http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090610/ap_on_re_us/us_holocaust_museum_shooting_suspect
The suspect is a Holocaust denier who once tried to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve Board (something he calls "citizen's arrest"). James Von Brunn managed to kill a guard before being shot himself, and is currently in critical condition.
He is described as a "frustrated artist," who angrily stomped out of a gallery that wouldn't show his work. On his website he describes a childhood bully, service in World War II and many problems he blames on Jews and other minorities.
Because he was caught early in his rampage, and is currently in no condition to explain himself, it's difficult to tell exactly what Von Brunn's motives were. His rhetoric and choice of location suggest an ideologically motivated assault, but, going into a federal museum with little effort to hide his weapons, and killing the first person he encountered with security everywhere guaranteed that he would be caught almost immediately. The sheer amount of his arms also guaranteed that security would feel impelled to use force, so was this an attempted "suicide by cop," as many mass murders have ended? In addition to racist anger that the Jews are "undermining" the white race with the "browning of America," Von Brunn's website describes various perceived personal hardships, the kind that can lead an unstable mind to mass murder culminating in suicide. I think psychologists have said that this level of hatred in an individual can be traced to a projection of self-loathing, at least in some cases. But Von Brunn isn't talking right now, and at the moment, all we have to go on is his self-aggrandizing website and the details of an appalling but poorly executed crime.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 01, 2009
Suspect in Dr. Tiller's murder held
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_on_re_us/us_tiller_shooting;_ylt=AjSM8xOQdCHG6BZAkb560Nqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJrM3Iwams1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjAxL3VzX3RpbGxlcl9zaG9vdGluZwRjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzEwBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3N1c3BlY3RqYWlsZQ--
A man tangentially affiliated with the disgusting anti-abortion group Operation Rescue has been arrested, but not formally charged, with the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was shot in church, which makes the crime particularly appalling. While I'm not fan of organized religion, someone goes to church (usually) to achieve a certain type of peace and spiritual solace. Also, if these "prolife" types are all about upholding the laws of God, wouldn't shooting someone in a church violate the sanctity of "God's house"? Under Kansas law, the man who reportedly made veiled threats against Dr. Tiller on Operation Rescue's website can be held for 48 hours before charges have to be filed.
I have been of mixed opinion on Barack Obama's presidential actions so far, but I felt his response to this event was appropriate and, as is characteristic, quite eloquent (paraphrase): "No matter how we differ on the complex subject of abortion, these conflicts cannot and should not be resolved through heinous violence." While one Operation Rescue spokesperson condemned the killing as "vigilantism," the group's founder, the truly reprehensible Randall Terry, refuses to show any sign of sympathy for a man killed while sitting in church, referring to him as a "mass murderer" and "evil." I thought these people were trying to support every human being's "right to life." I guess those principles don't apply to killers who act on the anti-abortion agenda, at least to Terry, who has openly advocated hate and intolerance. Check some of his past speeches if you don't believe me.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tiller's family and friends remember him fondly as a good man devoted to the right to choose for women, and he will be another victim of assassination who, instead of furthering the assassin's cause, becomes a martyr and rallying symbol for the values the killer wanted to destroy.
A man tangentially affiliated with the disgusting anti-abortion group Operation Rescue has been arrested, but not formally charged, with the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was shot in church, which makes the crime particularly appalling. While I'm not fan of organized religion, someone goes to church (usually) to achieve a certain type of peace and spiritual solace. Also, if these "prolife" types are all about upholding the laws of God, wouldn't shooting someone in a church violate the sanctity of "God's house"? Under Kansas law, the man who reportedly made veiled threats against Dr. Tiller on Operation Rescue's website can be held for 48 hours before charges have to be filed.
