Thursday, October 25, 2007

Head Injuries and the Serial Killer.

From the Guardian.
"A Russian man who claimed he wanted to record a murder for every square on a chessboard was found guilty yesterday of killing 48 people in Moscow.
A jury took less than three hours to convict Alexander Pichushkin, 33, of the murders, most of which occurred over five years in a sprawling park in southern Moscow. After the five-week trial he was also found guilty of three attempted murders. The judge read out the hour-long verdict to a courthouse packed with journalists and relatives of victims."

The longer story can be found on the Guardian's website. This man was a cold blooded killer, determined to make a name for himself, proud of his diligence, scornful of the police and seemingly unaware or untouched by the enormity of his crimes. It is a good thing he has been caught because he is remorseless and there isn't a doubt in my mind he'd carry on killing.

But something struck me as I read of his exploits this morning, a throw away line in the Guardian piece that rang a bell in my subconscious.

"His mother charts the beginning of Pichushkin's downfall to when he was hit on the head by a swing aged four."

Ridiculous right? She's his mother, of course she's going to look for answers for the child that she delivered into the world.

But like I said it pinged about my coffee starved head until I remembered why it resonated with me.
I trundled upstairs to the bedroom, over to the book case. I scanned the books and laid my fingers on my copy of Manhunters, Criminal Profilers & Their Search for the World's Most wanted Serial KIllers, by Colin Wilson.

I opened the book and flicked through it and on page 145 my connector beckoned.

"Certainly the number of sex killers who have suffered head injuries is so high that it is hard to deny the probable correlation. The following lists only some of the most prominent.'

He then provides an interesting observation, to whit...

The French Ripper Joseph Vacher - Suffered from head injury after attempted suicide.

Fritz Haarmann German 'Cannibal Killer' -Suffered concussion from a bad fall in his army days.

American Earle Nerlson- knocked down by car and unconscious for six days as a child.

Albert Fish- developed a stutter and dizzy spells after fall from tree as a child.
Raymond Fernandez-perfectly normal man until he fell through a hatch while at sea, knocking himself unconscious.

JOhn Christie (british) KNocked down by car on arival in london, unconscious for several hours.
Richard Speck- Chicago- Suffered a number of head injuries as a child, but began having blackouts at 16 after being struck on the head by a police man for fighting.

Gary Heidnik- Fall from a tree rendered him 'mentally abnormal' Deforming the shape of his head so badly schoolchildren called him 'football head'

Randy Kraft-California- Fell down a set of concrete steps as a child and knocked unconscious for several hours.

Henry Lee Lucas- violently beaten as a child by his mother, and once knocked unconscious for three days after she struck him with a piece of wood.

Bobby Jo Long-fracatured skull after a motercycle accident, after which he developed an unquenchable desire for sex, then began to murder. He's interesting, after every attack he would wake up after a very heavy sleep unsure if he had even committed what he 'dreamed of' until he would read of his action in a newspaper. After an examination it was revealed Long had more than one head injury-one after falling from a swing as a child and one from being knocked down by a car. A PET scan showed he had a damaged left temporal lobe and an abnormality of amygdala, the part of the brain associated with violence.

Fred West-British- two serious head injuries-one form a motercyle accident that left him unconscious for a week and one the result of a fall form a fire escape- unconscious for 2 days.

Dennis Rader= dropped on his head as a child.

All of these men went on to abduct, murder, rape, sodomise, and in some cases eat their victims. They showed no remorse-except for Bobby Jo Long- and plenty of guile and cunning. But why? Could there be a connection to their injuries?

Of course this is all speculation. These were all violent predatory men, and who is to say what particular set of circumstances unleashed the base longing to torture and kill again and again. But as I read that article in the Guardian this morning I wondered. Is there a connection? Could it be possible that somewhere along the lines these murderous empathy free sadists have no control? Or is a head injury just the key that unlocks the door to an already vicious predator, a predator preordained to inflict as much misery and pain as he can while he still breathes.

Labels:

60 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mornin FMC.
I dunno, a correlation does not neccessarily suggest a cause, but its an interesting theory.

Im also unsure about the notion of 'evil' people. People are people. The media constantly labelling someone as evil is too simplistic an argument and stunts our understanding of why people make these choices.

11:27 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good reasoning but there are so many peopel that get head injuries every day across the world that dont turn violent.

11:28 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

I remember falling off a swing onto my head... I was but a short-trousered ladeen. I had flashing lights before my eyes and an evil leprachaun voice inside my head saying 'kill, kill them all!!' 'Fuck off you,' I said, and he hasn't been back since.

