Geraldo Rivera provided his analysis of the ”¦ Natalee Holloway disappearance case. Prime suspect Joran Van Der Sloot has given a series of interviews proclaiming his total innocence. “The lie that he has fastened on,” Rivera pronounced, “is that he took her on the beach but didn’t have sex because he didn’t have a condom, then left her on the there. It’s at odds with the story he told earlier, but as he tells this story he becomes more confident and more glib. I believe there is a pathological aspect to this man.” The Factor concurred that Van Der Sloot seems psychologically unbalanced. “I can’t figure out why he wants do these interviews because he comes off as a sociopath. If he makes one slip-up he’s done. It looks to me like he’s a danger junkie – he likes this cat-and-mouse game, it’s exciting to him” (source)
Does it matter whether or not Joran van der Sloot is a sociopath/psychopath? Why not just be satisfied that he is a “criminal” and an evil person?
Yes, it does matter, because when dealing with a sociopath the usual rules of human interaction do not apply. Anyone who treats a sociopath as they would a non-disordered person is likely to get burned and to be implicated in the evil that sociopath does. Joran van der Sloot’s story illustrates this principle.
Joran’s father, Paulus, was an attorney many believed knew the truth about what happened to Natalie Halloway, the first young woman Joran was accused of murdering. Paulus strongly supported his son after the murder accusations first arose, and was even charged himself as an accessory after the fact, though the charges were dropped.
Paulus van der Sloot died of a sudden cardiac death last February and so did not live to see the result of his enabling of his son. Joran’s mother, Anita, is now alone to deal with the repercussions of the family’s enabling.
The lesson to be learned is that if you have a family member who has been charged with a serious crime, and that family member has psychopathic personality traits, or is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, DO NOT HELP THAT PERSON IN ANY WAY.
Over and over again, we have said on this website that sociopaths are able to do evil in a large part because they are enabled by family members and various governmental agencies- including the judicial system and law enforcement. Well, law enforcement does it again.
It turns out that the FBI wired Joran $25,000 as part of a “sting” operation, as they were trying to arrest him for shaking down Natalie Halloway’s parents. According to former agent Paul Lindsay, “the FBI formula for extortion stings is, “set ’em up, pay ’em off, get ’em to talk, never let them leave the room without handcuffs on.” Because the FBI did not understand the psychology of their suspect, they let him leave the room and were out smarted by a sociopath.
The lesson to be learned here is that next time the FBI wants to sting a sociopath they should contact Lovefraud so that Donna and I can tell them not to give a sociopath any money”¦ that is unless they want the sociopath to use the money to kill someone.
One more lesson to be learned from the van der Sloot case is that media psychiatrists should stop confusing people with their false categorical statements. I came across this analysis of van der Sloot by psychiatrist Keith Ablow (who I have criticized before):
“Serial killers whether organized or disorganized are always made, never born. Having interviewed dozens of killers myself, I can tell you that it turns out that evil never appears ”˜out of the womb’.”
Well, I knew Rodney Alcala, and I can tell you that he was born with a disposition to become a serial killer that was present in his early childhood. Serial killers are both born and made. Evil is in the genes of some people but like many other traits it needs the right soil to take root and blossom.
Bluejay,
I am somewhat jaded when considering Van der Sloot’s mother, considering the parental involvement with the Holloway case… how they enabled him.
I’ve seen, first hand through my ex’s mother, how a mother can and will cover up her child’s crimes, almost to the extent of becoming an accomplice – and, becoming venemous and cruel in defense of her “guilty” son.
So, I wasn’t immediately struck by sympathy for her (not that she doesn’t deserve it)… and, not that I don’t hope she has resources for help and understanding within her community, where she can get to the point of making peace with her son being a sociopath, in jail.
That’s the best place for him.
I do feel terrible for Natalie Holloway’s mother… who had this murderer contact her and offer money in exchange for the location of Natalie’s remains. That makes me sick and angry.
Oxy, I agree that not all young psychopathsdisplay any or all of those tendancies, but in my researchthere is a strong coorelation between all three tendancies and serial killers.
The research doesn’t say paychopathy, it says serial killers, which we know are at the extreem end of the scale…Probably most of the spaths that we here, have encountered were never so extreme, but to me. I am just passing on what I have read, so that parents are aware that these are HUGE danger signals, specially when all three are persistant.
Having said that, it also doesn’t follow that every kid who displays these three behaviors is or will be a serial killer. Just something to be aware of.
The kid on Dr. Phill started killing because he liked it at age three. This is pretty clearly a red flag.
Serial killers are thrill killers. They kill because it feels good. It gives them pleasure.
While I have no doubt that many garden variety psychopaths would be willing to kill, it doesn’t follow that they are seial (thrill killers) At any rate, they are all without empathy and/or remorse.
Hi one-step. Glad to hear your interview went well and that you are feeling a bit better.
Well Purewaters, you just keep getting better and better, purer and purer… 🙂 keep coming back.
