What is it that made Charlie Chaplin stand out from the crowd of comedians of his day? Signature!
Bowler hat, mustache, too small jacket, his walk.
Ethel Merman?
Really loud voice.
Dolly Parton?
Bazombas on top of bazombas and equally oversized hair.
Think of 'signature' as the 'trademark' of a serial killer.
How do you recognize Coca Cola as opposed to 7-Up?
(Other than one comes in green and one comes in red and the lettering?) You know they are both soda pop, but if you saw no lettering, only the actual Coca Cola swirl or the red ball belonging to 7--Up, you would know which products they referenced.
Everyone knows the Mitsubishi logo. No words necessary.
Same thing with signature. Each one is unique to the product for which it was created.
Rainsong
The problem with comparing signatures to trademarks is the problem of uniqueness and obviousness.At a crime scene, something might be present but not necessarily recognized as a trademark and certainly not at the very first victim. A pink ribbon can be present at the crime scene and maybe even tied around the victim, who might be a seamstress or a young girl preparing for a party or the like. It is possible to leave a corpse in a certain position and not have it recognized as having been 'posed' because it just might have been the result of simply tossing the corpse somewhere.
There is not a problem, Don, since signature IS unique to those killers who must use one. I say "must," because they have to employ signature to satisfy some need within themselves. The easiest way for people to understand signature is to look at it as the trademark of a particular killer.
Too many people here seem to think finding pubic hairs at separate crime scenes is 'signature,' when in fact, pubic hairs, like white cotton fibers, are too common to indictate signature.
Uniquenss is one of the aspects that make signature the signature, just as our individual fingerprints are our own unique 'signature.'
There are also people on the internet who say JonBenet's murder is an isolated event when we do not know that as fact. Yes, she was removed from her bedroom as were so many other young children. Yes, she was found bound with ligatures just as other children have been found and yes, she had tape on her mouth--but people seem to expect an exact replica, including the note, to point to her murder being part of a series.
Doubtful.
Sometimes the only thing that links a series is the manner of death or the events prior to the death, such as torture. Not particularly torture by knife, garrote or water torture, but simply torture. In that regard, torture would be the 'signtature.' Some sadists choose to use pliers one time, a knife the next, and a hammer next time around. It's all still torture-- the trademark, or hallmark, if you prefer.
The specific label isn't important if the idea of 'trademark' clarifies what constitutes signature.
Rainsong