JLM: What Do We Know About Him? - #2

[LG3]

Very thoughtful of you.

They're grieving. They have to go through the stages. Denial and withdrawal then anger then bargaining then depression then acceptance.

We (as a society) have to help them, particularly through the depression part. Be there for them. This is not their fault, and they are victims, too.

I completely agree. It's very much a grieving process for them, and they're dealing with trauma along with the grief. I reached out and commented on the friend's post, saying I know it must be very traumatic for him and that I'm so sorry. Clearly, JM had everyone fooled.

 

[human]

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/m....html?_r=4&src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=all&

Then last spring, the psychologist treating Michael referred his parents to Dan Waschbusch, a researcher at Florida International University. Following a battery of evaluations, Anne and Miguel were presented with another possible diagnosis: their son Michael might be a psychopath.

One day last summer, Anne and her husband, Miguel, took their 9-year-old son, Michael, to a Florida elementary school for the first day of what the family chose to call “summer camp.” For years, Anne and Miguel have struggled to understand their eldest son, an elegant boy with high-planed cheeks, wide eyes and curly light brown hair, whose periodic rages alternate with moments of chilly detachment. Michael’s eight-week program was, in reality, a highly structured psychological study — less summer camp than camp of last resort.

For the past 10 years, Waschbusch has been studying “callous-unemotional” children — those who exhibit a distinctive lack of affect, remorse or empathy — and who are considered at risk of becoming psychopaths as adults.
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Ugh.

Seems like the children do something, parent responds in not a good way and so it goes.

There has been research done on parents responding to infant's cues and what happens if they do not pick up on them.

A lot of parents feel children should act a certain way and when they don't , the conflict arises.

Kind of like with Hadden because his mother wished him to be a girl.

I wonder if the mother drank while pregnant as well.

The family of the inventor of Bakelite was crazy as well.

We need parenting skills to be taught in school.

 

[razzledazzle]

OMG! Yes , it is the parent's fault!!!!

Funny you should say that....and politically incorrect, I might add but in the case of serial killers.... often true. Just this week my 8th grade son was given an assignment to choose an Edgar Allen Poe fictional story and do a presentation of a non fiction element of the story. He chose "The Tell Tale Heart" and is researching the psychological make up of a murderer.

He found that while the majority of those that have committed murder do not have a mental illness, serial killers almost always suffer some type of psychopathy brought on by childhood trauma. Sad but true, and believe I read somewhere that JM has a family that has had some type of sex charges.

How's that for some kitchen table talk with a 13 year old?

 

[ksj3]

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/08/brain-matters-morality - Beyond Good And Evil: New Science Casts Light On Morality In The Brain

It's the age-old debate of nature versus nurture. Likely a bit of both at play, in most everything that makes us humans so unique from the rest of the animals.

 

[ksj3]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/s...cle_a78d0cea-42dd-5524-b080-d298f0ad9b07.html - Police want to talk to manager of taxi service that employed Matthew.

I dare say this article is relevant to what we know about JM.

 

[Emaa]

I think JLM probably did like to fish, putter around outdoors, etc. But I don't see him as this great outdoorsman or even much of a camper. He appears to care too much for his creature comforts to rough it for any length of time. I think whatever he knows about the woods and wilderness around Charlottesville comes from growing up there and probably partying, etc.

JMO

 

[ksj3]

I think JLM probably did like to fish, putter around outdoors, etc. But I don't see him as this great outdoorsman or even much of a camper. He appears to care too much for his creature comforts to rough it for any length of time. I think whatever he knows about the woods and wilderness around Charlottesville comes from growing up there and probably partying, etc.

Well, we know he was a member of the Outdoor Club in HS.

If he's MH's perp, he obviously knew that area well enough (including the obstacles of creek, barbed wire fence).

If he's CM's perp, she was in dense woods.

Coy Barefoot told CNN "Everyone I've talked to says the UVA suspect knows the woods better than anyone." https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/519242760852103169

We know he liked to fish.

He might not be a camper, but he appears to know the woods.

 

[human]

Do they allow smoking in jail?

I so wish that his desires can be thwarted in jail so he is willing to talk for a cig or a shower.

 

[WhitegateGirl]

This is just a hunch--but it has been niggling inside my brain a lot so I thought I'd share.

It appears from anyone who has spoken out about knowing JM, that they don't really hang out with him or anything. Most people have talked about knowing him from his younger days. Most all have said that he was a gentle giant, or someone akin to "Of Mice and Men's" Lenny character.

However, nobody has come forward to say--"Oh, JM and I are always going fishing together" or "LJ and I go to the movies sometimes" , etc.

I suppose I am trying to say that I don't think JM really has any close friendships these days. Sure, he sees familiar faces in the crowds where he goes out to drink and party, but I haven't heard of anyone claiming to be his best friend.

I could be totally wrong and his good friends are just in total disbelieving shock at the things they are now learning about JM.

What do you all think? Does he have any real friends? Not just work and past school mate acquaintances. Real friends who know his favorite hangouts in the woods? If so, they may well be of help in finding Hannah.

