Friday, March 16, 2007

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Will a Psychopath ever change?

Today I walked into the television studio here in Minneapolis to do MSNBC Live Daytime and ran into a grandmother and granddaughter who just finished doing a local news show. The grandma was holding onto a very cute puppy and the teenage girl was wiping her eyes with a tissue. I wondered if a relative had gone missing or had been murdered and I wondered why they had a dog on the show; that was something I had never seen before. Then I heard the story and it made my stomach turn.

One month ago, seventeen-year-old Crystal Brown's dog went missing, a dog who was her best friend. She put fliers up around the neighborhood and hoped someone would bring her pet home to her. Then -

Two weeks ago, a gift-wrapped box was left at the house Crystal shares with her grandmother. The box had batteries on top, and a note that said "Congratulations Crystal. This side up. Batteries included."
Crystal opened the box and found her dog's head inside. The box also contained Valentine's Day candy - Read the full story.

Can you imagine? That poor girl. What a bloody sicko would do such a thing. Well, a psychopathic bloody sicko who probably knew Crystal and loved the movie "Seven" where the police officer gets the head of his wife in a box. They haven't found the creature yet who did this, but what kind of sentence do you think he will get? My guess is he is a juvenile; if we are lucky, he will be over eighteen, if only by a year, so he might actually do some time. Of course, it is "only" a dog, so he won't get much of a sentence and possibly even probation with a little side trip to the shrink for counseling. Oh, joy, joy. I feel so confident that the community will be safe after this demented individual gets a few hours on the couch.

This leads me to the question I am often asked: can a psychopath be rehabilitated? Can this sick person who did this to Crystal and her dog get a little mental health help, change his nature, and become a good and decent citizen? Are you kidding? Think about this! What kind of person kills a dog, cuts it head off and thinks it is funny to give it wrapped up to the teenage owner? I don't know about you, but I don't want to know this person, I don't want to live next to this person, I don't want to hire this person, and.....I can't think of any reason I would ever want to be around this person.

No, he will not change. He is a soulless human being and he will always be one. If we leave him on the streets and don't watch him carefully, the next head that shows up on a doorstep will be a human one.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

1 comment:

Ronni said...

I agree with this, absolutely. It's one of the things we need to pressure lawmakers into taking seriously.

Your work in profiling can help.