Micki Pistorius

Micki Pistorius (born 19 March 1961 in Pretoria) is a South African forensic or investigative psychologist, an author, and the aunt of South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius.[1] She was the first woman in her profession,[2] and the first profiler in South Africa.[3][4] She claims to have "cryptesthesia", an extra-sensory perception for killers.[1][3] She has empathy for serial killers, whom she notes are "not monsters; they are human beings with tortured souls. I will never condone what they do, but I can understand them."[1]

Early and personal life

Pistorius grew up in Pretoria with several brothers and sisters. She worked as a journalist for eight years,[2] before deciding to study psychology at the University of Pretoria, where she received a Masters in the subject, and also became a lecturer with a reputation for eccentricity.[1][5] While doing her doctoral thesis on serial killers—the first in South Africa[6]—she developed her theory linking Freudian psychosexual development with serial killing.[4] She was married for eight years, but divorced as a result of work pressures after she became a profiler. She is a Catholic.[5]

Career

Pistorius joined the South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1994,[7] where she founded and headed the Investigative Psych Unit[8] as Chief Investigative Psychologist,[5] a rank equivalent to colonel;[1] she also founded the Serious and Violent Crimes Component. By 1997, she had trained over 100 detectives to investigate serial criminals, and two successors, including Elmarie Myburgh.[5][8]

She was involved in more than thirty serial killer cases while at SAPS. Among the people whose cases she worked on are Norman Simons, Moses Sithole, David Selepe, Stewart Wilken, Sipho Thwala, Velaphi Nadlangamandla, Cedric Maake, and David Mmbengwa.[2][4][5][7][9][10]

She developed post-traumatic stress disorder and consequently retired in 2000 to join a private investigation company. Gerrard Labuschagne took over from her.[4] After quitting, she wrote Catch me a killer in order to "purify" herself of her experiences while profiling.[2] She still consults for South African government agencies,[1] and appears in court cases as a clinical psychologist.[11]

Pistorius is recognised as one of the world's foremost psychological profilers, by people such as FBI profiler Robert Ressler.[4][6]

She participated in the training of nearly two hundred detectives in the investigation of serial homicides.

Books by Micki Pistorius

Books about Micki Pistorius

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Howden, Daniel (2013-02-25). "Why South Africa's top murder expert will not be involved in Oscar". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Micki Pistorius, une profileuse en Afrique du Sud - TUEURS EN SERIE.org". www.tueursenserie.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  3. 1 2 Rademeyer, Julian; Siemaszko, Corky (2013-02-25). "Pistorius aunt is famed criminal profiler". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Attwood, Vivian (2007-11-08). "Is tracking serial killers 'mumbo jumbo'?". Independent Online. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Angella (1997-10-01). "The woman who stalks the stalkers". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  6. 1 2 Fuchs, Erin (2013-02-25). "Oscar Pistorius' Aunt Is One Of South Africa's Top Murder Experts". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  7. 1 2 DROGIN, BOB (1997-03-22). "Post-Apartheid South Africa Swamped by Crime". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  8. 1 2 "Five serial killers operating in SA". The M&G Online. 1997-10-01. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  9. ↑ "Top psychologist joins hunt for Delmas killer". The M&G Online. 1998-09-22. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  10. ↑ Bailey, Candice (2005-08-16). "Revisiting the Station Strangler cases". Independent Online. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  11. ↑ "Barbie 'psychologically imprisoned' by Dirk". The M&G Online. 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2017-05-30.


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