The Killer Across the Table

by John E. Douglas

three words seemed to characterize the motivations of every one of our offenders: Manipulation. Domination. Control.

the basic legal test of insanity in British and American courts has been whether the defendant could distinguish between right and wrong or was acting under a delusion or compulsion so strong that it negated that distinction.

From a criminal investigation standpoint, it didn’t really matter to us whether something was a disease, a disorder, or neither. We were interested in how behavior indicates criminal intent and perpetration, and how that behavior correlated to the thinking of the perpetrator right before, during, and after the commission of the crime.

Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

“And that’s why I chose to fight for Joan’s justice and to protect other children. It can’t be done by staying quiet. It can’t be done by thinking that somebody else is going to do it. You just have to do it.” On April 19, 2013, a second vigil was held at Veterans Park, this time to mark forty years since Joan’s death.

But when you get down to it, it is just another way of not taking responsibility for his crimes. It’s like alcoholism; it’s like drug addiction. It’s hereditary: I was born to molest and kill and there’s nothing I can do about it, so it’s up to government agencies to do the research and figure it out. Nonsense.

This is all about the choices each individual makes.

National Socialist Party, a neo-Nazi fringe group.

An association with an organization with an evil and hate-filled mission seemed similar to me to Harvey’s fascination with occultism.

Inevitably the question eventually comes down to moral agency against inborn determinism. And that leads to a single word: choice.

All had a sense of personal entitlement that removed from them the obligation to heed society’s laws and conventions. And all had the ability to make choices.