Very interesting observations, Moonchime. I hadn't thought of it that way, yet the minute I read your words I recognized the accuracy of the observation. Behind the cheery, brash, impulsive guy who was known at local nightspots in the mall area for smiling, hi-fiving, and being too-touchy-feely with girls he didn't know, was apparently the typical antisocial loner that serial killers are often described as after the fact.

 

[ChiaPet]

I'm hoping more of his friends will talk to LE about how JM was when he was younger as they process what their friend may have been involved with the last few years.

 

[human]

Very interesting observations, Moonchime. I hadn't thought of it that way, yet the minute I read your words I recognized the accuracy of the observation. Behind the cheery, brash, impulsive guy who was known at local nightspots in the mall area for smiling, hi-fiving, and being too-touchy-feely with girls he didn't know, was apparently the typical antisocial loner that serial killers are often described as after the fact.

We know he had a gf of 4 years.

He had rommmates.

Some minister spent time with him.

My hubby said bar buddies are drinking buddies and that is a whole different thing. Bar buddies are not really friends.

So maybe he does have people he had another life with. The religious JLM.


So many different faces, I feel.

 

[LG3]

Do they allow smoking in jail?

I so wish that his desires can be thwarted in jail so he is willing to talk for a cig or a shower.

As far as I know, cigarettes are not permitted in jail. Jail is treated like a holding cell, where such "rights" are not granted. There's no privacy, there's no right to smoking, etc. Once the suspect is tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison - then the prison determines whether cigarettes for inmates are allowed. They are completely at the mercy of the state. Some prisons allowed for smoking, but as of recently, it has been banned in Virginia state prisons. Since jail is a holding state before sentencing, it's even less likely they would allow smoking. Jail is usually worse for new offeners . Once they're in prison, depending on which prison they're at, they may be able to smoke cigarettes, use the bathroom privately, have exercise and time alone. But while just sitting in jail, as far as I know, no way are they allowed to smoke cigarettes unless it's perhaps an arranged deal with their lawyers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061502330.html

 

[Heroine]

As far as I know, cigarettes are not permitted in jail. Jail is treated like a holding cell, where such "rights" are not granted. There's no privacy, there's no right to smoking, etc. Once the suspect is tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison - then the prison determines whether cigarettes for inmates are allowed. They are completely at the mercy of the state. Some prisons allowed for smoking, but as of recently, it has been banned in Virginia state prisons. Since jail is a holding state before sentencing, it's even less likely they would allow smoking. Jail is usually worse for new offeners . Once they're in prison, depending on which prison they're at, they may be able to smoke cigarettes, use the bathroom privately, have exercise and time alone. But while just sitting in jail, as far as I know, no way are they allowed to smoke cigarettes unless it's perhaps an arranged deal with their lawyers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061502330.html

This is accurate. I'll be honest my brother is in jail right now and he can't smoke and he's a smoker.

 

[WhitegateGirl]

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/m....html?_r=4&src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=all&

Then last spring, the psychologist treating Michael referred his parents to Dan Waschbusch, a researcher at Florida International University. Following a battery of evaluations, Anne and Miguel were presented with another possible diagnosis: their son Michael might be a psychopath.

One day last summer, Anne and her husband, Miguel, took their 9-year-old son, Michael, to a Florida elementary school for the first day of what the family chose to call “summer camp.” For years, Anne and Miguel have struggled to understand their eldest son, an elegant boy with high-planed cheeks, wide eyes and curly light brown hair, whose periodic rages alternate with moments of chilly detachment. Michael’s eight-week program was, in reality, a highly structured psychological study — less summer camp than camp of last resort.

For the past 10 years, Waschbusch has been studying “callous-unemotional” children — those who exhibit a distinctive lack of affect, remorse or empathy — and who are considered at risk of becoming psychopaths as adults.
<sniped - read more>

Foxfire, thank you SO much for posting the link to this gripping article! I just spent the last hour reading not just the article but also all the letters written in response to it. It really is one of the most fascinating--and chilling--pieces I've read in a long time, and so very informative. I recommend it to anyone here with an interest in the criminal mind and the behavioral puzzles that lie behind such criminality. What a helpless feeling it must be for a mother like the one in this article to realize she is raising a psychopath when he's still just a tiny child. Thanks again for the link.

 

[WhitegateGirl]

We know he had a gf of 4 years.

He had rommmates.

Some minister spent time with him.

My hubby said bar buddies are drinking buddies and that is a whole different thing. Bar buddies are not really friends.

So maybe he does have people he had another life with. The religious JLM.

So many different faces, I feel.

I see your point, human--and yet it seems to me that the person who had those acquaintances and associates was a fake, a poseur, while the real JLM, the guy who was apparently a rapist/killer was a complete recluse, isolated in his sick and seamy world of one.

 

[zapped]

http://wtvr.com/2014/10/09/exclusiv...taxi-driver-night-morgan-harrington-vanished/

Quote:

Those close to Matthew in 2009 when Harrington disappeared, told CBS 6 News that they informed investigators that they would joke with their former co-worker that he resembled a sketch of the man linked to a 2005 rape in Fairfax &#8212; and the man linked to Harrington. They said Matthew would at times brush it off. But at other times, they said Matthew would get visibly upset and disappear for hours.

