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True crime cases really intrigue me...

by discrat
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However let me clarify and get one thing straight : I am not one of those people who have a morbid curiosity for psychopaths and serial killers. I am not in the business of glamorizing them or one of those nut cases who befriends/marries a Charles Manson or starts a pen pal correspondence with a Jeffrey Dahmer.

No, they repulse me to my core and their evilness is utterly vile and something that I cannot wrap my head around.

But what I am fascinated by is how can someone be so polar opposite in their mindset and behavior than the rest of us ( relatively) normal people ?? How does an educated, seemingly well spoken and well groomed person like Ted Bundy do what he did to young innocent women? How does Richie Ramirez savagely rape and kill an elderly and innocent wheelchair bound lady?

The more I try to figure it out the more I get perplexed about it. Maybe it is just something that we will never figure out as to what is going on in their brains.

It just makes no sense to me. It's truly like we are dealing with a different species here. Kind of like an alien or something.

Or maybe I have just read too many James Patterson books lol

Anyway, your thoughts ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Why would you think you could 'figure it out'? People think differently, process things differently - there are psychopaths and sociopaths...and what frightens us is that we can't see what is 'inside'.


    I've taken several courses in psychology and my favorites were in abnormal psychology...you might enjoy an online course like that. It doesn't really explain HOW people are that way - but the ways they are is really fascinating.
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      Why would you think you could 'figure it out'? People think differently, process things differently - there are psychopaths and sociopaths...and what frightens us is that we can't see what is 'inside'.
      Yeah I know. But the curious nature of my Mind always seek to try to rationalize everything. And there is just NO rationalizing this.

      A crazy thought entered my mind the other day when I was driving through a grocery store lane. There was an elderly woman just taking her sweet time on a Walker while I was in a hurry to get by. I said to myself what if I yelled to her, "get out of the way you old bag of bones". Just a random, senseless thought. And then I thought to myself what a shock it would be to her and how bad I would feel if I did something like that.

      Let alone push her, or hit her, or worse.

      Human behavior just escapes me sometimes.
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      • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
        Originally Posted by discrat View Post

        Yeah I know. But the curious nature of my Mind always seek to try to rationalize everything. And there is just NO rationalizing this.

        A crazy thought entered my mind the other day when I was driving through a grocery store lane. There was an elderly woman just taking her sweet time on a Walker while I was in a hurry to get by. I said to myself what if I yelled to her, "get out of the way you old bag of bones". Just a random, senseless thought. And then I thought to myself what a shock it would be to her and how bad I would feel if I did something like that.

        Let alone push her, or hit her, or worse.

        Human behavior just escapes me sometimes.
        Psychopaths, their brains are hard wired to kill, torture etc., and never feel remorse or guilt about it. And some psychopaths never do anything about their compulsions because a frontal lobe of airs and graces grows up that puts a buffer between these compulsions ever coming out to the outside world.

        You had a compulsion to berate this woman who was blocking you but the airs and graces in your frontal lobe built up over many years prevented you from doing this. You had a civilized layer of tolerance from your life's experience and upbringing.

        My father had a stroke and lost a lot of his frontal lobe behavior. He used to be very conservative, rational, intelligent and thoughtful. But when it got damaged, he became quite a different person.
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        • Profile picture of the author discrat
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post


          You had a compulsion to berate this woman who was blocking you but the airs and graces in your frontal lobe built up over many years prevented you from doing this. You had a civilized layer of tolerance from your life's experience and upbringing.
          No, it was more of a fleeting OCD thought. Not that I was really upset and felt like berating her. Just a split second rumination of an intrusive thought. A kind of what if ? ...that really made no sense.

          Interesting enough most serial killers are psychopaths. But there have been a handful of cases where a serial killer was schizophrenic and I believe at least one case where I recalled a serial killer suffered from extreme OCD.

          I am sure heavy drug users who have done damage to the frontal cortex could have been a serial killer of sorts.
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          • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
            Originally Posted by discrat View Post

            No, it was more of a fleeting OCD thought. Not that I was really upset. Just a split second rumination of an intrusive thought. A kind of what if ? ...that really made no sense.
            Yeah , we get them all the time, it's a primordial thought seeping through, why should I be tolerant of this weaker person why don't I just smack them out of the way, then the sensibilities kick in.

            You get that a lot reading Dan Riffle posts.
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        • Profile picture of the author discrat
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

          Psychopaths, their brains are hard wired to kill, torture etc., and never feel remorse or guilt about it. .
          I would have to disagree in some respects. Most psychopaths are NOT killers or sadistic torturers. Many are people in high positions in Corporations ( think like a CEO) or people who are your next door neighbor . Some hide it better than others.

