and pose a serious risk to the community, they are sensationalized and prioritized by the media. However, most crimes against women are committed by a person they know or trust. These are often presented as “isolated incidents” and treated with less urgency. Yet, serial offenders frequently have a similar history of violence and sexual abuse toward their partners and acquaintances. This unique, interactive course follows the escalation of a violent offender over time and gives every practitioner the opportunity to play a role in stopping a killer in their tracks.
2023 Preconference
2024 preconference details coming soon
How to Stop a Serial Killer: Finding Opportunities for Homicide Prevention
Perpetrators who use strangulation and other forms of asphyxiation to facilitate rape, violence and abuse pose a significant threat to women and often target vulnerable populations. They evade justice by exploiting the gaps in the system, and each time they avoid accountability, they escalate into confident serial criminals.
“Once I put my hands around my girlfriend’s throat, I remember becoming GOD. I literally had her life in my own hands. Now that’s addictive!”
– The Strangulation Chronicles, Scott Hampton
Through three interactive case studies, this unique course will take attendees back in time to follow the journey of one serial offender who has multiple touchpoints with the legal system. At each juncture, practitioners will learn new ways to identify and navigate the critical opportunities that could have prevented the escalation of a serial killer.
Attendees will learn new strategies to overcome claims that a rape was “rough sex,” navigate accusations that a victim is the aggressor, and reframe attacks designed to target the credibility of a victim. As a result, attendees will be able to identify and overcome the ways an abuser manipulates not only victims but also the system who is responsible for holding these perpetrators accountable.
“It’s the fastest way to re-establish control over your woman. And if you’re caught, you just tell them that she’s into rough sex. It’s not like there’s a law against it.”
– The Strangulation Chronicles, Scott Hampton
Most training on strangulation and other types of asphyxiation have primarily focused on identifying and investigating a specific crime. This course takes the next step, providing a lens into the motives and tactics a perpetrator uses to outsmart authorities. It provides a playbook for law enforcement, advocates, prosecutors, and other practitioners to dig deeper into cases where offenders use this terrifying technique. As a result, this course will guide practitioners as they play a critical role in homicide prevention and stopping serial offenders.
89% of attendees stated that they would change their practice based on what they learned
Preconference, 2022, Missed & Misdiagnosed Asphyxiation Deaths
82% of attendees stated that attending this course made them reconsider past cases.
Preconference, 2022, Missed & Misdiagnosed Asphyxiation Deaths
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am (30 min)
Check-in, networking, etc.
8:30am - 9:00am (30 min)
Welcome, Introductions, Keynote
9:00am - 9:45am (45 min)
Criminal History of Serial Killers
9:45am - 10:00am (15 min)
Break
10:00am - 10:15am (15 min)
Framing the Issue: Missed Opportunities
10:15am - 10:45am (30 min)
Presentation of Final Crime Scene
10:45am - 11:30am (45 min)
Case File, Evidence, Investigative Tools
11:30am - 12:30pm (1 hr)
Lunch (on your own)
12:30pm - 1:00pm (30 min)
Case File Review & Discussion
1:00pm - 2:00pm (1 hr)
Case Scenario 1: Stranger with a Side of Strategy
2:00pm - 2:30pm (30 min)
Case Scenario 2: The Closed Door
2:30pm - 2:45pm (15 min)
Break
2:45pm - 3:45pm (1 hr)
Case Scenario 3: The Last Letter
3:45pm - 4:15pm (30 min)
Inside the Mind of a Perpetrator: Interviewing, Interrogations, Evidence Collection
4:15pm - 4:30pm (15 min)
Questions, Closing, & Evaluations
DOWNLOAD AGENDA PDF
TRAINING FACULTY

Kelsey McKay
Attorney & Consultant, McKay Training & Consulting, LLC & President of the non-profit, RESPOND Against Violence
Kelsey McKay trains and consults nationally to strengthen how communities collaborate, investigate, and prosecute strangulation, sexual violence, intimate partner abuse and other power-based abuse. As a former prosecutor, she handled thousands of strangulation cases and developed protocols to implement successful ways that improve how communities respond these difficult cases. Over the last seven years, Ms. McKay has written curriculums, developed trainings, and consulted on asphyxiation cases across the world. As a victims-rights attorney, she has represented victims and consulted with attorneys in family court, civil court, Title IX and the criminal legal system. She has served as an attorney and consultant on multiple cases where a victim of intimate partner abuse is criminally charged for killing an abuser. In February 2023 a jury acquitted her client of murder, finding that she had acted in self-defense.
Consulting Website: https://www.mckaytrainingconsulting.com
RESPOND Website: https://www.respondagainstviolence.org