What happens to girls who get the head bumped, has Mr Wislon nothing to offer on that score?

11:29 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“Gary Heidnik- Fall from a tree rendered him 'mentally abnormal' Deforming the shape of his head so badly schoolchildren called him 'football head'”

Kids can be so cruel (ah ha ha, football head ha ha ha). Being called football head was probably more of a swaying fator than the injury itself. And as for,

“Fritz Haarmann German 'Cannibal Killer' -Suffered concussion from a bad fall in his army days”

I hope you new findings don’t prove conclusive otherwisw the Paramour will have to watch his back.

11:35 a.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

Morning folks, like I said, I know it's pure specualtion, but something to mull over on a busy Thursday. I agree folk get injured all ove the worlkd,, btu perhaps the brain in damaged differently. Of course Bundy had no such injury and he was a cold and calculating killer, but still perhaps a head injury combined with a very specific set of circumstances...who can say?
Conan, he didn't really, but only because female serial killers and sexual predators are very rare. Of course they exist, but nowhere near the numbers of males.

11:35 a.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

I certainly eye him up when hungry Nonny. But only coz he's the cook.

11:36 a.m.  
Blogger Dr Maroon said...

He was trying to kill someone for every square on the chessboard. Thank Christ he wasn't into snakes and ladders.

12:49 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

snarf.

1:10 p.m.  
Blogger Rusticissimus maximus said...

ha ha, 'It rubs the lotion on its skin' that's made my afternoon now so it has!

1:26 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

I thought it was apt.

1:37 p.m.  
Blogger Megan McGurk said...

Many years ago I read a book about Albert Fish.
He was a cannibal and ate children.
Nightmare.

The head injury may serve as a trigger of some sort, but since many people sustain head injuries then there has to be something already wrong with them.

2:25 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

Probably, I just found it tickled my much sluggish thought process this morning. Now if y'all will excuse me I must go and walk CG's delightful dog.

2:34 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

I do hope CG has discussed hetero relationships with the hound and told it that heterosexual marriages are just as acceptable as gay partnerships. The things you have to do for a dog license these days.

He DOES have a dog license?!

4:04 p.m.  
Blogger Twenty Major said...

I suppose eating children is a bit like eating lamb instead of mutton. And lamb is far tastier than a sheep that's made itself all stringy and earthy tasting.

So, in conclusion, I can't really understand why someone would cook and eat somebody else but I can understand why he'd eat children if he was that way inclined.

4:18 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

I tried to explain these thing to the poor dog but he seemed more interested in squirrels, water and a hyperactive collie named Tizzy-whom he fell head over heels in smitten with.
I've never seen the water so low in the Dodder, and then it occured to me that it really hasn't rained much recently. How very odd, considering it rained most of the bloody summer. I saw two herons too, one large grey chap standing on one leg and a smaller chap who looked like he was weating a burgular mask. They're a bit reptilian looking in their way.

Twenty, one of my mother's favourite lines is 'I like children but I couldn't eat a whole one.'
I bet you feel all dirty now.

4:53 p.m.  
Blogger Sam, Problem-Child-Bride said...

They're so wintry and analytical, these Russians sometimes, with their chess and their brilliant scientists and their horrible knit-wear. Just look at their extraordinary eyebrows, they tell you all you need to know about yer potential Russky homicidal maniac, right there.

5:46 p.m.  
Blogger Cycles Goff said...

The russians love their children too, Sam.

Love them deep fried with a side order of grechka! Mwahahahha!

6:20 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

mmmside orders of stuffffff.

6:51 p.m.  
Blogger Gayé Terzioglu said...

Evening FMC, working with people with mental and physical disabilities and also those in respite care after serious accidents and / or operations, one of the things I learned at work during training is, if a part of the brain (I think it's somewhere in the frontal lobe like forehead area up top) is damaged in an accident or not been functioning properly from birth, the major behaviour problem we encounter with our clients have to do with sexual behaviour. It ranges from masturbating whenever and wherever, to sexual advances or assaults on other clients (they live or work with) or carers. Your post reminded me of the training session when we were being taught high-risk behaviour patterns and main reasons and triggers.
Suppose a healthy person wouldn't look at a chessboard and think of killing a number of people equal to the number of squares on the board at a whim. D'oh. Great post!

10:15 p.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

Thank you Gayé, you've jst added to my overall sense of curiosity about the whole subject.

10:35 p.m.  
Blogger James McInerney said...

Fatmammycat, you couldn't make this up:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7062415.stm

Science, wha?