I have been of mixed opinion on Barack Obama's presidential actions so far, but I felt his response to this event was appropriate and, as is characteristic, quite eloquent (paraphrase): "No matter how we differ on the complex subject of abortion, these conflicts cannot and should not be resolved through heinous violence." While one Operation Rescue spokesperson condemned the killing as "vigilantism," the group's founder, the truly reprehensible Randall Terry, refuses to show any sign of sympathy for a man killed while sitting in church, referring to him as a "mass murderer" and "evil." I thought these people were trying to support every human being's "right to life." I guess those principles don't apply to killers who act on the anti-abortion agenda, at least to Terry, who has openly advocated hate and intolerance. Check some of his past speeches if you don't believe me.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tiller's family and friends remember him fondly as a good man devoted to the right to choose for women, and he will be another victim of assassination who, instead of furthering the assassin's cause, becomes a martyr and rallying symbol for the values the killer wanted to destroy.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Refusing medical treatment on "religious grounds"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_us/us_forced_chemo;_ylt=AsmHA6BZbrBE2.Y_HVvRh6tvzwcF
Shortly after a girl died of diabetes after her religious parents refused to seek medical treatment, believing that "God would heal the child," a mother has gone on the run with her cancer-afflicted 13-year-old son in the face of being threatened with legal action after refusing to continue her son's chemotherapy due to religious objections. The child's father, while baffled as to why the authorities have gotten involved, said that he supports chemo in this and other "extreme" cases.
The mother is part of a fanatic Roman Catholic sect that advocates "natural" healing. Her son, in addition to having Hodgkin's disease, is also learning-disabled, leading doctors and authorities to conclude that he didn't fully understand the process and effects of chemotherapy. He did fear that it would "kill him," but who knows if he came to that conclusion on his own or if he was influenced by his mother.
The question is, can parents refuse to treat their children? The obvious answer appears to be yes, since, if the government orders "conventional" medicine to parents who may not support it, this is a slippery slope in government intervention of civil liberties and freedom of choice. If they force chemotherapy in one extreme case, what will stop them from continuing to enforce specific treatments? Another, almost as obvious answer, is that the government has a duty to protect its citizens, including children when parents fail to do so. The state where the chemo-dodging mother lives has a law enforcing medical treatment for children, and states that "alternative and complementary medicine are not enough." "Alternative" medicine, consisting of homeopathy, herbs and "natural" medicine, have not been proven effective. Even less effective is the method of prayer and divine intervention, practiced by the religious zealots who most frequently refuse medical treatment.
Further complicating this issue is the fact that religious fanatics are not easy to get through to in terms of crime and punishment. If a suicide bomber is willing to die for his god, how is a court on earth going to punish him so it will make an impact? Similarly, religious fanatics who believe that God will heal ailments and, if he doesn't, than it was due to some divine plan. If a religious parent is convinced that they were acting according to God's will, no earthly judge or jury will convince them otherwise. They will go to their prison cell, or to their execution, confident they are still good in the eyes of God, and, to them, that will be the only thing that matters.
Shortly after a girl died of diabetes after her religious parents refused to seek medical treatment, believing that "God would heal the child," a mother has gone on the run with her cancer-afflicted 13-year-old son in the face of being threatened with legal action after refusing to continue her son's chemotherapy due to religious objections. The child's father, while baffled as to why the authorities have gotten involved, said that he supports chemo in this and other "extreme" cases.
The mother is part of a fanatic Roman Catholic sect that advocates "natural" healing. Her son, in addition to having Hodgkin's disease, is also learning-disabled, leading doctors and authorities to conclude that he didn't fully understand the process and effects of chemotherapy. He did fear that it would "kill him," but who knows if he came to that conclusion on his own or if he was influenced by his mother.
The question is, can parents refuse to treat their children? The obvious answer appears to be yes, since, if the government orders "conventional" medicine to parents who may not support it, this is a slippery slope in government intervention of civil liberties and freedom of choice. If they force chemotherapy in one extreme case, what will stop them from continuing to enforce specific treatments? Another, almost as obvious answer, is that the government has a duty to protect its citizens, including children when parents fail to do so. The state where the chemo-dodging mother lives has a law enforcing medical treatment for children, and states that "alternative and complementary medicine are not enough." "Alternative" medicine, consisting of homeopathy, herbs and "natural" medicine, have not been proven effective. Even less effective is the method of prayer and divine intervention, practiced by the religious zealots who most frequently refuse medical treatment.
