Psychology of a killer

Because the Oracle always replies Yes ⁠— and No!

Permalink

Saying “I want a lawyer” is one thing… affording it is another. You can be assigned an overworked, underpaid public defender with little time for your case, but oft times they just say “look plead guilty and get off with light(er) punishment”. (another way in which the criminal justice system discriminates against racialized people).

If you are fortunate enough to have the money to afford a lawyer (which this guy presumably did), then yes it seems weird that he didn’t ask for a lawyer right away. However, pretty much everything in the video is circumstantial evidence that wouldn’t be admissible in court. I guess from the cops perspective it gives them a sense of who they should be pursuing.

3 Likes

And even that can be contextual. I was a sobbing mess when my grandfather, who I was very close to, died somewhat suddenly.

When my mother died, after a protracted illness, my Dad was a mess, and I was the one staying with him to make sure he ate and took care of himself. I had to be as cool and collected as possible, but it tore me up to hear him sobbing through the walls at night. My Dad’s not the kind of person it would have helped if we both broke down. Someone who was an external witness to all of that probably would have said that I didn’t care much, or was handling it exceptionally well (I wasn’t).

5 Likes

Well I have to watch all of JCS now, thank you.

I do have one big issue with all this though: At the end of Part 3, it says 8 days later and then a woman I don’t know without any info or followup, it just ends with her sitting in the interrogation room, what am I missing?

I couldn’t find anything in the comments either, someone please clear this up for me
EDIT I also checked wikipedia… nothing. it’s so weird to find nobody talking about this
EDIT2 OK I found out by tracking it down in his subreddit, looks like Part 4 was eventually moved to his patreon and it’s interviews with the girlfriend

The starting point for most police interviews is that the suspect is guilty, they just need to be persuaded to confess. Its not about finding the truth or establishing facts, its about getting him to “spill his guts”. And as we know many people will do this when under police pressure whether they are innocent or guilty.

6 Likes

I remember watching this (and so much from Jim Can’t Swim) for a season. I was transfixed. Months later I understood why, as my subconscious was trying to warn me about a narcissistic sociopath I was working with the whole time, and I had no idea just how deceptive he was hiding behind the upstanding community citizen mask.

Wasn’t a killer, but looking back to so many of our past conversations I’m pretty sure he could do it if he knew he could get away with it. He certainly didn’t blink twice about attempting to walk away from tens of thousands of dollars in debt he created.

It is clear now that I was noticing patterns, those subtle tells, but my conscious self was gaslighting myself explaining away every suspicious behavior. Now I know what that quote means, Maya Angelou teaching Oprah Winfrey to “when someone tells you who they are, believe them (the first time).”

The problem is, that people like Chris Watts are among us, and we have no idea. Most may not end up killing someone, but they still do plenty of financial, and emotional damage to us all, and strike when we least expect it.

That’s another one of those things that police use to justify interrogation either way. If somebody acts nervous and asks for a lawyer, they look guilty. If somebody is too nonchalant and doesn’t protest enough, they look guilty.

We’re really good at backfilling behavior that looks guilty, but none of the supposed experts in this field perform better than random when actually trying to use the information predicatively. It’s voodoo.

2 Likes

It also brings up the issue of the “bystander effect” where people just don’t call the cops out of concern for getting involved.

Reminds me of a recent incident where I witnessed an accident on the highway. As it was happening in front of me, I pulled over to the shoulder and dialed 911 to report it while the 2 cars involved were pinned against the dividing wall in the far left lane. (Fortunately nobody was hurt).

I actually hesitated calling the cops at first as I didn’t want to get involved with any questioning and having to defend myself for somehow being at fault or retribution for pointing the finger at the car that caused the accident.

When the officer finally arrived (after almost 30 mins), he pulled up behind me and acted almost like it was a traffic stop - lights on, spotlight in my mirror, he stayed back behind my door pillar with his flashlight on me, etc. rather than going directly to the accident site on the other side of the highway.

He took my statement before letting me go but the interaction with the cop definitely made me nervous even though I knew I was being the good Samaritan by reporting it. Made me wonder if the experience would be different had I been a person of color instead.

1 Like

There’s no doubt you would have been treated differently if you’re black or brown. No doubt at all.

1 Like

I used to know someone who went on to kill his partner when she tried to leave him. and I can say in hindsight that I did not call it. The guy was an arsehole, yes, and he went out of his way to be transphobic towards me, but I wouldn’t have thought of him as a murderer before he killed anyone.

Shit, that’s awful and the rise in domestic abuse due to the lockdown meaning victims are locked in with their partners combined with the years of cutting support services is deeply concerning. But that guy you mention and watts and huntley and other murderers like them all share that “banality of evil”.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.