Bessie,
I certainly enjoyed this article. Thanks for posting the link.
Responding to excerpts:
Excerpts from Generalized Characteristics of Serial Murderers
The hedonistic type kills for the thrill of it. Killers simply enjoy the act of killing. Sexual arousal is common with this type of murder. Finally the power-oriented type kills because he enjoys exerting ultimate control over his victims. These murderers are not psychotic, but they are obsessed with capturing and controlling their victims and forcing them to obey their every command.
IMO: McD is a combination of these two types. Hedonistic type substantiated by the fact that he had a murder plan as stated in the warrant and the premise was a lust murder. Power-oriented exhibited by planning, entering Lauren’s apt, and taking complete and final control of Lauren.
Every single one of the murderers were subjected to serious emotional abuse during their childhoods. All of them developed into what psychiatrists label as sexually dysfunctional adults, unable to sustain a mature, consensual relationship with another adult.
IMO: Emotional abuse is exhibited in many forms. Due to WS rules, I cannot state in detail the form of emotional abuse that I believe McD experienced growing up. However, I believe we can get a glimpse into his childhood by the type of published religious discussion Glenda had with her adopted grandchildren ages 6 to 10, as stated in the article link below on page 2. If the parents’ message is too dominate, negative, and strict the child often finds a means to please the parent by presenting an angelic facade to the parents, while at the same time, develops a covert pattern of behavior to void following rules in order to do what he pleases.
A Closer Look at Stephen McDaniel http://www.macon.com/2011/08/07/1657322_p2/man-on-the-street-how-fledgling.html
[First of all, there is no such thing as the person who at age 35 suddenly changes from being perfectly normal and erupts into totally disruptive, murderous behavior. The behaviors that are precursors to murder have been present and developing in that person's life for a very long time, since childhood.
IMO: McD exhibited some unusual social behaviors as discussed upstream. I won’t repeat them. I consider some of those behaviors red flags and as a parent I would have addressed those behaviors with my child. McD’s behaviors did not happen overnight. It took years for his behavior to culminate on the night of June 25th.
These children grew up in an environment in which their own actions were ignored, where there were no limits set on their behavior. The task of the first half-dozen years of life is socialization. Those who grow up to murder never truly comprehended the world in other than egocentric terms.
IMO: Again, I suppose it is against WS rules for me to state what I really think here.
Suffice it to say: Parents must hold their children accountable for their behavior. When a parent ignores unacceptable behavior and makes excuses for their child, the child grows up believing they can get away with anything, and believes he can beat the system in his egocentric world.
By the time a normal youngster is participating in an active social life, the loner is turning in on himself and developing fantasies that are deviant. The fantasies are substitutes for more positive human encounters, and as the adolescent becomes more dependent on them, he loses touch with acceptable social values. All the murderers knew that they had not had normal relationships, and they resented not having them; it was this resentment that fueled their aggressive, murderous behavior.
IMO: McD’s loner behavior has been witnessed and confirmed by those who knew him. The absence of interaction with others and McD’s lack of ability to develop relationships is a major contributor to his horrific attack on Lauren.
The deviant person, having had very few true restraints on his behavior since childhood, believes he can act out his fantasy and that nobody will be able to stop him. The offender's commitment to the fantasies deepens as he becomes a loner in adolescence, subject to the onset of puberty and sexual arousal. Aggressive, and with a feeling of having been cheated by society, he may channel his hostility into fantasies, which are characterized by strong visual components, and by themes of dominance, revenge, molestation, manipulation, and control. The other person is depersonalized, made into an "object". Deviants feel the sexual urge without having learned that it hast anything to do with affection.
IMO: The fact that McD had a plan for committing murder and getting away with it is a huge fantasy that deepened. Lauren became the object of his sexual urge absent any affection.
Only later, after many violent acts, will he come to believe that he is invincible and will never be caught. Things have been building up to a point where the potential murderer is ready to commit his violent act, and then a possible victim (usually especially vulnerable) appears and the potential murderer becomes an actual one.
IMO: We do not know of any other violent acts by McD. All we know is he had the master key and Lauren’s key. He did steal from the apartments. However, this is the first time he had gotten caught burglarizing. McD does not have a record. Lauren stated in the conversation with her sister, Kaitlyn, that “if McD was dangerous that she would be the only one who was safe”, inferring that she had been nice to him and that he liked her. Considering Lauren’s physical location, i.e., next door, and the fact that she believed she was safe made her the ‘unusually especially vulnerable’ person.
Then, the threshold has been crossed; the point of no return is passed. He is probably frightened and thrilled, has experienced a state of heightened arousal and liked it. After a few days, still on the loose, he might feel bad and try to control his impulses. More usually, the man starts to feel more egocentric than ever and becomes convinced that he can do it again without getting arrested.
IMO: After the murder, McD was calm and confident enough to show up for 2 of the 4 classes. He missed Monday because he was very busy with the murder cleanup. He missed Thursday because he knew LE would be showing up, and he wanted to be around for that. Otherwise, no one noticed anything out of the ordinary with McD. He was confident during the interview explaining how he had heard nothing and that Lauren was just gone, snatched while running. Imagine how egocentric you would have to be to remain calm and collected in this situation. I cannot. But his ego was huge at this point. He was so confident that he wasn’t even worried about LE finding the torso even though the BH grounds were crawling with LE. He was so confident that he placed himself on camera helping direct the investigation. At this point, he was convinced that his mission was accomplished… until Michelle Quesada informed him a body had been discovered which of course changed the course of events.
He incorporates details of the first murder into his fantasies and begins to construct future crimes. Now, in subsequent crimes, the life stresses that preceded the first murder may not need to be present. The next victim will probably be more carefully sought out, the murder more expertly done, the place further away and displaying more violence to the victim than was evident in the first crime. Then, the murderer will become a serial killer.
IMO: If the body had not been found, McD would have fulfilled this last excerpt of the article.
Lauren would have been the beginning of his killing career.
Generalized Characteristics of Serial Murderers
http://www.criminalprofiling.ch/character.html