What kind of people joke about something like that? Seriously.

I dont find the fact that a woman was subjected to needless violence, and rape, funny at all. Nor do I find the fact that they simply brushed off JLMs astonishing resemblance to the man portrayed in the sketch as a simple joke.

They knew they were in the wrong as well and simply chalked his disappearances up as righteous indignation.

If they had reported this to the police like decent, law abiding human beings this thread might not even exist right now.

JMO of course.

 

[zapped]

That's one of those things that looks creepy in retrospect- clearly no one thought it was very concerning at the time.

I've never killed anyone obviously, but if my friends kept repeatedly joking that I looked like a rapist serial killer, I'd getting pretty flipping p*ssed too. Actually if someone repeatedly joked that I looked like a rapist I wouldn't just disappear for hours- I'd disappear ie drop out of their *life*.

IMO that's really not a funny thing to joke about and really speaks to the character of these so-called friends. No wonder they're saying he's a wonderful gentle giant -- they think it's funny to repeatedly joke that someone looks like a rapist.

I couldnt agree more. If one of my co-workers was 'teasing" me (and by that I mean bullying me) about my resemblance to a rapist theyd find themselves flat on their backs wondering how they got there........ or I would be out of job........ or both.

Some things should never be joked about and thats one of them

His "friends" sound like drug users or people who are absent a moral compass IMO.

 

[zapped]

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/m....html?_r=4&src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=all&

Then last spring, the psychologist treating Michael referred his parents to Dan Waschbusch, a researcher at Florida International University. Following a battery of evaluations, Anne and Miguel were presented with another possible diagnosis: their son Michael might be a psychopath.

One day last summer, Anne and her husband, Miguel, took their 9-year-old son, Michael, to a Florida elementary school for the first day of what the family chose to call &#8220;summer camp.&#8221; For years, Anne and Miguel have struggled to understand their eldest son, an elegant boy with high-planed cheeks, wide eyes and curly light brown hair, whose periodic rages alternate with moments of chilly detachment. Michael&#8217;s eight-week program was, in reality, a highly structured psychological study &#8212; less summer camp than camp of last resort.

For the past 10 years, Waschbusch has been studying &#8220;callous-unemotional&#8221; children &#8212; those who exhibit a distinctive lack of affect, remorse or empathy &#8212; and who are considered at risk of becoming psychopaths as adults.
<sniped - read more>

I was married to a social worker for 7 years. One night she told me a persons name, that wont be repeated here unless hes charged with a violent crime or involved in a missing persons case.

My Ex violated confidentiality to do so but I think the horror she experienced was something that she just couldnt internalize on her own.

She had a master degree in social work and was one of the most tolerant people I've ever known (she had to be in her profession) yet he told me this 8 year old kids name and told me to remember it because I would see him on the news one day being arrested as a violent psychopath.

He stabbed his six year old brother with a knife and almost killed him, tortured animals for fun and tried to set his mother on fire with lighter fluid while she was sleeping.

When my wife asked him why he did these things he said "Because I like to see things(not people) hurt and scared, and then he looked at her with eyes that she said "chilled her to her very core and made her afraid for her life".....all from an 8 year old child.

The kids mother, his uncle and his environment ALL passed numerous visits and close scrutiny from multiple agencies and according to my wife he had no reason to act out like he did at all.

Lending credence to the theory that psychopaths are born and not the product (at least not solely) of their environment and circumstance IMO.

**My wife stopped seeing the kid after that session, in fact she refused to ever go back again, while her agency referred the family to a specialist in aberrant childhood behavior. ***Ive often wondered how many other therapist and agencies did the same thing.

 

[ChiaPet]

What kind of people joke about something like that? Seriously.

I dont find the fact that a woman was subjected to needless violence, and rape, funny at all. Nor do I find the fact that they simply brushed off JLMs astonishing resemblance to the man portrayed in the sketch as a simple joke.

They knew they were in the wrong as well and simply chalked his disappearances up as righteous indignation.

If they had reported this to the police like decent, law abiding human beings this thread might not even exist right now.

JMO of course.

They joked about it and didn't go to the authorities because, most likely, he didn't come across as someone who might be a rapist to his coworkers. Plus, its also weird to turn in a coworker for something like rape if the sketch could be any black male with facial hair. That sketch did IMO look a lot like JM but if I worked with him and he didn't display that type of behavior I probably wouldn't assume that it was him. I'd probably just tell myself that I was wrong because who wants to suspect your coworker or friend is actually a criminal?

 

[FindHG]

They joked about it and didn't go to the authorities because, most likely, he didn't come across as someone who might be a rapist to his coworkers. Plus, its also weird to turn in a coworker for something like rape if the sketch could be any black male with facial hair. That sketch did IMO look a lot like JM but if I worked with him and he didn't display that type of behavior I probably wouldn't assume that it was him. I'd probably just tell myself that I was wrong because who wants to suspect your coworker or friend is actually a criminal?

It may be possible that most people naturally want to see the good in others. This predator may have had the capacity to pull off the pouting or happy simpleton act, easy to write off.