In 1978, Rodney Alcala of California approached Liane Leedom, who was 17 years old at the time. He struck up a conversation, showed her some of his photographs, and then asked to photograph her. Although he was later convicted of murdering four women and a girl, Rodney Alcala did not kill Liane Leedom.
In 1983, Brian Dugan of Illinois abducted and murdered a 10-year-old girl. The next year he raped and murdered a 27-year-old woman, and the following year he raped and murdered a 7-year-old girl.
Both of these men are psychopaths. They’re both facing the death penalty for their crimes. But last November, at Brian Dugan’s sentencing, defense attorneys argued that because the man had a personality disorder, because he was incapable of experiencing normal emotions like remorse, he should get life in prison, not death.
Kent Kiehl, Ph.D.
The star witness in the plea for leniency was a prominent psychopathy researcher, Kent Kiehl, Ph.D. of the University of New Mexico. Kiehl evaluated Dugan according to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised—the murderer scored 37 out of 40.
Kiehl also scanned Dugan’s brain using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). The technique measures blood flow within the brain, which is thought to reflect brain activity. It shows which area of a person’s brain “lights up” with different thoughts.
According to Miller-McCune Online Magazine,
The scans show that the psychopath’s brain does indeed look different from others. “This shouldn’t really surprise people,” Kiehl said. “When your behavior is very different, your brain is different.” He estimates that 15 to 20 percent of prisoners in minimum to medium security prisons qualify as psychopaths, while the figure might run as high as 30 percent for those in maximum security.
Kiehl thinks it’s absurd to execute convicted murderers who have malfunctioning brains. “It’s kind of like telling a patient who has dyslexia to go read Faulkner, or something really difficult,” he said. “They have no chance, but you’re going to punish them because they can’t read?”
Kiehl testified about Dugan’s fMRI scans in the sentencing hearing—the first time fMRI evidence was ever used in court. The psychologist was asked if Brian Dugan had a normal brain. He said no.
Mitigating factor
Psychopathy, the defense team said, was a mitigating factor, a reason why Dugan shouldn’t get the death penalty. But why wasn’t it an aggravating factor?
Yes, psychopaths do not feel normal emotions, and perhaps we should feel sorry for them because of it. But psychopaths know the rules of society. Even if they don’t feel any emotional inhibition about raping and killing, they know on an intellectual level that these behaviors are wrong and can get them arrested, tried and possibly sentenced to death.
Other experts espouse this point of view. Stephen J. Morse, a professor of law and neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania was also quoted in the Miller-McCune article:
All the law really requires, he says, is a general capacity to understand and follow rules. “The law doesn’t really ask a lot of us,” Morse said. “How hard is it to know that you shouldn’t kill people, you shouldn’t rape people, you shouldn’t burn buildings that aren’t yours, and you shouldn’t take what doesn’t belong to you?”
Neuroscientific expertise may also become a double-edged sword that could be used against defendants, he warns. “There are going to start to be prosecution experts who are going to come in and tell the jury why this doesn’t have the implications that the defense claims,” he said. “Rather than being mitigating, for example, evidence of brain abnormalities might be aggravating because they will indicate that the defendant is particularly dangerous.”
Capable of choices
Psychopaths do exercise choice. They are capable of controlling their behavior when they want to. Rodney Alcala killed four women and a child, but he did not kill Liane Leedom. Perhaps he killed the others because he thought he could get away with the crimes. But he could have chosen not to kill them either.
A diagnosis of psychopathy shouldn’t be used to get people off. It should be used to convict them and send them away.
For further discussion of these issues, read:
A mind of crime—how brain-scanning technology is redefining criminal culpability, in Miller-McCune Online Magazine.
Science in court: Head case, in Nature.com.
Thank you to the Lovefraud reader BloggerT7165 for sending a link to this story.
EB,
Thank you for taking the time to clarify your thoughts and feelings..I said I don’t want to get into a p*ng match notr do I want to flog a dead horse. I have enough battles and demons to fight.
I have owned my “incoherent” times which I believe have been on two occasions—one as ptsd–one as conomo. I believe I have been coherent most times under both names. I think I have also explained my use of my substance of choice. I don’t remember you ever posting to me during coherent times and that’s ok. We both know not all personalities will click.
