Hi Sleuths,
First time poster here.
Like many of you here, I too have a keen interest/obsession with true crime and have followed cases from the Claremont killer to the bodies in the barrel and East area rapist. I've listened to podcasts from True crime garage to Casefile and everything in between. Documentary's from the Ted Bundy Tapes to HBO Iceman interviews. True crime has fascinated me for over 10 years. I can't get enough!
Question: Does Patrick Stephensons profile fit the crime?
<modsnip - hearsay\> He's not a highschool dropout. Not an ice addict. No evidence of sexual abuse. No history of violence. No record growing up. Not one blemish with the police. He was involved in a footy club and was quite a player from what i've heard. He has/had a stable long term girlfriend, with no history of domestic violence that's been reported. He's not a loner, infact he often goes camping with his mates. He's travelled overseas with his girlfriend and holds a current A-Class electrical licence and a steady job with his dad.
Was this a crime of insanity? A Cocaine/ketamine/mdma fuelled attack early that morning that started as a chat on his way home and ended up in death. Or did the police just catch a young Bradley Robert Edwards? A young man who has fantasised about this for a long time. If so, the young girl that was attacked 12 months ago may have been Stephensons first attempt.
All speculation of course.
Welcome, Hills.
Insanity. In one sense, every criminal act is one of insanity. Momentary, or long term, or a temporary lapse of judgement, but only a few criminal behaviours earn the label of criminal insanity, , not many meet the criteria of medical insanity, either.
What we do know is, he knew right from wrong, because he has removed the body from where he murdered her and has hidden it. This presupposes the conclusion that he knew what he did, and he didn't want anyone else to know what he did. And, obviously, he still does not want anyone to know what he did to her. So he knows it was wrong / and has consequences.
I don't feel any urge to find excuses for this murder... like cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, fentanyl, alcohol, .. His deportment post killing ( he went to work on the Monday, etc,, he maintained his live in arrangement with his girlfriend without freaking out , he probably joined in the search, he's managed to maintain a superhuman state of silence while on Remand ) does not signify to me anyone coming off a hard addiction to anything.
People do dreadful things, they murder people stone cold, in broad daylight. On a sunny Sunday morning in the AU bush. Birds chirping, trees murrmuring, little grunts of sociable koalas, off in the distance the contented snort of a well fed horse, and here he is under the shade of the gum trees, murdering a woman of 51, a mother, a wife , a business operator, a runner, loved by her family and friends.
I don't know anything about his family life, except it appeared to be stable, and , taking AU stats into the equation, remarkably stable, he is male, white, tall, privately educated, living with mum and dad, who are still married, ( a roof over his head ) girlfriend, close small community, tradesman, earning good money, nice ute, friends, 2 stable fully employed sisters, what the hell was he doing out there killing women? He had all the advantages there are to be had.
Not insane, in any legal sense, and really, in any known clinical sense. Insanity does not come and go, at will. It does not come and go at one's convenience.
He could not be insane for a few minutes that Sunday morning, then snap back into awareness and cool cognisant
mentally perceptive and responsive Patrick and perform the tricky body disposal he obviously did. Then go home for a nice roast lamb dinner, and off to work on Monday.