Introduction

Basically, I think everyone should read the report for themselves. What I will do here is add some information that isn't listed in the report, and look at some items within the report. I think it is important to highlight two findings in the report:

• Seth's death was more likely committed by a hired killer or serial murderer
• The resolution of prosecuting the individual(s) responsible appears to be hindered both actively and passively

The report is here:
The Profiling Project: Seth Rich Homicide - Initial Findings – June 20, 2017

The Rich Family

Before I go any further, I'm going to share The Profiling Project's statement to the Rich family:

Our hearts go out to the family of Seth Rich, whose murderer is still at large. We hope that by assembling this wholly volunteer, non-partisan team of objective forensic-psychology graduate students, psychologists and former federal/local law enforcement officers/agents, that we may be able to provide beneficial additional tools, resources and analysis in the murder of Seth.

We understand law enforcement is still vigorously pursuing the criminal investigation into the murder with the fullest of scope, effort and attention. We also understand that as with many cold-case murders, the assistance of the public is a valuable asset to law enforcement agencies, as it is often the public who provides a crucial piece of information well after the initial investigation.

By using various psychological tools and techniques like geographical profiling, victimology and investigative psychology, we hope to provide significant, actionable information and insight that may assist in the arrest and prosecution of Seth’s murderer and give closure to his family.

What is The Profiling Project?

The biographies of the team leaders is here

The Profiling Project will be staffed by The Student Association for Forensic Psychology (SAFP) at George Washington University. It is a student organization comprised of graduate students pursuing a Master's in Forensic Psychology

Wikileaks Theory

The Profiling Project doesn't find it likely...(Page 28)

Theory – “Killed for Leaking DNC Documents to Wiki-Leaks”
Findings – Not Likely, unless a toxin was introduced into Seth

However, there are some bold assumptions in this analysis:

• The first is that there had to be some toxin in Seth for him to be shot in the back. This is nonsense, a toxin has nothing to do with getting shot in the back. There is no logical reason to assume a toxin is required in this theory, but not in any of the others

• The second is that a professional killer would finish the job and kill Seth on the scene. There are three considerations that argue against the point.
  First, the report repeatedly notes the sanitization of the scene. The killer made sure to reduce the risk of leaving evidence. Every shot is another risk of getting caught in the act or leaving the scene
  Second, if the motive for a DNC hit is to "make an example" (Podesta's words) of someone, getting shot and hospitalized would do just that. Pushing this argument a bit, a few whispered words to Seth at a later point would let him know why he had been punished. The death itself may not have been the sole goal of the shooting
  Third, there is a secondary conspiracy that suggests Seth was finished off at the hospital; there is no evidence for this past linkage between the Democratic Party and some staff

Bias

Jack Burkman is a Republican publicity agent; he has funded the study. Always take note of the source of the funding!

The DNC response

Speaking of bias...
Brad Bauman, the spokesperson for the Rich family, and a Democratic Party political consultant, issued this response to the report Tuesday:

The Rich family was not provided a copy of the preliminary report, never saw the report or was otherwise consulted in the preparation of the report. I received the report a half an hour before it was made public thus depriving myself, the family or the family's lawyers any reasonable time (to) review it. As noted, by the report's methodology, 'The Profiling Project' was given no special access to any materials, evidence or persons and due to case sensitivity, conducted only informal, limited interviews. Given that fact, the family hopes that the general public takes the findings at face value---valuable experience in research collection and report writing for students at George Washington University but in no way should take any findings contained within as new, credible or otherwise lending credence to conspiracy theories surround the circumstances of Seth's death. We further hope that this doesn't continue to impede the Metropolitan Police Department's ability to find the killers and give folks who might have information to their arrest cover to stay silent."

Conclusion

The report finds that Seth was killed by someone who had killed before and did not have an emotional reason to kill Seth. They suggest this leaves the possibilities of either a serial killer of a hired killer. They then list several reasons it is unlikely that a serial killer would have committed the crime, citing statistical evidence and academic study. They next suggest that a DNC punitive killing is unlikely, due to two illogical assumptions. Notice the difference in eliminating possibilities here: one possibility is well researched and it's methodology explained in full; the other based on some rather asinine assumptions that are not backed up by any research!

It is clear that no matter who funded the research, they bent over backwards to suggest that the DNC had no part in this murder.