AZ - Timothy Romans, 39, & Vincent Romero, 29, slain, St Johns, 5 Nov 2008 - #1

[Linda7NJ]

We will probably just have to agree to disagree, because I think anyone that is just a weapon and a bad day away from a double homicide is going to kill someone anyway. A knife is a weapon, a baseball bat can become one, your house is filled with things that could be the item used on this "bad day".

And as you can probably guess, I don't agree about video games either. I am of the belief that if your child is an afternoon with video games away from shooting up the school or family residence there are issues in need of much more urgent attention then the gaming industry in your home.

:clap::clap:excellent point!

 

[colette]

No one has discussed the fact that he stayed with the bodies for 30 minutes.

What was he doing?

Maybe waiting for stepmom, until he realizes that she won't step over a dead body to come in the home. Then he thinks up plan B.

 

[southcitymom]

No one has discussed the fact that he stayed with the bodies for 30 minutes.

What was he doing?

Shock and/or waiting for his stepmother.

 

[southcitymom]

We will probably just have to agree to disagree, because I think anyone that is just a weapon and a bad day away from a double homicide is going to kill someone anyway. A knife is a weapon, a baseball bat can become one, your house is filled with things that could be the item used on this "bad day".

And as you can probably guess, I don't agree about video games either. I am of the belief that if your child is an afternoon with video games away from shooting up the school or family residence there are issues in need of much more urgent attention then the gaming industry in your home.

This posts states very well what I have been feeling.

 

[twinkiesmom]

This child lived in culture of violence...police called to the house for domestic disputes...shooting animals with adult shotguns....likely violent video games. I feel sorry for anyone who can not put their gun-related prejudices aside to see that and would rather label this small child as a sociopath.

 

[Linda7NJ]

This child lived in culture of violence...police called to the house for domestic disputes...shooting animals with adult shotguns....likely violent video games. I feel sorry for anyone who can not put their gun-related prejudices aside to see that and would rather label this small child as a sociopath.

culture of violence?

You are certainly assuming a lot, aren't you?

I based my opinion on history as well as what we know. I have no idea if he's a psychopath or not.

what I do know for sure...........

If what you claim lead to this, were truely the cause.............there would be a mountain of dead parents. There isn't.

 

[southcitymom]

This child lived in culture of violence...police called to the house for domestic disputes...shooting animals with adult shotguns....likely violent video games. I feel sorry for anyone who can not put their gun-related prejudices aside to see that and would rather label this small child as a sociopath.

Twinkies,

Your points are well-taken, but I think they really stretch.

I know lots of mothers who would say their 8-year-olds want to play video games nonstop, but that doesn't mean they are playing violent videogames. My 8 year old loves Pokemon and Mariokart. Why do you assume this 8 year old was playing violent videogames?

Many people on this thread have weighed in with personal experiences of being raised around and with and using guns to hunt from a young age. Why do you discount their experiences?

Police called for domestic disputes could be about anything - not necessarily physical abuse.

I personally don't believe that the limited evidence we have indicates that this young child lived in a culture of violence. However, if I accept your theory, how do you explain the fact that so many (ie - the vast majority) who live in a much more well-documented "culture of violence" than <redacted> don't plan and carry out the murder of a parent and another adult at the age of 8?

I ask this from the perspective of someone whose gun-related prejudices probably more closely resemble yours than others on this thread.

 

[mostlylurking]

This child lived in culture of violence...police called to the house for domestic disputes...shooting animals with adult shotguns....likely violent video games. I feel sorry for anyone who can not put their gun-related prejudices aside to see that and would rather label this small child as a sociopath.

Uh...., huh?
Seems like assumptions here.
Where are your documented facts?
I'm a city girl (at least raised that way). Just because a person is raised as a hunter, that does not constitute "culture of violence" as a definition or assumtion. Nor does it allow for "sociopath".

We don't have enough facts in this case to make either case yet. And, it could be neither when it's said and done.

 

[Trino]

This child lived in culture of violence...police called to the house for domestic disputes...shooting animals with adult shotguns....likely violent video games. I feel sorry for anyone who can not put their gun-related prejudices aside to see that and would rather label this small child as a sociopath.

Wow.

The police were called for problems with the first marriage, and it was so long ago they couldn't recall it off-hand.

Likely violent video games? This is what the bio mother said, the same woman who didn't see the boy for 2 1/2 yrs and now only saw him once a month. How would she know what he did?

The boy shot prairie dogs, which is legal in AZ, since they are considered varmin. And, he was accompanied by his father.

Gun related prejudices? I don't own a gun, but I'm not prejudice against those who choose this lifestyle.

IMO an evaluation will reveal problems within the boy.

 

[Reannan]

I just have to weigh in on the fact that by the age of 8, I knew damn well what a gun was capable of doing. I grew up on a farm where we raised our own food - both in the garden and in the stockyard. There was a loaded shotgun behind the door from my earliest memory. I saw the "violence" the gun caused, and I respected the gun enough to NEVER touch it. This child grew up very differently from what I knew.

 

[Trino]

I just have to weigh in on the fact that by the age of 8, I knew damn well what a gun was capable of doing. I grew up on a farm where we raised our own food - both in the garden and in the stockyard. There was a loaded shotgun behind the door from my earliest memory. I saw the "violence" the gun caused, and I respected the gun enough to NEVER touch it. This child grew up very differently from what I knew.