Further complicating this issue is the fact that religious fanatics are not easy to get through to in terms of crime and punishment. If a suicide bomber is willing to die for his god, how is a court on earth going to punish him so it will make an impact? Similarly, religious fanatics who believe that God will heal ailments and, if he doesn't, than it was due to some divine plan. If a religious parent is convinced that they were acting according to God's will, no earthly judge or jury will convince them otherwise. They will go to their prison cell, or to their execution, confident they are still good in the eyes of God, and, to them, that will be the only thing that matters.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Louisiana middle school shooting
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090518/ap_on_re_us/us_louisiana_school_shooting;_ylt=AsSQkHD_j2uBDoNbLfTQatVvzwcF
An angry but immature and insufficiently armed 15-year-old went on a rampage at a Louisiana middle school, a crime that officials say was planned far in advance, as evidenced by journals kept by the gunman. With the exception of the all too real body count and injuries, this almost felt like a childish playacting of a massacre. It fit the mold of the mass murder, through the angry journal entries to the shooter's attempt on his own life, which left him in "critical but stable condition" but alive.
He "geared up" in camoflauge, dressing up for the part, and told a teacher to "Hail Marilyn Manson," an odd and very immature statement. But someone who thinks they can solve their problems in a hail of bullets is hardly a role model of humanity. His journal reveals phrases like "y'all will die."
This shooter was 15, with a still developing and still immature mental capacity, and, most likely, ruled by hormones rather than logic. Regardless of age, once a man (usually) has come to the decision to run rampant with a firearm as retribution for perceived injustices, he has ceased to be a rational human being and is ruled by overactive emotions, like any teenager.
The serial killer, in emotional processes, is also, in a way, a perpetual adolescent, demanding that what he needs is more important than anything else in the world, even if what he "needs" is to commit murder. The vast majority of teenagers are not violent, although their demands for possessions and an independence for which they are not ready can border on insistent and almost violently pushy. Killers, like addicts and teenagers, need instant gratification, and are easily bored and need higher levels of stimuli to keep them interested. Ted Bundy's college girlfriend dumped him (this was the trigger on his festering hatred of women) because, among other factors, she thought he was "immature." Gainesville Ripper Danny Rolling was also called immature by a police psychiatrist. Ed Gein had a childlike inability to cope with the outside world after the death of his domineering mother, which lowered him into insanity. Somewhere along the way, the emotional development of these men stalled, while they physically grew into adult men and, in most cases, developed higher mental capacities that allowed them to trick their victims and outsmart law enforcement. Physical and mental strength, combined with an adolescent selfishness and demand for instant gratification, took men damaged by biology or abuse down a murderous path.
Adolescence is also, particularly for men, a hypersexual period, which doesn't taper off until the early to mid 20s (or, an argument can be made, for the rest of their lives). Older men, with some exceptions, don't often begin serial murder careers (angry men of this age are more likely to go on shooting rampages) because, possibly, even if the crimes themselves have no sexual element, most serial killers gain a sexual satisfaction from murder. In the first episode of the second season of Dexter, after commiting his first murder in several weeks, as Dexter plunges the knife into his victim, his face looks like one in the midst of an orgasm. That many serial killers choose the phallic knife is potentially significant to the Freudians among us, and, while Jack the Ripper's victims were not sexually assaulted, profilers theorize that the stabbing was the Ripper's substitute for sex. Male serial killers usually begin their careers in their late teens or early 20s, where they are legally adults but still hypersexual adolescents. Female serial murderers, on the other hand, if they are not acting as accomplices to male killers, tend to begin their killing later in life, as Aileen Wuornos did in her 30s; women reaching their sexual peak in mid-adulthood rather than adolescence.
