I would like to make a comment on the Hughes email to Travis. Clearly it doesn't sit well with many that the Hughes' said things that seemed critical of Travis and his personal life. I suspect the Hughes' regret that they "wrote" this email now but at the time they never expected their words to be taken out of context, nor did they ever imagine that this private exchange would be used to malign, smear, or defile their friend in such a vile manner. To me this is a cautionary tale about the far reaching impact of electronic communication, and being diligent about how and what you choose to communicate with the written word. It is an unfortunate fact that there are those who will twist and bastardize the written word in most dishonest and loathesome ways to serve selfish and base motives.
At the time of these email exchanges it is abundantly clear that the Hughes' had no idea what they were dealing with in JA. Her powerful manipulation was lost on them, they had zero awareness of the psychopathic tendencies that lived beneath the charming, manipulative mask JA chose to present to world. They were played--as most people are when it comes to BPD females who use self-victimization, gaslighting, normalizing and triagulation to ingratiate themselves with others. Hell, even trained professionals are often frustrated, manipulated and overwhelmed by those who suffer from BPD. And just for the record BPD rarely stands alone, it often co-occurs with other mental health disorders. In fact, all research shows that as high as 50% of those diagnosed with BPD are also diagnosed with NPD or ASPD as well.
What I took away from hearing this information was how much they must have loved Travis to be honest with their friend to such an extent, and while their personal, cultural and spiritual values were clearly present in their tone and message, what was also very clear was their love for their friend. JMO but I have come to believe the greatest act of love and loyalty is having the courage to be honest with those they love. It is not an easy thing to do.
And to be honest I cringed hearing how this personal communication between very close friends was disected and spun by Nurmi in an effort to prove that Travis' murderer's life is worth saving. This is where Juan needs to turn the tables and expose who the true victim was. The Dr.'s very own words should be carefully and skillfully used to reveal the truth and show that Travis was the victim of a BPD disordered woman with deeply disturbing anti-social, narcissitic traits; and it was in fact Travis' early childhood exposure to abuse and neglect that left him unprepared and ill equipped to see JA's true self until it was too late. It is my belief that the state should elicit from a professional that MEN are actually the true silent sufferers of abuse--their abuse in childhood is rarely reported or even acknowledged, and as far as being a victim of stalkers or DV it is almost never acknowledged or accepted by either the victim or law enforcement.
Based on what was tweeted from the courtroom, it is my contention that what happened today could turn out to be a very bad decision on the part of the DT. They opened the door about abuse and its long term effects on those who have experienced it. As the good Dr. said Travis suffered "worse" abuse than Jodi yet he wasn't periodically unemployed, he did not stalk people, he didn't vandalize her property, he never raised a hand to any female in his life, he had zero history of violating the privacy of any women or friends, he didn't follow any of his ex's around, watch them with others or disingenuously ingratiate himself into the lives and relationships of her friends or family...Oh and yeah, he didn't premeditatedly plan and carry out her murder. Jodi, who according to the defense's own expert suffered less abuse yet has a proven history of repeatedly enaging in all of these things and more.
Juan surely has his work cut out for him and the slope will be extremely slippery, but he has the opportunity to make a very strong case that Travis was the one who suffered abuse both in early childhood and at the hands of Jodi.
