Define "Insane"
According to Webster's the defintion of insanity is:
1 a : a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia) and usually excluding such states as mental retardation, psychoneurosis, and various character disorders b : a mental disorder
You'd think it would be easy to spot someone whose mind was deranged, and sometimes it really is obvious. Yet there are many cases over which we are left scratching our heads - is the person insane or just bad? The BTK serial killer is a good example.
For those who haven't followed the story, BTK stands for "Bind-Torture-Kill". It is the name that a serial killer who was at large for 30 years in the Wichita, Kansas area gave himself. The killer had taunted police and residents by sending mocking notes and trinkets to the media, and seemed to greatly enjoy his horrible vocation. When he was finally caught it turned out he was the "compliance officer" in Park City, Ks., the president of his church board, a long-time Boy Scout leader, and all around normal seeming person. For thirty long years he kept his thirst for murder a secret and no one knew.
His crimes were heinous - he like to suffocate women with plastic bags. He taunted the police by sending them dolls with plastic bags over the head. That seems to make him totally crazy by anyone's standards. But he lived right among us in our society. According to the Witchita Eagle, the people who knew him, "... are not stupid people. They are good parents, perceptive adults who trusted Rader to guide their sons in Scouts, come into their houses, meet their wives, help neighbors." How could he be insane, THAT insane, and no one noticed?
At one point the killer wrote of a "monster inside" that motivated him to murder and send his notes, but many experts have written that off as an attempt to create a ready excuse. Considering how well he hid his secret life from those around him, I'm inclined to agree.
It is hard to forget the spectacular Canadian murder/rape trial of Paul Bernardo during which he was asked why he smiled into the camera while he was assaulting his screaming victim. Bernardo's chilling answer was, "I was enjoying myself." Some people really are just bad. It seems to me that this is the case with the BTK murderer as well. You can be certain he'll claim to be insane at his trial, though. I hope he doesn't get away with it.
1 a : a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia) and usually excluding such states as mental retardation, psychoneurosis, and various character disorders b : a mental disorder
You'd think it would be easy to spot someone whose mind was deranged, and sometimes it really is obvious. Yet there are many cases over which we are left scratching our heads - is the person insane or just bad? The BTK serial killer is a good example.
For those who haven't followed the story, BTK stands for "Bind-Torture-Kill". It is the name that a serial killer who was at large for 30 years in the Wichita, Kansas area gave himself. The killer had taunted police and residents by sending mocking notes and trinkets to the media, and seemed to greatly enjoy his horrible vocation. When he was finally caught it turned out he was the "compliance officer" in Park City, Ks., the president of his church board, a long-time Boy Scout leader, and all around normal seeming person. For thirty long years he kept his thirst for murder a secret and no one knew.
His crimes were heinous - he like to suffocate women with plastic bags. He taunted the police by sending them dolls with plastic bags over the head. That seems to make him totally crazy by anyone's standards. But he lived right among us in our society. According to the Witchita Eagle, the people who knew him, "... are not stupid people. They are good parents, perceptive adults who trusted Rader to guide their sons in Scouts, come into their houses, meet their wives, help neighbors." How could he be insane, THAT insane, and no one noticed?
At one point the killer wrote of a "monster inside" that motivated him to murder and send his notes, but many experts have written that off as an attempt to create a ready excuse. Considering how well he hid his secret life from those around him, I'm inclined to agree.
It is hard to forget the spectacular Canadian murder/rape trial of Paul Bernardo during which he was asked why he smiled into the camera while he was assaulting his screaming victim. Bernardo's chilling answer was, "I was enjoying myself." Some people really are just bad. It seems to me that this is the case with the BTK murderer as well. You can be certain he'll claim to be insane at his trial, though. I hope he doesn't get away with it.
posted by Christine at Wednesday, March 23, 2005
2 Comments:
Well, legally, to be considered "not guilty for reason of insanity," one of the qualifications is not being able to tell the difference between right and wrong. This man obviously knew what he was doing was wrong if he was sending dolls to the police. He might have had a "deranged" obsession, but he was sane, in my opinion.
I think you're right. However, you can be sure he'll try to claim he was insane, once again making people think that your average bipolar or schizophrenic is likely to do this kind of thing. In reality, it's the totally sane 'compliance officer' type that they should be worried about.
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