“When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.” Abraham Maslow
I have a book in my library by J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., called The Psychopathic Mind—Origins, Dynamics, and Treatment. I struggled through about half of it, and finally gave up. Meloy is a forensic psychologist, and the book appears to be for professionals in the field—he’s written 10 books and authored or co-authored 180 peer-reviewed papers. Meloy’s specialties include stalking, violence, threat assessment, mass murder, serial killing and sexual homicide.
When mass murders go on a rampage, the media often turn to Meloy for commentary. After the Fort Hood shootings in 2009, for example, ABC news quoted him:
Mass murderers tend to come in two types, according to academic articles authored by forensic psychologist J. Reid Meloy. One type is predatory, premeditated and emotionless. The other acts out from anger, fear, or response to a perceived imminent threat or trigger.
Timothy Masters case
Back in 1999, Meloy testified in the case of a murder that took place in 1987 in Fort Collins, Colorado. A 37-year-old woman named Peggy Hettrick was killed, and her body sexually mutilated. Twelve years later, Timothy Lee Masters, who was 15 at the time of the murder and lived next to where the body was found, was charged.
There was no physical evidence connecting Masters to the crime—the case against him was purely circumstantial:
- Masters was the first person to see the body lying in a field, but he did not report it. Masters said he thought it was a mannequin, and a prank.
- Masters’ mother, who had red hair like the victim, had died, and the murder took place close to the four-year anniversary of her death.
- Shortly after the murder, police searched Masters’ bedroom and found 2,200 pages of writings and drawings depicting violence and gore. Masters said he created them because he wanted to be a horror writer like Stephen King.
But J. Reid Meloy looked at some of those drawings, and testified in court that they were a “fantasy rehearsal” for the crime. Masters drew a picture on the day he saw the victim. It depicted one figure dragging another that appeared to be wounded or dead. The body being dragged was riddled with arrows.
Ignoring the arrows—there were no arrows in the actual murder—here’s how Meloy interpreted the picture, according to FortCollinsNow.com:
“This is not a drawing of the crime scene as seen by Tim Masters on the morning of Feb. 11 as he went to school,” Meloy wrote. “This is an accurate and vivid drawing of the homicide as it is occurring. It is unlikely that Tim Masters could have inferred such criminal behavior by just viewing the corpse, unless he was an experienced forensic investigator. It is much more likely, in my opinion, that he was drawing the crime to rekindle his memory of the sexual homicide he committed the day before.”
Based in a large degree on the testimony of J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., who said he fit the profile of a sexual predator, Timothy Masters was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Cop indicted for perjury
This story is in the news again because Lt. Jim Broderick of the Fort Collins police department, the lead investigator in the 1999 case against Timothy Masters, was just indicted on eight counts of perjury.
The indictment includes exactly what Broderick wrote in his application for an arrest warrant for Masters about his obsessive fantasies, the impulsive nature of the crime, the fact that the teenager was a loner. The indictment says that although Broderick wrote the statements in the arrest warrant application, he did not believe them to be true.
Masters had served nine years in prison, until 2008, when he was released. DNA evidence proved that he had nothing to do with the murder.
Later that year, Masters filed a civil suit against Broderick and the Larimer County prosecutors in the case—Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair, both of whom had become judges. The suit charged that they withheld evidence from the defense team and other experts, including Dr. Reid Meloy.
Larimer County settled the suit for $4.1 million. The city of Fort Collins settled for $5.9 million. The two judges were reprimanded.
And now, Broderick may go to jail.
Forensic error
Why did Dr. J Reid Meloy get it so wrong in this case? For one thing, the police apparently did not give him evidence that might have cast doubt on Masters’ culpability. For another, Meloy never interviewed Timothy Masters in person. He based his conclusions on Masters’ violent short stories and crude drawings.
For more on the role that the famous psychologist played in this tragedy, read The Tim Masters Case: Chasing Reid Meloy on FortCollinsNow.com.
For more about the doubts other police officers had in the case, read Police split over conviction in Colorado slaying, on CNN.com.
Be careful
Why am I writing about this terrible miscarriage of justice? It is a warning to all of us to be careful. If someone like J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., the respected forensic expert, can be wrong, so can we.
Knowing that psychopaths exist, and being able to spot them, is important. It can save our lives. But we have to be careful in deciding who is a psychopath, and who is not. I clearly remember receiving e-mail from a woman, and a separate e-mail from the man she thought might be a psychopath. After reading the e-mails, I could not tell who was the abuser, and who was the victim.
Personally, I think Meloy’s mistake was that he did not meet Masters. Perhaps if he had, he would have felt that something was amiss—Masters never deviated from his claim that he was innocent, and never deviated from his story.
