04/28/2009 9:25 am
Life
Medical School, a Beautiful Fiancée Not Enough for Philip Markoff, by the Author of Inside the Criminal Mind
Distinguished criminal psychologist and author of Inside the Criminal Mind and The Myth of the Out of Character Crime, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, sheds light on the mind of the accused 'Craigslist Killer'
© AP
As the double life of suspected "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff continues to unfold, wowOwow reached out to the distinguished criminal psychologist, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, author of Inside the Criminal Mind and The Myth of the Out of Character Crime. Based on 40 years of experience and several cases of like-minded criminals, Samenow concludes that the "out of character" crime does not exist and signs of Markoff’s reported behavior likely surfaced before the death of Julissa Brisman. Here, Samenow sheds more light on the mind of an alleged "All-American" killer.
wowOwow: It shocked many when a male came forward today saying he was approached by Philip Markoff. Do you think Philip Markoff sought a certain type of victim?
DR. SAMENOW: More victims may come forward to paint a better picture, but he has mostly targeted people who were not likely to come forward to authorities because they don’t want others to know about their own clandestine activities. He picked women who worked at escort services and suspected prostitutes. These are people who are not likely to serve as informants to law-enforcement agencies.
wOw: Does a man who lives a double life, like what is being reported about Philip Markoff, feel remorse?
Dr. S: It’s very doubtful. Such an individual is sorry he got caught. He has little or no empathy. He is able to shut off considerations of conscience. The perpetrator of such crimes does not regard his victims as human beings. They are individuals to be controlled and to serve his purpose.
wOw: So you don’t think it was guilt that fuelled him when it was reported that he attempted to commit suicide?
Dr. S: I doubt it. When a master controller is now being controlled by others, he may no longer want to live. Life, as he knows it, is over, and his high opinion of himself has collapsed. He has no future. From his standpoint, it is better not to live at all than to live controlled by others.
wOw: Why, while in prison, did he warn his family to move across the country?
Dr. S: I don’t think this has anything to do with remorse about the crimes. Interestingly, people who commit these crimes have very sentimental attachments to their family. They can be both sentimental and brutal. "I can change from tears to ice," an offender told me. The double life that he lived would inevitably prove destructive to his family. But that has not been a consideration until after he was apprehended. How much could a person such as Philip Markoff genuinely care about his family? Can you imagine being the parents of this young man? Your life as a family is never the same. It’s been destroyed. Actually, Mr. Markoff’s family members are also his victims.
wOw: What fueled his actions?
Dr. S: Based on my interviewing other criminals who have committed homicides, assaults and other types of crimes, he sought a type of high-voltage excitement that he could not obtain living as a responsible person. To go to medical school; to be this bright, accomplished person; and to have friends and a beautiful fiancée was not enough. There had to be more to life (such as power, control, excitement) that one does not obtain by attending medical school and living a regular life. The ultimate power and control is to reduce another person to a quivering, pleading speck of humanity and rob them at gunpoint and kill anyone who resists. This person regards the world as his personal chess board. People are treated like his own personal pawns.
wOw: Will more stories of the accused "Craigslist Killer’s" double life unfold?
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In one of the videos of Phiip Markoff, I noticed he blinked excessively. Here is the youtube where this can be observed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAw-hWPBFN4&feature=related
This excessive blinking is usually a sign of some kind of drug reaction, usually withdrawal. It is quite common in those on or withdrawing from SSRI antidepressants.
The Physicians Desk Reference states that SSRIs and all antidepressants can cause mania, psychosis, abnormal thinking, paranoia, hostility, etc.
Go to www.SSRIstories.com where there are over 3,000 cases, with the full media article available, involving bizarre murders, suicides, school shootings [48 of these] and murder-suicides - all of which involve SSRI antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc, . The media article usually tells which SSRI antidepressant the perpetrator was taking
Philip Markoff’s crime spree appears to have happened suddenly, unless, of course, there are other crimes we don’t know about yet. This sudden change in personality, especially involving criminal activity, is another sign of SSRI adverse reactions.
If, like me, you admire authors who can enter and bring the reader into the mind of the criminal, insane, or criminally insane, and who do this with fluidity, style, elegance and dash, I suggest the great Ruth Rendell (also writing as Barbara Vine.) You can be five chapters in before you realize, "this woman’s nuts!"
Offhand, I can think of Thirteen Steps Down and Adam and Eve and Pinch Me as great examples of this talent of hers. Also Portobello, The Killing Doll … too many to name. If you haven’t discovered Rendell yet, you have a treat in store.
Is distinguished criminal psychologist and author of Inside the Criminal Mind and The Myth of the Out of Character Crime, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, also a prosecuting attorney who has convicted this defendant? If not, he is merely making the potential selection of impartial jurors smaller with the suppositions in this headline, isn’t he, dears?
I, for one, dahlings, am not convicting this man until I’ve heard his defense, which up to now, I have not.
I agree with you, Mommy Dearest. While it appears that this 23 year old might possibly have some of the traits as declared in this article….I think it is rather irresponsible to take a proforma from this man’s book and ascribe it to someone he hasn’t interviewed or even met.
This case is a horrible tragedy all around. The accused had $130K worth of school loans, medical school is crushing, he had no job or income, is from a broken family that wasn’t helping with school—and who knows what happened there in his past. He appears to have been trying to make a life, as was the desparate woman who was killed…yes he definitely was preying on people he considered wouldn’t go to the police. Was he on drugs? Did he have a gambling addiction? These are things that can turn people into monsters.
I am not making excuses for someone who did what he stands accused of…but am saying…innocent until proven guilty….everyone deserves a trial. And a medical professional should couch his opinion in more general terms rather than condemm this man by remote control.
It’s a very sickening and sad situation all around.
Oh he’ll get his "day in court".
But one thing is certain, the best indication of future behavior is past behavior. We humans are not nearly as unique as we think that we are. There is not defense for his murdering anyone. None. Childhood, medication, whatever.
This will be another circus complete with some lawyer getting his 15 min. of fame and dragging anyone that they can through the mud along the way.
Lets just hope that common sense makes a comeback….
There is some fairly damning evidence which has been found to indicate Markoff’s guilt. However, as Mommy Dearest said, he does deserve his day in court. The description of Markoff’s probable motivation reminds me, not only of Ted Bundy, of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. This muderous pair were wealthy, and both supposedly had genius I.Q.s, but the lure of trying to commit the ‘perfect murder’ (i.e. a murder they would have gotten away with) lead to what the two described as an "intellectual exercise" (i.e. the brutal murder of Bobby Franks—a boy who was a close friend of Loeb’s younger brother). It is amazing that wealth and bright futures are not enough to disuade such people from crime. It would be interesting if the sciences of forensic psychology/behavioral science, along with genetics, could accurately predict which individuals are likely to become offenders. The flip side, however, would be answering the question of how we as a society, and as individuals, should deal with such data. It would create an ethical quandry indeed!
"It is amazing that wealth… not enough to disuade such people from crime."
It didn’t disuade GWB against massive crimes against humanity, International and Constitutional law.