My main concern was Conomo being referred to as a troll in double speak during the party last night. This lead another poster to self doubt her welcome here. I guess you can bring that back to my behaviour in the first place if you wanted. I know how I thought that ptsd’s validity was being questioned when Mike arrived(not AMike) and thought it would be helpful to let you know that it is best to share those concerns private or of course with Donna as it is not conducive to healing when a new raw, unsure poster comes along.
I believe we are all on the same journey also and wish you all well in that. The posts I saw last night did not seem team like , they seemed clicky and sneaky to me for a second time here.
A new clean slate…as the LF community enters Spring together… we can go forward together learning and growing as we go…communicating as honestly, openly and SOBER as possible.
Refresher taken from Donnas Guidelines for Posting:
As we post, there is an important fact that we must all keep in mind. Here it is: Linguists estimate that 65 percent to 90 percent of the meaning in human communication is transmitted via nonverbal cues—tone of voice, facial expression, body language. None of these cues, of course, are available over a computer. That means when we post written comments on the Lovefraud blog, 65 percent to 90 percent of our meaning may be missing.
So what happens? Without the benefit of those nonverbal cues, people interpret a post to mean what they want it to mean.
Sociopaths take advantage of this phenomenon all the time. When sociopaths are sending flowery e-mails that are full of lies, we interpret the e-mails as truth, because we want them to be true. We believe what we want to believe.
Assume honorable intentions
Here on Lovefraud, this can go either way, depending on the reader’s frame of mind. If a reader is looking for consolation, he or she may interpret another poster’s advice as supportive. If a reader is on edge—a common occurrence with victims of sociopaths—he or she may interpret another poster’s advice as being critical.
I ask everyone to assume that all of us are posting with the best, most honorable intentions, and that we are here to support each other. If at any time you feel that a blogger is not posting with honorable intentions, please let me know.
We are a group of opinionated people, and there are going to be times when we disagree. That’s fine. I think an animated discussion of different points of view is healthy. However, all discussions should be respectful, and no one should be personally attacked.
Posting guidelines for the Lovefraud Blog
1. The goal of the Lovefraud Blog is to provide information about sociopaths and their effects on victims, and to help victims recover from entanglements with sociopaths. Please post all comments with the intention of promoting healing, and read comments with the intention of finding the healing message.
2. Keep in mind that Lovefraud readers are extremely diverse. Our readers are men and women from all over the world, representing different races, ethnicities, religious and spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof), education levels, economic circumstances, political views and sexual orientations. Please be respectful and tolerant of all.
3. If you find a comment objectionable, please do not respond to it. Notify the blog owner, Donna Andersen. If you suspect that someone is a predator, alert me immediately. Send e-mail to donna@LoveFraud.com.
4. Please refrain from using offensive language—such as George Carlin’s seven dirty words. However, feel free to imply your feelings with those wonderful characters **#$$#!!!!
5. Each article posted by the Lovefraud Blog authors starts a conversation. Please post comments related to the conversation, unless, of course, another reader has posted a comment asking for support. Then, feel free to offer it.
6. We cannot name people believed to be sociopaths without documentation. If you want to describe your personal story, please do not include names or other identifying information. If your story is already in the media, however, you may post links to it.
7. Please do not post copyrighted material such as articles from other websites, book excerpts, song lyrics or poems. This is a violation of copyright law, even if you cite the original author. To draw attention to information outside of Lovefraud, you may summarize it in your own words and post a link.
8. Please do not copy any article from Lovefraud or the Lovefraud Blog and post it on another website. This is a violation of Lovefraud’s copyright. But feel free to post links to Lovefraud content on other websites.
I thank all Lovefraud readers. Your contributions and insights about the terrible problem of sociopaths in our society, and your willingness to help others, makes the effort of maintaining Lovefraud worthwhile.
Very Nice LTL 🙂 I will do my best!
I’d like to share something I learned from my session last night that may help some when they are stuck ruminating about their sociopath and feeling immobilized by it(the FOG). It has sure helped me today and hope I continue to remember to use it.
She said whenever I start to think things over(and over and over….)to send all that energy down my right arm to my hand and then hand it off or send it back to it’s rightful owner—the person who caused it. My question to her was what happens to the person getting it back? Duh. She gave me an incredulous look. I had to laugh and blurt out “who the ##$! cares!