12:37 a.m.  
Blogger fatmammycat said...

Hah! I knew the ginger called to me in some deep primal way.

9:19 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

After I originally commented I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me
when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment
is added I get four emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you are
able to remove me from that service? Many thanks!



Feel free to visit my web-site: Registry Cleaner software
Also see my web page - registry cleaners

2:55 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, that's what I was searching for, what a information! existing here at this web site, thanks admin of this web page.

my web page: iphone Repair Petaling jaya

6:03 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It's ρгetty wοrth enоugh foг me.

In my view, іf all website owneгѕ and bloggers made good content as yοu dіԁ, the internet will be a lot
more useful than ever before.

my blog wiredtree hosting

8:42 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love looking through a post that will make people think.
Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!

Feel free to visit my blog :: Louis Vuitton Bags

6:00 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You should take part in a contest for one of the highest quality websites on the
web. I will recommend this blog!

Feel free to surf to my website :: web site

2:50 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello, this weekend is nice in favor of me, for the reason that this point in time i am reading this impressive educational piece of writing here at my house.


Also visit my homepage ... Michael Kors

4:15 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's in fact very difficult in this active life to listen news on TV, thus I only use world wide web for that reason, and obtain the most recent news.

Also visit my page: NFL Jerseys Cheap

1:35 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

After checking out a few of the articles on your web site, I honestly like your
way of blogging. I book-marked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be
checking back soon. Take a look at my website as well
and let me know your opinion.

Feel free to visit my blog: Air Jordan Pas Cher

10:17 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's a shame you don't have a donate button! I'd most certainly donate to this excellent blog! I suppose for now i'll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS
feed to my Google account. I look forward to new updates and
will talk about this blog with my Facebook group. Chat soon!


Look into my homepage Montre Guess

3:55 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have read so many articles or reviews concerning the
blogger lovers except this post is really a pleasant piece of writing, keep it up.


Also visit my blog; Sac Louis Vuitton Pas Cher

3:02 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great blog here! Also your site loads up very fast!

What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol

My web blog ... Sac Guess

4:28 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

Wow thank you very much for this creative content, this has really helped me a lot,specially first post of this site.
i was at this confused point in my Pure Reiki Healing but after reading,this gave me more idea about how better my life could be.
Thank you very much for the effort and kindly keep posting something like this every time, it goes a long way to help people like us.
I also got help from another cool site Pure Reiki Healing like your too called Perfect Pure Reiki Healing which describes a lot about handling health. Thank you very much and I am gonna be here often.

10:42 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a nice post. I like your post. I know a man John Jahrmarkt who is specialist on top personal injury law firm .

3:27 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a nice post. Really I love your post. I know a man John Jahrmarkt Who is specialist on los angeles motorcycle accident lawyers he is the best lawyer ever i seen. Thanks for reading.


3:30 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

uggs pas cher
ugg boots uk
true religion outlet
polo ralph lauren
uggs on sale
pandora charms
nike roshe run
ugg outlet
christian louboutin shoes
oakley sunglasses
201612.8wengdongdong

2:23 a.m.  
Anonymous Location de voiture said...

This post is really a good one it assists new internet users, who are wishing
in favor of blogging.

5:01 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

atlanta falcons jersey
baltimore ravens jerseys
jerseys wholesale
yeezy shoes
moncler jackets
cheap nike shoes
oakley sunglasses
coach outlet online
pandora jewelry
texans jerseys

2:43 a.m.  
Blogger valentantonova said...

Object detection and also safety and strikingly.com/ security detection mean it Click Here can work around furnishings Ideal essential oil diffuser reviews and also remain free from stairways.

11:17 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

If you are looking for blogrip.com/ a comprehensive list that details which walkers are Read More a cut over the rest, then this is the ideal area the seat is Best Baby Walkers in 2017 Reviews detachable and device washable, assisting you tidy up swiftly.

7:56 a.m.  
Anonymous PersonalInjury said...

A lot of serial killers have a noted history with mental illness. I wouldn't doubt that head injuries have led to these types of conditions, which of course could apply to a lot of these criminals. Definitely some possible causation there I'm sure.

7:16 p.m.  
Anonymous Location de voiture casablanca said...

I have been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.

6:45 p.m.  
Anonymous Location de voiture casablanca said...

This is the perfect web site for everyone who would like to understand
this topic. You realize so much its almost tough to argue
with you (not that I really will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new
spin on a subject that's been discussed for decades. Great stuff, just great!

