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.
And where do socios come up with these personas??
Do they develop an affinity for one person, and copy their personality & mannerisms….or is it a collaboration of different personalities from many different people?
How do they develop their “mask”?
Because, let’s face it, some of these socios are very slick and present themselves very well.
I find this aspect of the sociopath very bizarre, creepy, and fascinating all at the same time…..but not fascinating enough to want to get involved with one.
Just leave me sit on the sidelines (front row 🙂 ) with a tub of popcorn and a Diet Coke to watch the freak show.
Hi Rosie, Put lot’s of salt and butter on that popcorn and I will join you. You know your on too something here, my xspath copied me so much, my mannerisms, little sayings, even talked to the dogs the way I do. He took to wearing my clothes, he really kinda became me or mirrored me, it was like a clone of myself, guess it is freaky but I think that is why we fall so hard. But this only lasted a few months in the beginning and soon he had little snide remarks about every thing I did, said etc..yeppers it was a freak show called The Twilight Zone……and he won the Oscar for best actor..meanwhile I kinda lost me in the whole ugly episode…
Henry:
Oh yes…the snide remarks. That should also be listed as one of the characteristics right up there with glib, superficial charm.
Yes, Henry…lots of butter and salt on the popcorn….and I’ll even pop it in coconut oil like they do in the movie theatre.
Ever see Matt Damon in the talented Mr Ripley?
Ok, who’s got the dots?
yes i saw that movie – dot’s as in dippin dot’s?
Dippin Dots ‘ll do HEns but the chewy friut flavored DOTS that rip your fillings out are my favorite movie food- go great with crunchy popcorn….
Matt Damon was bone chilling in it….!
Thank you all you great guys for your support and encouragement and Towandas!!
Wini, I do believe you, i would normally be terrified re my adult daughters ending up in hellfire, except that 13 years ago I got a promise from the Lord re my girls. Holly, who is now 15, was only 2 and a half then.}
I had a vision of a tall masted sailing ship, and it had a flag on the topmost mast with Christs cross in red, on it. Then I got this poem,
“Nail this promise to the mast,
I WILL bring them{my girls} Home, at Last!!”
So, I take this to mean that Christ will save them, maybe even at the “Eleventh Hour”, or as “A brand from the burning”, ie, a branch snatched from the flames a t the last minute.
As Christs promises are yea and Amen, i can rest assuresd that He WILL save them, eventually. Actually, it will be easier fo them to reach their ‘rock bottom,” as alcoholics do, now that Ive stopped enabling them and baling them out.
I can go on praying for them even if I cease to see them or have any contact with them.{or even if I dislike them, which I do.}
This poem and vision brought me immense comfort, and still does. I was also woken up in the middle of the night by God,
over 25 years ago, and told to read the whole of Isaiah 54.
The whole chapter, and that it applied to me personally.
Christ even gave me a prayer to pray for them, it was
“To bring them to the foot of the Cross”, ie, on their knees.
So, that is what I pray for them.
Thanks Wini, and all of you.
Love, Mama gem.XX
“Rosa says:
Henry:
Oh yes, the snide remarks. That should also be listed as one of the characteristics right up there with glib, superficial charm.”
Yes, along with the charm is a certain cynicism. Import to consider is that the sociopath’s cynicism is often directed at their current “victim,” while “normal” cynicism is usually directed at some public, such as politics.
Wini,
I appreciate your comments, reminding us (or teaching us) about Biblical truths, how God’s Word can help us understand our life experiences, unpleasant (and unbelievable) as some of them have been.
Just heard Mario Cuomo on the view today, specifically calling this alleged criminal a “sociopath”. Also heard John Walsh use the word about him several days ago. Hooray!
Mario has interviewed Joran twice so far, and has recently interviewed a former girlfriend of his, and is in possession of his diary from the time period of the aforementioned relationship. In it Joran professes his undying love. Then, when he writes his book, he claims to have been cheating on her and portrays the relationship quite differently.
Like most in the general population, the View panel (Joy, Sherri, Elisabeth, today moderated by Bryant Gumbel) keeps wanting to solve the mystery of how Joran may have been just fine up until some life-changing event that turned him into this “monster”, especially Sherri and Bryant. Whereas Mr. Cuomo notes indications pointing to Joran’s sociopathic traits all along.
Perhaps a few feedback emails praising this segment and enlightening further on this topic may help move forward the raising of awareness. Maybe this would be yet another ripe opportunity to request more segments in the future on the subject of sociopathy.
If anyone missed it, the full episode will become viewable at http://theview.abc.go.com
In case anyone would like to post a response, I started a thread on the View’s Message Board at http://theview.abc.go.com/forum/guest-says-sociopath
To send your feedback directly to the View, the comment page is at http://theview.abc.go.com/contact_us