I saw an interview, several years ago with Jeffry Dahmer, and his parents….I have to tell you I felt enormous sympathy for them…Very, very sad.
PureWaters3,
I’m assuming (maybe wrongly) that Joran’s mother sincerely believed that her son did not harm (maybe naively on my end) Natalee Holloway. If either of my sons were in prison, even if they were justifiably there, I would be concerned about them, not wanting more violence, harm to come to anyone (son or others within the prison).
Bluejay,
I’m sure she believed that Joran was innocent (I bet her gut told her otherwise, though), but at what point does a parent have to say, “Hey, this is enough… my child is sick.”?
I don’t know the inside details of their lives, so I can only speculate, but from what I’ve read, the father almost went to jail with helping his son in the Holloway case.
If my son murdered 2 innocent women, I would want him to face the consequences of his actions…
The victim’s parents will NEVER see their daughter’s, ever again. Natalie’s mother hasn’t ever had even the slightest amount of closure – like a funeral for her daughter’s remains.
I’m sorry, I’m just not at the point where I can sympathize with Joran’s mother. But, I’m glad there are people who can.
purewaters3,
I agree. If my child murdered another person, I would want justice served, haul him/her into prison. However, I can relate to the mother – even if she suspected that Joran might have done the crime, she might have been in denial, literally unable to accept the reality of her son’s character. I’m assuming that she believed what her son was telling the public, was allowing the legal channels to do their work (at the time of the incident), ending with the fact that there was no clear verdict concerning her son. She gave her son the benefit of the doubt. Who knows what she did or didn’t know. I just have compassion for her. The whole situation is tragic (for the victims and the perpetrator’s family). If I knew that my child committed the crime, he/she would do the time.
Heres an article shedding some light on SLOOT that i’ve not seen before.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100613/ap_on_re_us/van_der_sloot_s_journey;_ylt=AgQQt5wm7auB7ZuzZID4OYLBF4l4;_ylu=X3oDMTNjcnV2OHE2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjEzL3Zhbl9kZXJfc2xvb3Rfc19qb3VybmV5BGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDNQRwb3MDNQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2JyYWNrZXRlZGJ5Yw–
It’s got his cousin saying he’s not a psychopath….he just needs help.
NO….he needs to be shot!….raped first, his balls cut off, beat on, left for a couple of hours……then shot as he runs bleeding through the forest.
ErinBrock,
I read the article – interesting that he described himself as a SNAKE, but he would like to be a lion.
Well, guys, I can definitely RELATE to Joran’s mother, and also to the father of Charles “Jackie” Walls III who is one of THE worst pedophiles ever who is doing time in Arkansdas for raping over 1500 kids over a 20 year period including his own nephews (I knew Jackie and his father both, in fact the entire family) Jackie’s dad was a judge and was an HONEST MAN, and a GOOD man and the first time there was “talk” but no real proof that jackie was a pedophile (the Boy Scouts did kick him out as a leader though) his father quieted the talk down just because he did not believe Jackie was guilty. I klnew Jackie was an arsehold delux, 24 karat gold plated, but it never ever dawned on me he was a MONSTER.
When Jackie was arrested 9 years later after one of his victims, at jackie’s orders had KILLED HIS ENTIRE FAMILY to keep jackie from being exposed, I can ONLY IMAGINE WHAT Jackie’s father felt. As far as I know he never again left his front door in shame and agony. Knowing that him “helping” his son who WAS guilty had caused the deaths of several people and more destruction than had already gone on. I cannot even imagine the horror this man felt, and in some ways I feel guilty myself about the enabling I did for my own son in him killing the girl he did, maybe if I hadn’t he wouldn’t have killed her. I do strongly believe though that if he had come back to live with me after he first got out of prison he would have killed me INSTEAD OF HER, and that sort of makes me feel guilty too. I know I’m NOT responsible, but it is something I’ve had to deal with.l
We can’t KNOW about the Van der Sloot family dynamics of course, but my GUESS is that it isn’t a poster family for either good genes or environment either one. My guess is that it takes dysfunction to a new art form! Who is the victim and who is the enabler or who is the victim AND enabler I can’t guess exceptit is easy to say “looks like he has a lot of psychopathic traits” (that’s for darn sure!)
I do know what it is like to think your “poor baby” child is in danger in prison from all those big mean brutes, I also know what it is like to know your kid DESERVES to be in prison, and I know what it is like to HOPE against HOPE that your child has learned and repented, and then I also know what it is like to GIVE UP ANY HOPE FOR YOUR CHILD, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HE IS A MONSTER. All of those stages are extremely painful, but like childbirth, no one can go through them FOR us, we have to go through them ourselves.
I have a great deal of empathy for Joran’s mother as she is a suffering human being, but she is going to have to walk through the fires of her own hell, take responsibility for any enabling she has done which has ultimately led to this, and live the rest of her life. I’m sorry she has to do it in the lime light of the scorn of the entire world, though. At least I could keep mine out of the public eye for the most part! That was some solace to me.