Brittany Binger, A Forgotten Victim

Much has been reported lately about undocumented immigrants crossing the border and killing Americans. Forgotten in this political tug-o-war is the murder and rape of Brittany Binger by an illegal alien way back in 2005.

It occurred near Williamsburg, Virginia, a busy little town containing numerous tourist destinations and a college. Brittany was a 16-year-old runaway living with friends in a mobile home park on the outskirts. It was a gritty location made up of businesses and working-class neighborhoods inhabited by locals, a place to which tourists would never venture unless they were lost.

Brittany walked everywhere because she had no money. When she did go out into public, she draped a towel or shirt over her head like a hood, to lower her chances of being recognized by authorities or her father.

On January 2, at 7:30 PM, Brittany left her home and embarked on foot to visit a friend in the Whispering Pines trailer park. The visit was unscheduled and the friend did not know Brittany was headed his way. She never made it. Her body was discovered the next morning on the ground at the entrance to Whispering Pines. An upright, ¾ full, Minute Maid fruit juice bottle was located in the driveway near the victim’s body. Detectives with the James City County PD worked the investigation. They asked me for help and I provided a profile.

The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be asphyxiation by manual strangulation. The time of death was estimated to be on January 2, 2005, between 7:30 and 9:30 PM.

Brittany also sustained numerous, moderate blunt force injures to the head. The sexual assault occurred at or immediately after death.

A DNA profile for an unknown male offender was obtained from 3 sources - anal swabs, fingernail scrapings, and the juice container. The DNA profile was searched in law enforcement databases with negative results.

Before arriving at personality traits for the unknown offender, I assessed the crime scene:

-The victim was on an unscheduled walk

-The offender used a blitz approach

-The victim was not targeted, this was a random unplanned act

My profile for the Unknown Offender, based on behaviors in the crime scene:

-Between the ages of 25 and 30

-Impulsive, he acts upon his urges without considering the consequences

-Of low intelligence

-Uneducated, he did not complete grade school

-Shy, lacking in social skills, conversation will not come easy, he will stumble over words

-Possible criminal history: drugs, alcohol abuse, fighting, domestic violence, disturbing the peace, voyeurism

-His first murder

-Sloppy in appearance

-Loner with few friends

-Lives close to the crime scene, within a mile

-Economically reliant upon family members or the government

-Unskilled laborer, possible huge gaps of occupational inactivity

-Sexually experienced, most likely prostitutes. If he has a wife, she will be lower than him socially and intellectually

-Gets around by foot

The investigation eventually led to a Salvadorian illegal immigrant named Oswaldo Martinez. Martinez was 5’4” tall, 33 years old, married, and a day laborer at a construction site. He left his wife and children behind in San Salvador, while he lived in the US with his brother, a legal citizen. He was partially deaf, mute, and illiterate with no formal education. Patrons at the sports bar where he hung out described him as quiet and creepy. Martinez exhibited selfish behaviors, so his brother quickly kicked him out of his trailer and forced him to live in a 6' X 7‘ shed equipped with air-conditioning, heat, refrigerator, bed, and TV. 8 months prior to the murder, Martinez had been arrested for DUI.

Due to his inability to understand the gravitas of his crimes, Martinez has never stood trial. While in custody at Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital, he has been reprimanded for masturbating in front of other patients and staff members, touching female staff members inappropriately, and getting into physical fights.