Dark Dreams

by Roy Hazelwood

The rapist uses sex as a tool of aggression. The sexual assault is an assertion of power or an expression of anger, or it may be a combination of the two. In any event, sexual assault primarily serves nonsexual needs.

The rapist achieves his gratification, not from the sexual release, but from the thrill of domination, control, and power.

In a series of interviews, and in sworn testimony, Hammer described in detail how his friend, Rob Anderson, always had been obsessed with murdering women. He said the two of them had discussed the subject hundreds of times, beginning as far back as early high school. The focus of these conversations was how to gain control of a woman, kill her, and then get away with the crime.

Compare this behavior with that of the offender who fantasizes a husband-wife relationship with his victim. “Tom”* was such a rapist. Responsible for eighteen assaults, he interacted with his victims in a highly individual way. Tom would capture a victim and take her to a river or lake. There he would instruct her to periodically ask the following questions: “Do we have enough money to get the kids’ teeth fixed this year?” “What is your bowling average?” “Have you rented the mountain cabin yet?” “When are you going to get the refrigerator fixed?”

Psychopaths do not feel remorse or shame, guilt or appropriate fear. They do not learn from punishment. They are easily bored. They like excitement. They find it difficult to delay gratification, no matter where their self-interest may lie.

Psychopaths are chronic liars, even when they have no need or reason to lie. They have no understanding of, or concern for, the harm they cause others.