I had to modify it a bit and pretend I was actually catapulting or “shooting” it back at him and slightly reveling in the fact that he might actually be feeling these things too. Whatever happens to him, the end result is that it takes me right back into the now and I have been able to refocus on what the important task at hand is. I think it’s kinda fun and it seems to be working.
Conomo, I love it…I can imagine shooting sparks, or maybe just dark clouds out my fingers 🙂
Another good thing is to do a meditation where you move energy through your chakras all the way up through the top of your head and imagine a fountain of protective white light pouring out and surrounding you.
keep that light around yourself always….
And then, fire at will…..!
Silvermoon, I’ve found meditation hard unless I’ve been in yoga class and the instructor is real good at taking you into it. I like your process of focusing on an end though. Since I’ve been having uncharacteristic headaches…I think your approach may be doable.
Kim I’m thinking explosions! 🙂
This is only my opinion, but, on the initial subject of whether they have CHOICE…the P’s, they know EXACTLY what they are doing, and the longer they do it (and the older they get) they become more smitten and revengeful about WINNING…I asked the P-Monster “How many more lives will you destroy before this is all said and done?” He looked at me with the eyes of a satan-like being and responded, with glee and superiority, “Hundreds…hundreds more”. He reaps great joy from creating chaos, crisis and insurmountable Katrina-sized messes, leaving others to clean them up, (blaming everyone else) and as we all know, they can fool the very best doctors, psychologists, law enforcement and judges. P-Monster knew exactly what he was up to…he said to me after he had gone thru about $500,000 of my money (lied his whole way thru), “I never married you because I loved you, I married you to use the legal umbrella of marriage to steal from you”. SO he clearly knew he was out of the bounds of society, and would blame it all on a “marriage gone bad” however, his predatory and financial abuse began before we were married. He had his fingers in my finances before we tied the knot…I just didn’t know it. He had access to credit reports thru his employment, he ran a bureau on me illegally and had everything needed to line his pockets and ruin me. He did similar damage to wife #1 but she managed to get out before he bankrupted her. She (and his followers) had the opportunity to warn me of the danger, but they were only too happy to “pawn” the problem-child (in a grown persons body) on an unsuspecting person. (ME!) I am now trying to figure out a way out of the enormous mess (all the attorneys tell me it makes their head spin!!!) and it is overwhelming but the similar experiences and posts make me feel less alone. I am sure $500,000 is a drop in the bucket to what others have lost, but he will not stop with the financial destruction. I have no funds to procure a divorce attorney so he just keeps on making things worse, and he has NO intention whatsoever of paying any bill for the remainder of his life. He plans to find another unsuspecting sucker to sponge off until her money runs out. In the fantasy world he exists in, there are no taxes, no debts, no wives, no children, (his employer didn’t know he had a family!) no responsibilities, no contracts, no obligations, and, of course, HE breaks no laws (everyone ELSE belongs in jail) and if his car breaks or he has a flat tire, he goes into a ballistic rage about how EVERYONE is out to get him. The P’s can and do make the choice, they just believe they are immune to the consequences of their choices, that they are extra-special, above the law and above everyone else (Can’t YOU see the jewel-encased crown on their head?). They are entitled to do whatever they want without consequence. Hurting others is the only pleasure in an empty trip thru life on a make-believe majic carpet ride. Every once in a while, one of those magic carpet riders will “crash & burn”; but not often enough! My experience thus far is that the domestic relations laws and judges do nothing to stop sociopathic parents from destroying family after family after family (economically, mentally, physically, etc.) I am hoping that my child and I will only be “temporarily handicapped” and can someday lead a peaceful, normal and happy life, P-Monster FREE! (I’m spraying my “P-Monster Deterrent Spray” (imaginary) as I write!
Dear Got2getfree,
Glad you are here and sorry tht you more than “qualify” to join our “club”—but there is comfort here if no other way than to know you are NOT ALONE in your devestation.
I’m wishing you the best of everything and keep on reading, learning and healing! God bless!
Update on Rodney Alcala – he has been sentenced to death.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/serial-killer-rodney-alcala-sentenced-to-death-.html
Thanks to a Lovefraud reader for the link.