An angry but immature and insufficiently armed 15-year-old went on a rampage at a Louisiana middle school, a crime that officials say was planned far in advance, as evidenced by journals kept by the gunman. With the exception of the all too real body count and injuries, this almost felt like a childish playacting of a massacre. It fit the mold of the mass murder, through the angry journal entries to the shooter's attempt on his own life, which left him in "critical but stable condition" but alive.
He "geared up" in camoflauge, dressing up for the part, and told a teacher to "Hail Marilyn Manson," an odd and very immature statement. But someone who thinks they can solve their problems in a hail of bullets is hardly a role model of humanity. His journal reveals phrases like "y'all will die."
This shooter was 15, with a still developing and still immature mental capacity, and, most likely, ruled by hormones rather than logic. Regardless of age, once a man (usually) has come to the decision to run rampant with a firearm as retribution for perceived injustices, he has ceased to be a rational human being and is ruled by overactive emotions, like any teenager.
The serial killer, in emotional processes, is also, in a way, a perpetual adolescent, demanding that what he needs is more important than anything else in the world, even if what he "needs" is to commit murder. The vast majority of teenagers are not violent, although their demands for possessions and an independence for which they are not ready can border on insistent and almost violently pushy. Killers, like addicts and teenagers, need instant gratification, and are easily bored and need higher levels of stimuli to keep them interested. Ted Bundy's college girlfriend dumped him (this was the trigger on his festering hatred of women) because, among other factors, she thought he was "immature." Gainesville Ripper Danny Rolling was also called immature by a police psychiatrist. Ed Gein had a childlike inability to cope with the outside world after the death of his domineering mother, which lowered him into insanity. Somewhere along the way, the emotional development of these men stalled, while they physically grew into adult men and, in most cases, developed higher mental capacities that allowed them to trick their victims and outsmart law enforcement. Physical and mental strength, combined with an adolescent selfishness and demand for instant gratification, took men damaged by biology or abuse down a murderous path.
Adolescence is also, particularly for men, a hypersexual period, which doesn't taper off until the early to mid 20s (or, an argument can be made, for the rest of their lives). Older men, with some exceptions, don't often begin serial murder careers (angry men of this age are more likely to go on shooting rampages) because, possibly, even if the crimes themselves have no sexual element, most serial killers gain a sexual satisfaction from murder. In the first episode of the second season of Dexter, after commiting his first murder in several weeks, as Dexter plunges the knife into his victim, his face looks like one in the midst of an orgasm. That many serial killers choose the phallic knife is potentially significant to the Freudians among us, and, while Jack the Ripper's victims were not sexually assaulted, profilers theorize that the stabbing was the Ripper's substitute for sex. Male serial killers usually begin their careers in their late teens or early 20s, where they are legally adults but still hypersexual adolescents. Female serial murderers, on the other hand, if they are not acting as accomplices to male killers, tend to begin their killing later in life, as Aileen Wuornos did in her 30s; women reaching their sexual peak in mid-adulthood rather than adolescence.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
John Allen Muhammed appeals
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090510/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_appeal;_ylt=Asa1MntilrAtqc95sGpuQy9bIwgF
John Allen Muhammed, the dominant force in the Beltway Sniper attacks, is appealing his conviction, claiming ineffective counsel and withholding of evidence on the part of the prosecution. Muhammed chose to represent himself. As an old saying goes, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Muhammed's decision, which I'm sure his co-counsel advised against, was a stupid one. But at least, in a way, he's now acknowledging that, in the court's refusal to stop him, that it was a bad idea. Still, Muhammed is an egomaniacal sociopath, and I doubt his ego would have allowed anyone to stand in the way of what he felt was his right to represent himself. Now that he's been convicted, like so many before him, he's trying anything, no matter how futile, to get out.