7:21 p.m.  
Anonymous Location de voiture casablanca said...

Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I've really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I'll be subscribing for your feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!

1:09 p.m.  
Anonymous location de voiture au maroc said...

Nice information, valuable and excellent design, as share good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information and inspiration. Thanks for the great information. And thanks for sharing

3:32 p.m.  
Blogger chenlili said...

coach outlet store online
mont blanc pens
giuseppe zanotti sneakers
coach outlet online
ugg boots
pandora
michael kors outlet clearance
fitflops sale clearance
coach outlet
polo ralph lauren
shenyuhang20180423

5:55 a.m.  
Anonymous hamachi replacement for gaming said...

The upside is that there are low pings and high security. One thing to be noted is the way that while Hamachi can be utilized to play any LAN amusement over the web. GameRanger just works with its rundown of upheld recreations. hamachi replacement for gaming

8:16 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

www0608

reebok outlet store
ferragamo shoes
tods outlet
cartier jewelry
cheap jordans
kate spade outlet
adidas outlet
yeezy boost 350
cheap jordans
champion clothing

2:40 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

www0703

kappa clothing
coach canada
coach outlet
tory burch outlet
christian louboutin outlet
le coq sportif shoes
burberry outlet
michael kors
ugg outlet
michael kors outlet











8:14 a.m.  
Anonymous Triathlon Swimsuit Online said...

For the individuals who are fit and love the test of various games, Triathlon Swimsuit can be the ideal answer. Triathlons incorporate running, biking and my undisputed top choice swimming. In the event that this is your first swimming triathlon, there are a couple of things you have to know. Triathlon Swimsuit Online

2:19 p.m.  
Blogger qqqqqq said...

0822jejeVous asics pas cher femme pourriez voir dans cette mise en place beaucoup de souffrances asics gel femme running soldes du genre de douleur obtenir une excellente basket air max femme nike tn réduction avec l'activité de la flânerie. Maintenant, air jordan eclipse france comme nous le savons tous, baskets adidas gazelle soldes Nike est le fournisseur le plus important de chaussures nike homme amazon chaussures et de vêtements de sport. soldes nike blazer low Les producteurs de "Justified" donnent ce air jordan 1 france style de Stetson à toutes leurs stars invitées.

2:42 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

your article is very informative But my product a Essential oils really have many uses! I too started using them basically for aromatherapy. Eventually, they became part of my skin and beauty care. but my product relevant to your post so essential oils is for complete Hair and Skin Care check my site for Essential Oil in Pakistan

1:31 p.m.  
Blogger mohamed said...



تركيب حجر بالرياض
محل ورق حائط بالرياض
مجالس تراث بالرياض

8:29 a.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

www1011



ralph lauren polo
tory burch outlet
ray ban sunglasses
moncler outlet
adidas clothing
moncler outlet
james harden shoes
hogan shoes
coach outlet online
jordan shoes

6:46 a.m.  
Anonymous Obat Pengapuran Otak pada Anak said...

This article is interesting and useful. Thank you for sharing. And let me share an article about health that God willing will be very useful. Thank you :)


Cara Mengatasi Mata Bengkak
Obat Herpes Zoster

6:15 a.m.  
Anonymous Cara Mengobati Sakit Pinggang said...

artikelnya memberikan pelajaran sekali akan pentingnya menjaga dari barang yang merusak.

Cara Mengobati Benjolan di leher
Cara Mengobati Penyakit Typus
Penyebab Kulit Tangan Mengelupas
Obat Mata Juling Alami
Obat Kanker Rahim Paling Ampuh
Obat Gatal Berair di Ketiak

2:33 a.m.  
Anonymous Obat Sakit Dada paling Ampuh said...

Very interesting article, thank you for sharing. I also want to share the following health articles, God willing, useful. Thank you :)

Cara Cepat Menghilangkan Wajah Kusam
Pengobatan Alami Nyeri Tumit
De Lemon Original

3:36 a.m.  
Blogger yanmaneee said...

adidas pure boost
kobe 11
nike max
air max 270
hermes online shop
nike foamposite
kd 11
hermes belt
michael kors outlet
fila

7:57 a.m.  
Blogger lamiss ibrahim said...

I definitely love this site.
http://prokr.inube.com/
https://www.docdroid.net/NGHQuvv/shrkat-nkl-athath-oaafsh-bbryd.docx
https://broker5577.wixsite.com/prokr/blog/
https://www.prokr.net/ksa/jeddah-water-leaks-detection-isolate-companies/

11:23 a.m.  

Post a Comment

<< Home