Scott Hampton
Director, Ending the Violence
Scott Hampton has been working with batterers, sex offenders, victims and children exposed to violence for over 30 years. As the Director of Ending the Violence, he provides community and jail-based educational classes to perpetrators. Dr. Hampton is also the Project Coordinator of Strafford County’s Supervised Visitation Center, a past president of the National Supervised Visitation Network, a peer reviewer for the U.S. Dept. of Justice and is a founding member of New Hampshire’s Fatality Review Committee. Dr. Hampton is frequently called upon to provide expert witness testimony in court and writes and speaks frequently on issues related to interpersonal violence having provided over 500 trainings in North America, Asia and Europe. His 2010 book, “Tolerant oppression: How Tolerance Undermines Our Quest for Equality and What We Should Do Instead” addresses the intersection of domestic violence, sexual assault, racism and other forms of oppression.
Website: http://www.endingtheviolence.us/

Mark Wynn
Wynn Consulting
Mark Wynn, founder of Wynn Consulting is a twenty-one-year member of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department – Served as Lieutenant to the Domestic Violence Division and a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team for fifteen years. He has served as an advisor to the state, national and international leaders to help guide and shape law and policy and helped form the largest police domestic violence investigative unit in the United States.
Full Bio: http://www.markwynn.com/about-mark-wynn/bio/
Website: http://www.markwynn.com/

Andrea Zaferes
Medicolegal Death Investigator, Forensic Aquatic Consulting & Training, LLC
Andrea Zaferes, a medicolegal death investigator, is familiar with the handling of aquatic and asphyxiation cases from the scene to the courtroom. She trains law enforcement, medical examiners/coroners, dive teams, domestic violence and trafficking crime workers, medical personnel, and jurisprudence members to recognize, document, and investigate homicide, death, assault, and abuse cases that involve drowning and other forms of asphyxiation. Ms. Zaferes assists in analyzing and building such cases in the U.S. and abroad, and has developed standards for their investigation. She has been teaching dive teams around the world for more than 30 years to recover submerged evidence and bodies, is an author, and frequent public speaker on aquatic forensics. Ms. Zaferes is a pro bono consultant for such organizations as NCMEC and the NYS DCJS Missing Person Cold Case Review Panel, and works with Lifeguard Systems, Dutchess County Medical Examiners’ Office, and Respond Against Violence.
CONTRIBUTING FACULTY
Margaret Bassett
Director of Applied Research & Innovative Instruction, Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, University of Texas
Patrick Brady
Criminologist, University of Northern Colorado
Colleen Brooks
Special Agent, Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI)
Allyson Cordoni (MSN, APRN-BC, SANE-A, SANE-P)
Forensic Nurse Practitioner, Taylor Forensic Consulting, LLC
AJ Greer
Contributing Researcher
Tiffany Lee
Consultant, Tiffany Lee Projects & Consulting, LLC
Jesse De Leon
Polygraph Examiner, Lieutenant (ret.), Austin Polygraph Services
Angel Martinez
Special Agent/Polygraph Examiner, Texas Department of Public Safety
Erica Olson
Founder & Consultant, Anassa Consulting
Paul Thorns
Executive Director, Marquis Lifestyle Center
Misti Youngquist
What they're saying
”It has opened up an entire new area that I had little to no knowledge on
Attendee
”As a medical professional, I don't get to see or interact with others. It completes the picture when you're able to go through the whole process and makes you think about your piece of the puzzle a little differently.
Medical Field Attendee
”I will pass along what I have learned to the officers who investigate these crimes and talk about changing how we look at these cases.
Attendee
”The quality of the information provided. It was relevant and timely. I left this training with a wealth of information to provide to my co-workers and community.
Attendee
”Great information to help solve crimes as a detective bureau and prevent deaths from becoming cold cases.
Law Enforcement Attendee
”I enjoyed the real scenarios and cases with people helpful in recognizing warning signs for future investigations.
Attendee
”The use of case studies in this training session made the learning event very informative interactive with colleagues, and brings the sense of true reality to each subject topic.
Attendee
”I think this training was valuable because it made me realize that choking or strangulation isn't just something you check off on a risk assessment. It made me realize how serious it is.
Attendee
”This will help us better combat the bogus defenses. Thank you so much!
Prosecutor Attendee
”Thank you so much for making this opportunity available. I have been in the DV field for 26 years and struggle to find trainings that are this engaging and that provide me with information and ideas that are truly new to me. This one was incredible and worth every moment!
Attendee
”All of it was outstanding, but the actual information from strangulation cases helped solidify the information. Also, presenters did an excellent job of discussing and demonstrating the abuser intimidation that creates fear as well as other dynamics that hamper prosecution of strangulation and DV cases in general.
Attendee
”I believe this particular training is very beneficial to all areas of law enforcement, from an advocacy position it helped me better understand these investigations as a whole and provide a different perspective to the detectives I work with.
Attendee from Advocacy
”One of the most valuable parts if the training was the perspective in which it was taught. I appreciated the experience from the perspective of prosecution and investigation. I appreciated having a better understanding of what goes though officers' minds and what their struggle is. I appreciated the honesty as well. The presenters shared so much information I think it will make it's way into the work we do both intentionally and unexpectedly.
Attendee
”The course was very well done. The case studies and concepts presented will aid me in my own investigations.
Law Enforcement Attendee