Muhammed also claims that the prosecution violated terms by withholding an early police profile of the suspected shooter, indicating that it was likely a "loner," not a duo like Muhammed and Lee Boyd Malvo. He and his new attorneys neglected to mention that the profile included a brief mention of the possibility of an accomplice that was acting under the direction of the primary shooter, an accurate description of Muhammed and Malvo.
According to Muhammed, there were also letters written by Malvo in prison that were not admitted, letters which illustrate that Malvo was an active, not passive accomplice. Malvo was 17 at the time of the sniper attacks, having been taken from his native Jamaica by Muhammed. While Malvo is no innocent, it's clear that he was operating under the influence of a much older and domineering authority figure.
John Allen Muhammed was, in terms used to describe mass murderers, a time bomb. Two failed marriages, a string of failed businesses, a discharge from the Army (where he was court martialed twice), combined with the sociopath's sense of entitlement, were waiting to erupt. Muhammed was angry at his ex-wife (who had a restraining order against him) for taking his children away, and at the world in general. He had motive, opportunity, sharpshooter training from the military, and a willing and naive accomplice.
Final note: Muhammed's lawyers also say that testimony from a psychologist stating that Muhammed suffered brain damage due to years of abuse from his parents was not admitted, but prosecutors say this was because Muhammed refused to cooperate with the psychologist.
John Allen Muhammed, the dominant force in the Beltway Sniper attacks, is appealing his conviction, claiming ineffective counsel and withholding of evidence on the part of the prosecution. Muhammed chose to represent himself. As an old saying goes, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Muhammed's decision, which I'm sure his co-counsel advised against, was a stupid one. But at least, in a way, he's now acknowledging that, in the court's refusal to stop him, that it was a bad idea. Still, Muhammed is an egomaniacal sociopath, and I doubt his ego would have allowed anyone to stand in the way of what he felt was his right to represent himself. Now that he's been convicted, like so many before him, he's trying anything, no matter how futile, to get out.
Muhammed also claims that the prosecution violated terms by withholding an early police profile of the suspected shooter, indicating that it was likely a "loner," not a duo like Muhammed and Lee Boyd Malvo. He and his new attorneys neglected to mention that the profile included a brief mention of the possibility of an accomplice that was acting under the direction of the primary shooter, an accurate description of Muhammed and Malvo.
According to Muhammed, there were also letters written by Malvo in prison that were not admitted, letters which illustrate that Malvo was an active, not passive accomplice. Malvo was 17 at the time of the sniper attacks, having been taken from his native Jamaica by Muhammed. While Malvo is no innocent, it's clear that he was operating under the influence of a much older and domineering authority figure.
John Allen Muhammed was, in terms used to describe mass murderers, a time bomb. Two failed marriages, a string of failed businesses, a discharge from the Army (where he was court martialed twice), combined with the sociopath's sense of entitlement, were waiting to erupt. Muhammed was angry at his ex-wife (who had a restraining order against him) for taking his children away, and at the world in general. He had motive, opportunity, sharpshooter training from the military, and a willing and naive accomplice.
Final note: Muhammed's lawyers also say that testimony from a psychologist stating that Muhammed suffered brain damage due to years of abuse from his parents was not admitted, but prosecutors say this was because Muhammed refused to cooperate with the psychologist.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Craigslist killer and Alabama shooter
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/22/2009-04-22_source_craigslist_suspect_philip_markoff_had_items_from_victims_.html
Phillip Markoff, the "Craigslist Killer" still has his fiance by his side, who sounds too typical of a suspected killer's loved ones who are still in shock. She says "he couldn't have done this" and that this is "not the man I know." It never is. If Markoff is the Craigslist killer, he's hardly the first to duck under the cover of a "normal" life to cover his deviant desires. No one suspected devoted family man and Boy Scout troop leader Dennis Rader of being Wichita's feared BTK killer, or attractive law student Ted Bundy of murdering 30-plus women, but both turned out to be true. With surveillance video showing Markoff leaving the scene of the murder and an earlier robbery, a victim also contacted on Craigslist, and items belonging to the victims found in his apartment, there is a strong case against Markoff as another Jekyll/Hyde killer, despite the understandable reluctance of his loved ones to believe it.
