Behavioural Analysis Can Help Answer the ‘Why’ in BC Murders: Expert

Bryer Schmegelsky, left, and Kam McLeod are seen in this undated combination handout photo provided by the RCMP. RCMP say two British Columbia teenagers who were first thought to be missing are now considered suspects in the deaths of three people in northern B.C. HO, RCMP/The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER—A criminal profiler says investigators should find clues about why two men might have killed three people in northern British Columbia and whether there were a leader and a follower.

Jim Van Allen, a former manager of the Ontario Provincial Police criminal profiling unit who has studied 835 homicides, said evidence can determine what happened in most cases. But it can be harder to determine motive, and that’s where behavioural analysts come in.