          But many clues can be recognized that would point to a degree of psychopathy. ..charming. glib, superficial, easily angered, ruthless, power hungry etc...etc....are just a few
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by discrat View Post

            But many clues can be recognized that would point to a degree of psychopathy. ..charming. glib, superficial, easily angered, ruthless, power hungry etc...etc....are just a few
            I understand the glibness.

            When growing up, I had a real problem understanding why people behaved like they did. Why did people get upset? I had a real problem understanding yelling. I tended to be withdrawn, watching people...trying to understand why they behaved like they did.

            But, humor was something I understood. It was a commonality I had with others. So I would be funny. The problem was, I tended to joke all the time, because I didn't understand how to act any other way. I knew how to be funny...or polite. That was about it.

            Being glib and charming are easier for psychopaths because they don't think of the other person as a fellow person, but as an object. Being glib is shallow behavior. Being charming is easy, when you aren't really communicating with the other person.

            Two areas of the brain are associated with psychopathy. One is the forebrain. That determines impulse control. Sociopaths usually lack impulse control, and they have anger issues, so they tend to be violent.

            Psychopaths may lack impulse control, but their temporal lobes tend to be lower functioning. It's where emotions like empathy are located.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by discrat View Post

        Yeah I know. But the curious nature of my Mind always seek to try to rationalize everything. And there is just NO rationalizing this.
        That is the answer.

        Some people (thankfully rare) feel something when they hurt others. Somehow it fills a need they have...it fills a pit in them.

        Imagine how you feel when you are attracted to another person. There is no reason, no logic to this. It's a chemical process we are completely unaware of. It is beyond our conscious control.

        Now, imagine that we get this feeling when we are stalking someone who is weaker than we are. Again, it's not something we control. It's like being hungry.

        Usually these guys start small. They hurt an animal and it gives them a feeling they want to feel again. They hit someone and it makes them feel powerful. Eventually these acts escalate.

        At no point are these people (mostly men) reasoning about these impulses. These impulses cannot be reasoned with...they can only be fed...satisfied.

        And if the feelings are strong enough, there is no thought of consequences...no consideration of the aftermath. I imagine that a serious drug addiction feels similar.

        It doesn't mean that these horrible actions cannot be understood. It means that we cannot imagine ourselves feeling this way toward others. So these thoughts and actions will always be beyond our empathy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    You had the thought but would never act on it....others would act on the slightest provocation.


    Yet others would never have the 'thought' at all....


    When asked about raising his four children, Stephen King (author) said "I speak quietly and firmly to my children...though at times I may be dismembering them in my mind."


    We all know people who change drastically when they drink alcohol...I've always wondered which 'person' is real - the sober one in control or the drunk acting on impulse.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      We all know people who change drastically when they drink alcohol...I've always wondered which 'person' is real - the sober one in control or the drunk acting on impulse.
      I used to know a man who was a kind generous thoughtful man, until he drank. Then he wanted to fight at the slightest provocation. When he was sober, he apologized profusely to me. I told him that I knew he was a good guy, but that he was someone who shouldn't ever drink, because then he would hurt people.

      People react differently to alcohol. My Dad was a drinker for a few decades. Fall down drunk. When drunk, he was quiet...not mean, not loud...just quiet. I tend to get a little louder (when I used to drink).

      I think there isn't one real person. Drinking changes us. Some of us in subtle ways, some in profound ways.

      But I firmly believe that we are not just one real person.

      My brother-in-law asked me once about why I acted differently when selling. I asked him if he was the same person around babies, at work, with his wife, with friends,

      He said "No. I act differently depending on the circumstances".
      I said "Everyone does. Which one is real? All of them. We are all of them".

      And I think drunk people are just changed a little when they drink. It's all the real them.

      Man, I love listening to the sound of my own voice!
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      • Profile picture of the author discrat
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        I used to know a man who was a kind generous thoughtful man, until he drank. Then he wanted to fight at the slightest provocation. When he was sober, he apologized profusely to me. I told him that I knew he was a good guy, but that he was someone who shouldn't ever drink, because then he would hurt people.

        People react differently to alcohol. My Dad was a drinker for a few decades. Fall down drunk. When drunk, he was quiet...not mean, not loud...just quiet. I tend to get a little louder (when I used to drink).

        I think there isn't one real person. Drinking changes us. Some of us in subtle ways, some in profound ways.

        But I firmly believe that we are not just one real person.
        I enjoy a beer or two and 4 is usually my limit anymore. I also think it is quite fascinating the different outlooks people have when it comes to drinking.

        When I was young and dumb and I got drunk , I was totally a blast to be around. Happy, joyful etc...etc..

