By Marilisa Walker Following a heart wrenching break up of our nearly 11-year marriage, and after he ran our Chamber of Commerce award-winning businesses into the ground, stole all my money and drove off in our only car on a sizzling hot summer afternoon in August while I was taking a nap, I experienced "an overwhelming and overpowering feeling of not being able to make sense of it"—which is what I logged in my journal four months later. Throwing myself on the kitchen floor and sobbing uncontrollably, while these antics provided some emotional relief but horrified my dog—yet was I still left with an irreconcilable quandary. If I could only make sense of what happened between my hus …
A powerful sociopath taken down, and why we need to understand him
It's been awhile since I wrote about Vince Fumo, former Pennsylvania State Senator, representing Philadelphia, and now a resident of the federal prison camp in Ashland, Kentucky. In 2009, he was convicted of 137 counts of fraud, conspiracy, tax offenses and obstruction of justice. His crimes cost taxpayers and nonprofit organizations $4 million. Yet he received a sentence of only 55 months, which many, including me, considered to be a mere slap on the wrist. Federal prosecutors were so outraged at the leniency of Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter's sentence that they actually appealed it. The feds won. The appellate court found that Buckwalter had erred, and on Wednesday, Fumo will be in court …
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Identifying speech patterns of psychopaths
Researchers used a computer analysis to compare the language of psychopathic and nonpsychopathic murderers. They discovered distinct differences. Read Psychopaths' words expose predatory mind on Futurity.org. Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader. …
Online Dating Scams: Don’t Get Caught
By Brittany Lyons For many busy people, online dating has become a normal or even preferred method for meeting potential love matches, and it's easy to see why it's so popular. Singles are often bombarded with stories of success featuring married couples who met online, and continue to live happily ever after, so they don't see the possible harm. However, because of the anonymity offered by the Internet, it's easy for predators and scammers alike to misrepresent themselves. Both are impossible to identify 100% of the time, which is why it's best to avoid online dating. But if you do choose to try it out, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from scammers. If you aren't …
Instead of protecting children, abusing them
Lovefraud readers have forwarded a rash of sordid stories about adults in positions of trust over children who turned out to be molesters and child porn addicts. They should all be prosecuted, along with those who covered up their actions. Records show Boy Scouts failed to report abuser, on USAToday.com. Stacy Schuler, Ex-Ohio teacher, convicted of having sex with 5 students, on HuffingtonPost.com. How child-porn case led to Hershey School, on Philly.com. Roman Catholic church's paedophile investigator jailed for possessing thousands of child porn images, on DailyMail.co.uk. And then there is a child  beater and a serial killer: Judge so furious at abusive mother who left …
Cats, dogs and psychopaths
Sarah Strudwick draws interesting analogies about pets and humans in her new blog post. Read Cats or Dogs on WakingYouUp.Wordpress.com. …
Spotting sociopaths by intuition
Russell Williams was a colonel in the Canadian Forces, a pilot who flew dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, and commander of the largest airbase in Canada. That is, until he was arrested for breaking into women's homes and stealing their underwear, sexual assault and murdering two young women. Lovefraud has written about Williams before:Â For Halloween: A real monster who liked to dress up. The question, of course, is how did such a predator achieve the rank of colonel? Should he have been flagged along the way? How was it that Williams received nothing but stellar reviews, and turned out to be a murderer? The Canadian Forces, stunned by what happened, launched an inquiry into …
Is my partner salvageable?
It can be pretty tricky navigating the continuum of narcissistically disturbed individuals, attempting to separate the salvageables from the unsalvageables. Yet, there are two awfully basic, interrelated questions that can help you cut to the chase, and guide your decision to keep going, or cut bait. Here they are: 1) Is your partner someone who genuinely recognizes he has a problem respecting you? 2) If he genuinely recognizes this, then does he have the genuine motivation to confront his disrespectful behaviors and attitudes (be they chronic or episodic; devastating in their impact or more quietly, gradually corrosive of your goodwill)? Ultimately, it comes down to these …
Sociopaths in classic dramatic arts
Last week my husband and I went to the opera to see Carmen. We saw the opera at the beautiful Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Before the performance, an opera expert gave the background of the story and the characters. Carmen was written by Georges Bizet, and premiered in Paris in 1875. Here's the basic story, as described by Wikipedia: The story is set in Seville, Spain, around 1820, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns f …
The Corporate Sociopath
Today I've decided to tackle a different subject. Why? Because once again, just this week, I've been horrified by the sociopathic behaviour of a corporation towards one of my dearest friends. This friend of mine, I'll call him Jack, is a hugely talented, dedicated professional who has worked all his life in the people industry. He is a Managing Director, and has the most incredible people-skills. Teams who work with him — even those who may have been somewhat disparate before his arrival — will galvanize together and with him to deliver outstanding results. He is, in my opinion, a superstar who genuinely cares for people and who gives his all to his employers. He's always been that way. Oh — …