How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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A psychology professor asks: ‘Can you recognize a psychopath?’

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Robert Durst, the real estate mogul and accused killer recently featured in an HBO documentary, seems to match the common public perception of a psychopath. But Pascal Wallisch, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at New York University, points out that the public perception of psychopaths is not entirely accurate. In an article for Slate.com, Wallisch does a good job of describing the current scientific understanding of this personality disorder. Can you recognize a psychopath? on Slate.com. I do, however, disagree with one of his statements. He says that psychopaths can't help their behavior. This is not true. Psychopaths are quite capable of controlling their behavior …

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Appalling, shocking, psychopathic behavior, and acting before you have evidence

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I've collected more than 10,000 Lovefraud cases, all of them atrocious tales of deceit and betrayal. Even so, the behavior of Loretta Burroughs, 63, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, was way over the top, heinous beyond belief. On August 3, 2007, Loretta stabbed her husband to death, dismembered his body, packed the remains into plastic totes and dragged them around from house to house, until they were discovered on May 17, 2013. She told her friends and family that Daniel Burroughs, 63 at the time, had left her for a younger woman. They had driven off in a yellow Hummer with Florida license plates. Last week, Loretta Burroughs was convicted of murder. I covered the trial for the Daily …

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Police say 15-year-old boys shoot and kill a man who was walking his dog

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James Stuhlman, 51, of the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, was walking his dog last week when he was allegedly killed by three teenagers in a totally senseless murder. They were going to rob him. One of them had a gun. "Please don't shoot me," he begged. One of the boys allegedly shot him. Then they ran away, without taking anything. All three suspects are now in custody. Philadelphia 15-year-olds murdered married father in failed robbery: cops, on NYDailynews.com. Alleged teenage gunman in Overbrook murder surrenders, on 6abc.com.   …

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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: A sociopath’s power over uninformed humans

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a reader who calls herself, "Emotionallyraped." You meet him (or her). He is charming and kind and exciting. He takes an interest in you and you feel special. He studies you. He learns your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. He becomes exactly who you want him to be. He mirrors you. He is a chameleon. He tells you things you want to hear. He is intense. He quickly declares his love for you. He talks about plans for the future. He convinces you that you are meant to be together. This love is like nothing else you've ever experienced. You are high with happiness. You feel sorry for other people who don't have the love …

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Loretta Burroughs, 63, guilty of murdering her husband and chopping up his corpse

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Loretta Burroughs, a 63-year-old grandmother, was convicted of stabbing her husband to death, dismembering his corpse, and stuffing the remains into plastic boxes that she dragged with her as she moved from house to house. Burroughs forged a power of attorney document so she could sell the home after he disappeared, and then filed for divorce 18 months after she killed him so she could collect the profits. Donna Andersen covered the story for the Daily Mail. Read it here: Guilty: 'Head in a handbag' grandmother who murdered husband, chopped him up and moved remains from house to house for six years, on DailyMail.co.uk.   …

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Grandmother, 63, on trial for stabbing husband, dismembering him, and keeping his body parts in Tupperware

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Loretta Doyle Burroughs, 63, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, is accused of murdering her husband, Daniel Burroughs, in 2007. "This defendant killed her husband in cold blood, eviscerated his corpse and placed him in Tupperware to rot for seven years," said Seth Levy, Atlantic County chief assistant prosecutor, in his opening statement. Photos of the remains were shown to the jury last week. Donna Andersen, covering the trial for the Daily Mail, obtained exclusive photos of the remains. EXCLUSIVE: Photos of dismembered body parts positioned on a white sheet shown to horrified jurors as woman stands trial for stabbing her husband, chopping him up in pieces and then storing them in …

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How sociopaths make us believe them

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[youtube_sc url=https://youtu.be/2LuFOX0Sy_o] The Impostor, a documentary, tells the story of a 13-year-old boy from San Antonio, Texas, who went missing and turned up three years later in Spain. At least, that's what his family believed, and authorities in multiple agencies and countries believed the family. Nicholas Barclay, blond and blue-eyed, was last seen playing basketball on June 13, 1994. In October 1997, authorities from Linares, Spain called to say that he had been found. "Nicholas Barclay," the young man from Spain, claimed that he had been abducted by a child sex ring. "Nicholas Barclay" had brown hair, brown eyes, and spoke with a European accent. The missing …

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Boston Marathon bombing survivor writes in-your-face letter to Tsarnaev

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Rebekah Gregory was standing at the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15, 2013 when one of two pressure-cooker bombs exploded. Three people died. Rebekah was severely injured, and eventually had part of her leg amputated. Rebekah testified at the first day of the trial for accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The defendant's attorney admitted that Tsarnaev did it, but plans to argue that he was influenced by his brother, who later died in a shoot out. After testifying, Rebekah posted a letter on her Facebook page. She said, in part: TODAY ”¦ I looked at you right in the face ”¦ and realized I wasn't afraid anymore. And today I realized that sitting across from you was somehow the crazy kind o …

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Confronting the psychopath

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Last month, Bob Bashara, 57, of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife. Jane Bashara, 56, was beaten and strangled in January 2012. Her body was discovered in her Mercedes SUV parked in a Detroit alley, far from the family's upper-class neighborhood. While Jane Bashara worked, earning four times as much money as her husband, Bob Bashara acted like the civic-minded "Mayor of Middlesex," which was the name of the street they lived on. But he had a secret live of BDSM bondage, discipline, sadomasochism and had sex with multiple women in a basement dungeon. Prosecutors alleged that Bob Bashara lured his mentally …

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The ‘warrior gene’ in action

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I learned a new word while investigating the topic of this article, which was suggested by a Lovefraud reader. Here it is: "Contumacious (adj) Stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient." This word was used in a court decision to describe the behavior of Joseph D. Morrissey, 57, a lawyer and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates who is running for re-election tomorrow. Here is the context: Frequent episodes of unethical, contumacious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct mar Joseph D. Morrissey's career as prosecutor and private defense attorney. Evidence gathered by F.R.D.E. Counsel and made a part of the record during the hearing before this …

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