Our intuition is probably our most accurate tool in evaluating the possibility danger. If we listen to it, without clouding it with preconceptions, it will steer us in the right direction.
But in order for our intuition to work, we need the right input. Whether we’re reading police reports, news stories or comments in the Lovefraud Blog, the information our intuition needs may very well be missing.
Hope for joy
it’s true they are unbelievable
that’s why no 1 believes us when we tell them. It’s so much easier to fit them into a mold that’s more familiar to the average human being. I know from experience that i would never have believed that there exist people who can fool everyone all of the time.
Even people who can pick them out as not being a good person, still have no idea as to the depth of their evil and their empty souls.
Regarding them being psychic, I’m not sure I would categorize them as such but they are more like a force of nature than a human being. They are more attuned to our emotions because, like all infants, this is part of their survival strategy. Infants need to read emotions to survive because they have no other survival mechanism. To me they also seem more at the mercy of external forces than a normal human. Once you know what they are they become very predictable. I know many people don’t think I should study them, but for those of us who are stuck by marraige, blood or circumstance, I hope that my findings can be of some use.
One thing I’ve realized is that they can be handled very much like a child is handled. Do not display emotion, do not fall for their drama, they are only acting , none of it is real, if they are acting human it is just an act. If you were to see them as they really are you would see lucifer -no more no less. Respond in ways that arre unexpected. They don’t know what normal is so they will just add your behavior to their repertoire.
Jeannie, etc.
I agree that not everyone who kills someone else, even when they have planned it, is a psychopath…and we must look at the entire person to get the picture.
Like the blind men who were led up to touch an elephant, one thought the elephant was like a rope, as he held the tail, another thought it was like a wall as he felt the side, another one thought the elephant was like a tree as he felt the leg, and another one thought the elephant was like a snake when he handled the trunk. They were ALL WRONG because none of them got the TOTAL PICTURE of what they were evaluating.
We must look at the total person, and the circumstances, before we even in our hearts, I think, “label” someone—whatever that label is. I think many of us have “labeled” someone based on the fact that they “love bombed” and Flattered us so “they must be nice people”—I know I have, and those were the PSYCHOPATHS!!
I didn’t look at the entire person before I extended my trust to them because the sucked up to me and flattered me. STOOOOOPID! And I won’t make that mistake again, and neither will I judge a person all bad because they don’t flatter me, but I will NOT give anyone a chance to gain my trust without earning it. If they blow that chance with a lie, or some kind of dishonesty, they will have to work very hard to make me give them another chance.
jeanine – why did they think your son drew them??
Where were this kid’s lawyers, I’d be screaming bloody murder (so to speak) that the shrink never met with the kid in person. I don’t believe you can tell by drawings and writing alone. I may not have done the drawings, but my stories would have got me convicted. This was long before Steven King and graphic novels. I was a depressed kid and it was my only way of acting out. Heck, back then they didn’t even show gore in horror movies.
I’m with Frank Lee on being suspicious of everyone I meet, running down the list. I still wouldn’t have caught my NS in the beginning, but I do use the list to mentally check if I want to know this person or not. They may or may not be a S, but too many checks on the list, I simply don’t want to know them. They may have some other personality disorder, but they are NMP (Not My Problem). X cured me of trying to be little Miss Save the World. Now I just save animals.
As to the psychic thing, I want a study done. Seriously. I’m highly empathic (bet most victims are) and I’m addicted to addicts. I could walk in a bar and point out who had a drinking/addiction problem. It’s like a magnetic force. Out of three of my serious relationships, we had some connection (all of who turned out or turned into addicts). One I could even THINK at him (in the days before cell phones) to bring home the milk and he either would, or would call and ask what it was I needed. X was a mind reader supreme in the beginning. Sure, I gave him some of the clues myself, but he was uncanny. And anyone who has been in a relationship with an abusive alcoholic male can tell you how good they are at knowing just when and how to push your buttons.
One thing that always puzzled me about X though. Yes, we did a great job of knowing each other and reading minds. But there was always some element missing, even though it was a better relationship than I had ever had before. I could FEEL my previous husband loved me, although he loved cocaine more and behaved badly. X said the right things, did the right things, looked at me like I was the only woman on earth, but still, there wasn’t the connection. I loved him so much I couldn’t tell that his was fake until I was out of it. Then a lot of things started making sense.
This is the other really, really good reason for the no contact rule. Because they have that weird talent. I’m pretty sure if my X could find me easily, all I’d have to do is THINK about falling in love with another guy and he’d suddenly find a reason he had to talk to me. Heck, when I stopped being miserable on a daily basis over him, finally got to the point where a day went by without thinking of him, he emailed my daughter “accidentally”. It’s impossible to email her accidentally.
