A book to be on the look out for, one that might provide some provocative reading, is Inside The Mind Of Scott Peterson by Keith Ablow, M.D., in which the author speculates as to the genrrational events which culminated in Petersons becoming the culmination of three generations of rage, a "Perfect Storm" in the form of a murderous socio-path. An intriquing theory, though one not without it's flaws, certainly, and even more certainly destined to be controversial. Yet, it could possibly provide the basis for future examination of just what events come into play, on generational levels, that makes us the people that we are. In Peterson's case, the event in question revolves aroundthe murder of his maternal grandfather, who wasfouind beat to deat with an iron pipe, for the fifty dollars he carried in his wallet. This necessitated the break-up of the family, whose mother could no longer care for the children. Scott;s motehr was furhter seperated from her siblings in the orphanage she was sent to. years later, this rage was transferred, through some subconscous, unknwn, psychological process, to son Scott, whose pivotal life periods always seemed to revolve around Christmas-the approximate time of the year the grandfather met his death.
Like I said, intriquing, but cerainly not wihtout some flaws. And though it might provide one piece of a puzzle., there must yet be more than just this. Of course, the author admitted that certain individuals will react in different ways thanthe majority.
So what, I wonder, was the reasoning behind the mindset of Skyler DeLeon, a former child star of The Power Rangers, who conspired along with his wife Jennifer, in adition to two accomplises, Alonzo MaChain and John F. Kennedy, to murder a retired couple by the name of Hawkes, after holdingthem captive on their own yacht, and forcingthem to sign over to them the title to the Yacht they had pretended to be interested in purchasing. Okay, so it was a luxury yacht, and I think they got some money besides, but this to me has all the earmarks of a thrill kill in which profit was an important, though not necessarilly the primary, motive. After all, along with the substantial risk, the money is going to theoretically be divided up four ways, if Mr. MaChanes confession is to be believed. And for what? Who would even come up with such a convoluted scheme, let alone carry it out.
But there are problems with the criminal mind that preclude it from being judged as having the same proclivities for reason as the common person. A perfect example of this is Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, who these last couple of days has taken on the aspect of a University Professor of the macabre, as he coldly and mechanically delineates the past thrity years in which he devoted considerable time and energy to the pursuit of his "Projects"-that is, to say, the victims that he stalked, imprisoned, tortured,and murdered, while in the process of engaing in his deviant sexual fantasies at their expense. He first tageted a young girl by the name Arcarro. As he tortured and sexually molested her, her family lay bound and dead, or dying. She asked him what was going to happen to her. His answer: "Well, sweetheart, you will be in heaven with your family."
This guy went about these "Projects" with the same emotional detachment,and yet with the same coldly clinical efficency, as a medical laboratory specialist. Why? To what purpose? True, there was a sexual component. True, there was in additoion that need for acclaim and recognition that proved his ultimate undoing. But a lot of people approach things with a sexual component. A lot of people go about their day to day lives withthe deisre for acclaim, for recognition, for appreciation. This might be a secondary aspect of their personaility, but not necessarrilly the defining one.
For example, I am a writer. There is to be sure a sexual component to my writings. And of course, I have the hope and even the need for my writings to be appreciated, the desire to be recognized, a need for acclaim. However, this is not the reason I am a writer. And I am assumming the same is true with Dennis Rader. Something caused him to morph into the cold blooded murderer that he is, almost to the point where it's funny to watch the guy when you hear him speak about his exploits-it's that bizzarre, that surreal. It's almost good he won't be put to death, as you hope the guy could be a repository of research. And he should be studied, as coldly, as clinically, as callously, as he went about his insane hobby.True, he is in a sense getting all the more the recognition he desires if he has this degree of importance put on him. But he may indeed be that important.
The families of his victims are this day getting their opportunity to address him directly, to give vent publicly to their feelings over the anquish his actions have caused them. I am going to hazard a guess that as they do so, he will find it interesting.