        Plus unlike some people I ran into the past, I never sipped a drop of alcohol if I was going through a dilemma or some sort of problems in my Life. I always drank in celebration of something. For some it's the opposite ( which is another head scratcher for me)
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Leatherman
    Just within the last couple of weeks a 51 year old cold case of a slain police officer was solved and led to the arrest of a 71 year old suspect.

    Details here: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022...2971662584734/

    Congratulations to the cold case detectives in Maryland for the great work over the last year which led to the arrest of the suspect.

    I really wonder how this guy lived with himself for 51 years. Did he ever even think about what he had done? What about the family of Special Deputy Sheriff Captain James Tappen Hall? The grief that became a daily thing for them for the rest of their life.

    I'm guessing the suspect just didn't give a damn.

    Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman View Post

      Just within the last couple of weeks a 51 year old cold case of a slain police officer was solved and led to the arrest of a 71 year old suspect.

      Details here: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022...2971662584734/

      Congratulations to the cold case detectives in Maryland for the great work over the last year which led to the arrest of the suspect.

      I really wonder how this guy lived with himself for 51 years. Did he ever even think about what he had done? What about the family of Special Deputy Sheriff Captain James Tappen Hall? The grief that became a daily thing for them for the rest of their life.

      I'm guessing the suspect just didn't give a damn.

      Ken
      Didn't give a damn or thought that he was right?

      True psychopaths will sleep like a baby, which is why we hear story's about sex slaves or people treated like dirt for decades, kept prisoner in other peoples homes.

      Although relatively normal people can act in this way then switch to normal most of the time, (an episode in MASH, tv series where a young guy kills several people, ends up in hospital and wants to write his Mother, like nothing has happened).

      And others do this they go insane and others do this they are worried, or it seems that psychotic behavior is linked to past trauma and or social economic conditioning.
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    • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
      Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman View Post


      Congratulations to the cold case detectives in Maryland for the great work over the last year which led to the arrest of the suspect.

      Ken
      Always find Cold cases interesting. We had one here in NJ called Princes Doe. She was found murdered in 1982 they just solved the case this past July. Forty Years to the day. Even the FBI used her case for training.

      "One such case is that of Princess Doe of Blairstown, one of the nation's most puzzling mysteries and coldest cases. On July 15, 1982, the body of a white female was found by workers at the Cedar Ridge Cemetery on Route 94 in Blairstown, Warren County. The girl's age was estimated between 14 and 18 years, she was 5-feet 2-inches tall, and weighed about 110 pounds. She had been dead five to ten days. She had been beaten to death with a blunt instrument."

      "On June 30, 1983, Princess Doe became the first person entered into the FBI's national computerized unidentified deceased files. The case is now a textbook course taught at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va..... "

      Here is a link to the story https://weirdnj.com/stories/princess-doe/
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman View Post

      I really wonder how this guy lived with himself for 51 years. Did he ever even think about what he had done? What about the family of Special Deputy Sheriff Captain James Tappen Hall? The grief that became a daily thing for them for the rest of their life.

      I'm guessing the suspect just didn't give a damn.

      Ken
      If the killer was a Sociopath, he would blame the victim or society for his crime. And he would likely eventually tell someone....usually as bragging.

      A psychopath would never tell anyone, or show any remorse. Psychopaths don't feel rapport, but they can feel regret.

      Most murders are not done by sociopaths or psychopaths. Most are momentary loses of control. And the murderer genuinely feels terrible after the fact. But feeling terrible about something you have done may not be enough to turn yourself in, or confess to a murder.

      This is just based on things I've read about psychopaths and sociopaths. Who really knows?
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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        If the killer was a Sociopath, he would blame the victim or society for his crime. And he would likely eventually tell someone....usually as bragging.

        A psychopath would never tell anyone, or show any remorse. Psychopaths don't feel rapport, but they can feel regret.

        Most murders are not done by sociopaths or psychopaths. Most are momentary loses of control. And the murderer genuinely feels terrible after the fact. But feeling terrible about something you have done may not be enough to turn yourself in, or confess to a murder.

        This is just based on things I've read about psychopaths and sociopaths. Who really knows?
        No, we had a case in Au, recently where a rich guy murdered and chopped up his wife, (or originally a man who had an impressive sex change operation).

        He was a chief l think so figured that was the best way to go, but the stink alerted the neighbors, and police caught up with him a few days later.

        And he had terrible remorse and his actions were becoming more and more erratic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I found some recent news interesting - drought in the west has lowered the level of reservoirs and lakes by 20 or more feet - and several bodies have been found...or skeletons perhaps.


    When I read about them being found I wondered if somewhere a killer was thinking 'oops'....
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  • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
    Hmmm, I know people whose interest in tech and digital marketing drive them to the data-focused approach. And I think that's what reasonably good crime investigations do. I also read and watch these things. But I pay attention on how to catch them.
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