Here's what I think happened (skip if you do not want to think about it):
CR was prowling around Brooklyn. He saw Mollie, who he had seen jogging before, and drove around the block a couple of times until he got up the nerve to pull up next to her. He rolled down his window and said something crude (blowing kisses, hi hottie, whatever). She either ignored him, said please leave me alone, or started running away. That triggered him and he got angry - he felt disrespected.
I posted about it earlier but many serial killers report feeling an uncontrollable urge to rape, hurt, or kill and it consumes them. I think that's what he really meant by a "blackout."
I think LE will find a history of domestic violence, and likely there are other women who he either tried to assault, or made uncomfortable.
I 100% agree with your theory.
As a young woman in my 20s, I have experienced being
“cat-called” by men or a man in their cars and usually, they're in trucks. The feeling isn’t one of flattery but of
paralyzing fear. I pretend to be on the phone
LOUDLY with “
Dad”.
Some women do not react in fear to being
"cat-called" but one of anger.
- A student feminist activist from my college had responded to a “cat call” by raising the middle finger and shouting “*advertiser censored** you!” and then posted about it online and shared the story in a psychology class I took with her.
- Mollie Tibbetts was also a Psychology major like us, and a proud supporter of #metoo and other injustices on social media. She could have been my best friend.
- It's evident that Mollie had a deep LOVE for people and hurting people.
- Admittedly, I underestimated the "random acts of evil" that goes on in the world and have always felt most crimes were not sensationalized media stories of serial killers on the loose.
- Admittedly, I've over-trusted in the "good" of humanity by being careless in my personal safety as in not always telling people where I'm going, who I'm with, not always giving multiple people the address and contact info of who I'm going out with, not always locking my door. MOM is right, people!
- I've changed now.
I get angry but follow too much True Crime and am instead overcome with the
paralyzing fear and begin to hyperventilate.
I
suspect that the POI has
antisocial personality disorder, possible Intermittent Explosive Disorder AKA "pathological explosive anger" along with possible a history of
impulsive violence that he will claim no personal responsibility over.
A POI with antisocial personality disorder (
possibly even narcissistic tendencies), prone to violence, and one that is impulsive, would NOT take rejection well. He came off as trying to justify his twisted stalking of Mollie in an attempt to act like his '
pathological' impulsiveness was blinding him of reality. I'm very interested in the results of his psych eval.
It is sad that as a society, we as women, have to admit that we are at high risk (compared to men) of being abducted by a sociopathic stranger for sexual motives and that these risks have to dictate how we go about our lives (e.g. time of jogging, not walking home alone at night, watching our drink in public on dates or parties, etc).
Recent personal story: I was walking to a train alone around 8:30 PM in a city from a late meeting to get to the train home. As I was
speed-walking as
FAST as I could, on almost each block there would be men standing around and they would say something to me, try to get me to look them in the eye, hooting & whistling while shouting things like
"Hey baby, what are you doing tonight?". I kept my head down and kept walking as fast as I could while on the phone with a family member. I remember
wishing I had pepper spray on me. I felt so unsafe that I
cried once I got on the train.
Note: It's not about what you look like. I had no make up on and was a sweaty, frazzled, mess that day and had a
grimacing face because of how worried I was being alone. I believe it's about
dominance and
power.
I feel that there are men that take THRILL in making women who are walking/jogging alone feel scared and vulnerable.
As
@Tricia mentioned via the podcast yesterday, I hope that research is done to identify more red flags in preventing more cases like Sierah Joughrin's, Chelsea Bruck's, and Mollie Tibbetts' among countless others over the years.
Questions I have for LE, other Sleuthers, and beyond:
- What are the warning signs of a future "monster"?
- How can a potential serial raper/murderer be identified before committing a crime?
- Should the results of MT's case encourage communities to do something different?
- Should people adjust their safety precautions or create a safety routine? e.g. buy pepper spray, get Fitbit, install GPS on phone, security home cameras, etc?
- Statistically, what is the best way to act if being attacked by a sex offending murder in order to stay alive? Scream, defend, & fight for your life or go along with it and try to "play dumb" to escape, etc? I'd be interested in more research and public discussions on it.
- Can MT's case solve other cold cases?
- How can we, as individuals and a community, change to be safer from predators and future predators that lurk the streets?
- As a _____ (daughter, mother, sister, wife, widow, friend etc) how exactly can I be safer?