Phillip Markoff is the one at fault here, not Craiglist. Even though the site offers services that some may find distasteful, not all people who use the service turn out to be murderers. Just because many serial killers target prostitutes does not mean that prostitution is the cause of serial murder; killers target prostitutes because, unlike other women walking down the street, prostitutes are willing to get into a stranger's car. There are no men who suddenly become murderers because they see a prostitute on the street or an ad for erotic services on Craigslist. Markoff, if he is the Craigslist Killer, was intently looking for victims, and thought Craigslist would be a good place to find them. While this should make people who advertise on Craigslist more cautious, it should not place the blame on the site itself.
Markoff is not the first killer to look for victims through personal ads. The "Want-Ad Killer" got his name because he targeted his first victim by placing an ad for an employee at his gas station. The "Lonely Hearts Killers," or "Honeymoon Killers," found victims through the dating mail-order services popular among aging singles in the 1950s. Albert Fish found his last victim, Grace Budd, after placing a help wanted ad for a farm he didn't have, but took the applicant's sister after her 18-year-old brother, who answered the ad, turned out to be far too strong and adult for the aging sadist and pedophile's tastes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_us/us_south_alabama_shootings;_ylt=AmnO810bf3L9iodOIId29sVbIwgF
The man who killed 10 on a shooting spree in Alabama last month, starting with his mother, before setting her house on fire, sent a letter to relatives explaining his crime. It seemed like another case of a down on his luck, angry young man who thought he could restore some kind of balance to the universe through murder, except for one factor. In his letter, he said his mother had cancer, which was not found in the autopsy. His mother had recently been laid off, and in his letter, he says he wanted to make people pay for how he and his mother had suffered. Why this involved killing his mother and burning her corpse, I can't say. The mental processes of these offenders are never easy to navigate. He had also trained to be a Marine, but was discharged from basic training after failing to mention on his application that he had chronic shoulder displacements. His commanding officer also said that he "didn't seem too bright." Unlike the more sophisticated serial killers, who can go for years without getting caught or even suspected, the mass murderer, who commits his crimes out in the open with only self-destruction and the destruction of others on his mind, appears to be on the lower end of the mental spectrum of the criminal.
Phillip Markoff, the "Craigslist Killer" still has his fiance by his side, who sounds too typical of a suspected killer's loved ones who are still in shock. She says "he couldn't have done this" and that this is "not the man I know." It never is. If Markoff is the Craigslist killer, he's hardly the first to duck under the cover of a "normal" life to cover his deviant desires. No one suspected devoted family man and Boy Scout troop leader Dennis Rader of being Wichita's feared BTK killer, or attractive law student Ted Bundy of murdering 30-plus women, but both turned out to be true. With surveillance video showing Markoff leaving the scene of the murder and an earlier robbery, a victim also contacted on Craigslist, and items belonging to the victims found in his apartment, there is a strong case against Markoff as another Jekyll/Hyde killer, despite the understandable reluctance of his loved ones to believe it.
Phillip Markoff is the one at fault here, not Craiglist. Even though the site offers services that some may find distasteful, not all people who use the service turn out to be murderers. Just because many serial killers target prostitutes does not mean that prostitution is the cause of serial murder; killers target prostitutes because, unlike other women walking down the street, prostitutes are willing to get into a stranger's car. There are no men who suddenly become murderers because they see a prostitute on the street or an ad for erotic services on Craigslist. Markoff, if he is the Craigslist Killer, was intently looking for victims, and thought Craigslist would be a good place to find them. While this should make people who advertise on Craigslist more cautious, it should not place the blame on the site itself.