I think I’ll go watch some mushy romantic movies starring some of the guys I think are really terrific. Or exercise the MAJOR crush I have on my favorite writer. The one who’s graphic novels would probably have put him in jail. He also writes children’s stories and sweet fantasy movies. Glad no one murdered their ex girlfriend in his neighborhood when he was a kid.
Romantic fool,
The kid’s father instructed him to “cooperate” with the cops and be a good citizen—-so I’m not sure he had a lawyer at first. The crooked cop pursued him for 10-12 years before bringing him to court for trial, then the judge was about as uncooperative as the crooked cop who withheld evidence.
It was only a loyal group of family and friends who went to EXTREME measures to get the DNA and take it to Europe and have it tested, which proved the kid innocent.
Though I held a pro-death penalty view until recently, I have changed my mind because of the people who have been released because of DNA evidence and proven INNOCENT. Though there are some people so evil that yes, “they just need killing,” I cannot any longer support an IN-justice system that has so many innocent people sent to prison. Even ONE executed would be way too many.
I am acquainted with a man now who has been in prison for over 11 years and has finally getting the DNA evidence tested (The Houston Innocence project is doing this for him) for a murder conviction he is probably innocent of. There are 3 men sitting in Arkansas prisons right now who should be released on DNA evidence and who were tried and convicted (one is on death row) for less evidence than this kid. Look up the “West Memphis Three.” This was a witch hunt here in Arkansas about 17 years ago and the cops nailed the 3 gothic smart assed kids in the area to get a “conviction” of young boys killed and mutilated.
kimfrederick- I talked about this on blog the other day…how I should’ve known something was wrong because his past was filled with too many people who were “crazy” according to him, but they were messed up, lives chaotic, too much chaos surrounded him, etc.
skylar and hopeforjoy- I third the “chameleon” comment. Things he “hated” when he was around me, he “loves” with his newest object of affection. I also second the whole “even people who can pick them out as not being a good person don’t know the extent…” SO true. I met this girl recently who knew mine, and she got eyes as big as saucers when I said his name. She said something like, “trouble.” I was sure she must have stories. I asked her. She told me this story about him staying with her friend and basically mooching off of her too long and outstaying his welcome. I wanted to say, “If you were apalled by that, let me tell you about the starved dog, the “dead” cousin who isn’t dead, the “dead” family who “faked their deaths to avoid bill collectors,” the ex-boyfriend who “poisoned him,” the ex-roommate who “embezzled money from his work,” his brain tumor/heart defect/seizures/whatever the given person’s pity ploy of the day is…”
M~
http://www.theunlikelytarget.blogspot.com
Bluebell,
GREAT blog!!!! Thanks for the link!
OxDrover, while I whole heartedly agree with you, there are times when I think the whole “justice is blind” is taken literally. When there is no doubt they have done the crime, serial killers like Wesley Dodd should be, in his case, euthanized. He ASKED to be hung and the bleeding hearts actually delayed his execution for years. He had actually warned his therapist he was violent before the second killings. I ended up almost feeling sorry for the guy, he knew he was a monster and would kill again. When they have DNA, film, and even a confession it’s frustrating to know they are still loaded weapons.
I live in the Pacific NW, home to way too many serial killers. Hopefully DNA testing will continue to improve and free the innocent. The problem seems to be KEEPING the guilty in jail, as all of us here well know.
skylar hi….hope you are keeping your sanity spath watching….I agree with everything you say and you do say things that prove you have observed them over time…and of course it helps to hear your analysis and point of view…thinking of you out there…alone perhaps and just because I get concerned about what your doing…I strongly disagree that living with them is possible without it eroding mind body and spirit…over time….like watching paint dry…isn’t it at least boring? but I love your posts and hope you keep telling us your experiences, it’s a window of opportunity to hear your point of view and learn from it…I suppose saying ‘stay safe’ is like pissing in a high wind…x
Bulletproof,
By the way i love your name.
It would be difficult to kill me without getting caught because i’ve told so many people everything that is happening. furthermore ExP knows i’ve done that and so does my current boyfriend. So the only thing left for them to do Is emotional crazy making, but no 1 can do that unless i allow it. So i’m practicing being vigilant And learning to observe Objectively. I still lack the ability to make snap judgments Based on what i know because I still want to believe in the basic goodness of Human beings, unfortunately. I see this as my training in a controlled environment To prepare me for when i have to go out into the unknown. I call it a controlled environment only because i already know the spath in this situation.