inability to control anger once provoked, mood swings, terrible problems with stress control, violence and antisocial behaviour, all aligned with the high risk of becoming violent which is evident in Arthur’s behaviour.
Mr Shawcross was certainly born to kill – and then he learned to kill.
THE DOMINO EFFECT?
Faulty genes, an XYY chromosome disorder, kryptopyrrole the ‘hidden fiery oil’, a wrongly ‘wired-up’ hypothalamus; it appears each, or any combination of the these, may lie as the root cause of antisocial behaviour and, as the recent study by the scientists at King’s College London suggests, may mean that we are spawning even more psychopaths and, therefore, breeding Evil.
Perhaps there is a very strong argument to suggest that many of us are born to kill. Is there really a ‘demon seed’ in our genes, our DNA or chromosomes? Science seems to be proving that this ‘demon seed’ does exist. But even if it does exist, for it to nurture from nature other external and social disorientations and adverse influences have to be in place before a fully-emerged serial killer explodes on society.
FBI HIGH RISK REGISTER
Of the thirteen ‘family background characteristics’ the FBI have found to adversely affect a child’s later behaviour, the serial killer that fulfilled most of the criteria was Fred West. By the FBI’s calculations, Fred West would have come very close to the top of their High Risk Register with a staggering score of 92.3 per cent.
Fred would have tick-boxed: psychiatric history, criminal history, sexual problems, physical abuse, psychological abuse, dominant father figure aligned with negative relationships with both his natural mother and father. He had been treated unfairly, had suffered head trauma, and because other members of his family – mother, father, Fred’s brother John and son Steven – all committed sex crimes, we may well assume that they all carried the demon seed.
In comparison with West, Donald ‘Pee Wee’ Gaskins hit 100 per cent. Henry Lee Lucas, one of the most notorious serial murderers in criminal history, also scores 100 per cent. Aileen Wournos notches 84.5 per cent, while Jeffrey Dahmer comes further down the ‘High Risk Register’ at a mere 61.5 per cent. Myra Hindley scored just 30.77 per cent with Ian Brady at a surprisingly low 15 per cent.
BORN TO KILL, BRED TO KILL, TAUGHT TO KILL, TRAINED TO KILL?
Theodore Robert Bundy ‘learned’ to kill because he was bright and wanted to become a more competent hunter, just like all serial killers evolve and become proficient at what they do in order to be more effective and evade apprehension.
Those that are ‘trained’ to kill are a different matter altogether. Unlike killers such as Ted Bundy, the initial choice to kill does not come from within but is stimulated by an external source such as a mentor, family member, friend or an institution such as the army. There are just two killers in this book that we can show to have been legally trained to kill, namely John Allen Muhammad and Dr Harold Shipman. Muhammad was, of course, trained as a US soldier to protect his country and kill if ordered to do so. Dr Shipman enjoyed a medical education and on qualifying as a doctor swore by the Hippocratic Oath to care for the sick and save life.
Serial killers, spree killers and mass murderers are the dark stars of modern culture. Luring victims to their death, they often act out extreme sadistic urges, and lack any ability to empathise with the suffering of their victims. Many of the faces in Born to Kill? are familiar, others are not, yet they all have one thing in common. They are all killers. Furthermore, they have all been extensively studied and analysed: we know what they did, and how they did it. By opening up the Nature v Nurture debate we now want to ask: What made them act that way? In Born to Kill? we investigate the paths these serial killers took from childhood to adulthood and uncover the factors that created these monsters of humanity.
As a basic guide, it seems that the whole serial killer’s edifice is precariously balanced on pillars of denial, splitting, projection, rationalization and projective identification. Narcissistic injuries – life crises, such as abandonment, divorce, financial difficulties, incarceration and public opprobrium – can bring the whole thing tumbling down. The narcissist cannot afford to be rejected, spurned, insulted, hurt, resisted, criticized or disagreed with. Likewise, the serial killer is trying desperately to avoid a painful relationship with his object of desire. He is terrified of being abandoned or humiliated, exposed for what he is and then discarded.
This book contains fascinating testimony about the early years of these killers, investigates common patterns in their development, visits the scenes of their crimes and gives information from investigating officers and TV and press coverage, which contributes to the efforts of professional profilers as they attempt to uncover the probable cause, and effect, that led these often normal children to turn into some of the most infamous killers the world has seen.
It is also interesting to note that similar early childhood behaviours are common in most serial killers. According to Robert Ressler, an FBI profiler and author of several books, including Whoever Fights Monsters, potential killers became solidified in their loneliness from the ages of eight to twelve. ‘Such isolation is considered the single most important aspect of their psychological makeup,’ he writes, adding, ‘Loneliness and isolation do not always mean that the potential killers are introverted and shy; some are, but others are gregarious with other men, and are good talkers. The outward orientation of the latter masks their inner isolation.’ In addition, Ressler also notes that of all the serial killers he has ever studied, at least 60 per cent of them had wet the bed.
Each case study in this book follows the path of the individual from the cradle to – where applicable – the grave. We look at the parents, siblings, schooling and any form of mental and physical trauma they may have suffered – specifically head injuries – and other adverse factors that might have turned normally ordinary children into monsters. We also examine each killer’s psychopathology to discover if they all had low self-esteem and fragile egos. Without exception, they are all true sociopathic personalities, living in a world of self-denial, never at fault themselves. In their world, it is always someone else who is to blame.
‘I just can’t begin to describe him as a human being. I don’t think that Milat had the feelings of a human being.’
Ian Clarke, father of victim Caroline Clarke
AT THE TIME of his arrest, Ivan Milat was Australia’s worst serial killer. From 1989–1992 he abducted, robbed and sexually molested, tortured and murdered seven backpackers and left their bodies in the Belanglo Forest, South of Sydney. Did the harsh environment Milat grew up in put him on the inevitable path to murder, or was he born to kill?
Short, dark and wiry, with a penetrating gaze – all traits he shared with Fred West – and sporting throughout his killing years a thick ‘macho-man’ moustache, Milat was every inch the Australian outback man. Hardy, independent and self-sufficient, these were all qualities that also served to make Milat a tough, ruthless loner who slaughtered his prey with a degree of sadism shocking even to those who study serial killers closely.
For many, Australia is a land promising adventure and excitement. Young people especially flock to it from around the world, eager to explore its beaches, forests,