Markoff is not the first killer to look for victims through personal ads. The "Want-Ad Killer" got his name because he targeted his first victim by placing an ad for an employee at his gas station. The "Lonely Hearts Killers," or "Honeymoon Killers," found victims through the dating mail-order services popular among aging singles in the 1950s. Albert Fish found his last victim, Grace Budd, after placing a help wanted ad for a farm he didn't have, but took the applicant's sister after her 18-year-old brother, who answered the ad, turned out to be far too strong and adult for the aging sadist and pedophile's tastes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_us/us_south_alabama_shootings;_ylt=AmnO810bf3L9iodOIId29sVbIwgF
The man who killed 10 on a shooting spree in Alabama last month, starting with his mother, before setting her house on fire, sent a letter to relatives explaining his crime. It seemed like another case of a down on his luck, angry young man who thought he could restore some kind of balance to the universe through murder, except for one factor. In his letter, he said his mother had cancer, which was not found in the autopsy. His mother had recently been laid off, and in his letter, he says he wanted to make people pay for how he and his mother had suffered. Why this involved killing his mother and burning her corpse, I can't say. The mental processes of these offenders are never easy to navigate. He had also trained to be a Marine, but was discharged from basic training after failing to mention on his application that he had chronic shoulder displacements. His commanding officer also said that he "didn't seem too bright." Unlike the more sophisticated serial killers, who can go for years without getting caught or even suspected, the mass murderer, who commits his crimes out in the open with only self-destruction and the destruction of others on his mind, appears to be on the lower end of the mental spectrum of the criminal.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Joseph Fritzl: Austria's "Dungeon Dad"
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/sexual_assault/josef_fritzl/1.html
This featured story on Crime Library caught my attention. An Austrian man, who had been raping his daughter since she was 11, constructed a dungeon in his basement to keep her prisoner. Not surprisingly, he himself grew up under the iron fist of a violently domineering mother.
Next to the US and Great Britain, Germany has produced an unusually high amount of serial killers and sexual sadists. The "Dungeon Dad" was technically Austrian, but there are strong cultural similarities. Among Germany's contributions to the hall of infamy are Fritz Haarmann, the "Vampire of Hanover"; Georg Grossmann; Peter Kurten, the "Monster of Dusseldorf"; and, most recently, Arwin Meiwes, who made headlines for killing and cannibalizing a willing victim. Cannibal killers are also oddly prevalent in Germany. Although the country has also given us Albert Einstein and other great minds, German history often recalls the Inquisition, the Holocaust and sadistic killers.
I haven't posted in a long time. Things haven't been great in my life. Along with the rest of the country, I'm having money troubles and can't find a job. This has forced me to move out of my apartment and into a house that I have to share with someone else. It will be a tough adjustment, after living on my own for so long. And I can't bring my cat. But this is a time for sacrifice.
This featured story on Crime Library caught my attention. An Austrian man, who had been raping his daughter since she was 11, constructed a dungeon in his basement to keep her prisoner. Not surprisingly, he himself grew up under the iron fist of a violently domineering mother.
Next to the US and Great Britain, Germany has produced an unusually high amount of serial killers and sexual sadists. The "Dungeon Dad" was technically Austrian, but there are strong cultural similarities. Among Germany's contributions to the hall of infamy are Fritz Haarmann, the "Vampire of Hanover"; Georg Grossmann; Peter Kurten, the "Monster of Dusseldorf"; and, most recently, Arwin Meiwes, who made headlines for killing and cannibalizing a willing victim. Cannibal killers are also oddly prevalent in Germany. Although the country has also given us Albert Einstein and other great minds, German history often recalls the Inquisition, the Holocaust and sadistic killers.
I haven't posted in a long time. Things haven't been great in my life. Along with the rest of the country, I'm having money troubles and can't find a job. This has forced me to move out of my apartment and into a house that I have to share with someone else. It will be a tough adjustment, after living on my own for so long. And I can't bring my cat. But this is a time for sacrifice.
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