It's sad that guns and weapons have been blamed for what kids do. I can easily remember when every boy in my class carried a pocket knife; my dad, my brothers, and I all had one. The interesting thing was that no one was ever stabbed. We had guns, too, as did our relatives and neighbors, but no one was ever shot.

There are lots of theories about today's more violent prone kids - video games, gangs, drugs, guns, working parents, absentee parents, abuse, lack of role models, poverty, racism - but no real answers. Maybe the answer with this double murder is none of these.

 

[MeoW333]

Perhaps, in that I am fully aware that there are evil psychopathic children capable of murdering. Children that can not be fixed. I also know from personal experience they can present like any other normal, charming, intelligent, caring and kind child. It's a facade, they learn to MIMIC normal emotions. Inside is dark, twisted and ugly. Some are made and some are born.

However, with the 11 yr old.........i could understand why he was the way he was. There was a long history of abuse & neglect and of his being a perpetrator. So you're really trying to compare apples to oranges.

IF this child is a psychopath, it's not difficult to understand why there were no reg flags. He had a fantastic father, that was able to model appropriate behavior and kept him seemingly normal for as long as he did.

Serial killers all start sometime. Around age 10 they all seem to begin to blossom.....maybe this one is a little ahead of the pack

Linda, makes sense what you are saying with the mimic of emotions. I had never thought about it that way. I apologize for coming across as callous towards you in my previous comment.
I am aware that there are children out there who have a loving home yet are still sociopaths/psychopaths.
If he was mimicing his father, than it would be the "mask of sanity" then teachers at school wouldn't have noticed much.
Here's some research on causes (generally speaking not this specific case); nothing set in stone.
We'll all have to wait since the gag order..

 

[~Lisa~]

The Apache County Attorney's Office released this video of the interview with an 8 year old boy who is suspected of the murdering his own father and a man who was staying at the house. This is the first 12 minutes of the police interview.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/3tvextra-index.html?nvid=304550&shu=1

 

[Linda7NJ]

This morning on ABC's morning show they showed part of the child's interview. He was shadowed...but you could hear it. Did anyone else see it? I only caught the tail end.

It was absolutely CHILLING!!! He was cool as a cucumber and lying his little a$$ off

 

[Linda7NJ]

The Apache County Attorney's Office released this video of the interview with an 8 year old boy who is suspected of the murdering his own father and a man who was staying at the house. This is the first 12 minutes of the police interview.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/3tvextra-index.html?nvid=304550&shu=1

:blowkiss:you're the best!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

This morning on ABC's morning show they showed part of the child's interview. He was shadowed...but you could hear it. Did anyone else see it? I only caught the tail end.

It was absolutely CHILLING!!! He was cool as a cucumber and lying his little a$$ off

It was so unnerving. Yes, he was cool as a cucumber........no emotions whatsoever. Just like telling a story at school and when he got caught on something he quickly made up something else.

I did noticed though that he refers to his step mom as 'MOM." He knew she wasn't going to be there for hours.

Chilling.

 

[Linda7NJ]

It was so unnerving. Yes, he was cool as a cucumber........no emotions whatsoever. Just like telling a story at school and when he got caught on something he quickly made up something else.

I did noticed though that he refers to his step mom as 'MOM." He knew she wasn't going to be there for hours.

Chilling.

Ok. Now I am 100% comfortable with the opinion he IS a psychopath. He proved to me he had no idea how to MIMIC appropriate responses to finding someone dead. He had no cues to draw from and his performance fell flat. Affect was all wrong. What I saw....was a cold, detached, remorseless killer.


.....but due to his young age....he's suffering from "conduct disorder"

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Ok. Now I am 100% comfortable with the opinion he IS a psychopath. He proved to me he had no idea how to MIMIC appropriate responses to finding someone dead. He had no cues to draw from and his performance fell flat. Affect was all wrong. What I saw....was a cold, detached, remorseless killer.


.....but due to his young age....he's suffering from "conduct disorder"

Yes, of course Linda and we all know "conduct disorder" is attached when the child is a minor and are really fledgling psychopaths. They just aren't labeled so until they turn 18.

I watched it again. It is scary as hell imo.

imoo

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
I was surprised he refered to his step mother as Mom too.My 8 years old son calls his step mother by her first name.Well,I was very surprised by this interview.This was right after this happened?This is not what I expected at all.I still want to know if something led up to this?I agree he had no emotion.Did they have the psychological test done on him yet?Are they going to make that public?I am very curious of what the crime scene evidence says.Are they going to make that public also?

suzanne

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Hi
I was surprised he refereed to his step mother as Mom too.My 8 years old son calls his step mother by her first name.Well,I was very surprised by this interview.This was right after this happened?I agree he had no emotion.Did they have the psychological test done on him yet?Are they going to make that public?I am very curious of what the crime scene evidence says.Are they going to make that public also.

suzanne

That part didn't surprise me. She had been a constant figure in his life for over 2 years.

When my hubby and I married both my children and his, have always called us "Moma and Daddy". They called their other parents...."Mom and Dad."

imoo