Colonel David Russell Williams of the Canadian Air Force recently pled guilty to various crimes, including murder. As reported by The Star:By day, Russell Williams was the commander of Canada’s biggest air force base, CFB Trenton. By night, he broke into homes, taking pictures of himself modeling the bras and panties of little girls.Although sociopaths are notoriously difficult to diagnose even for a trained psychological professional,the Col. David Russell Williams case has several hallmarks of sociopathic behavior. To friends, families, and co-workers, he seemed to be a successful leader in the community. He was outwardly admired for his strengths and his commitment to community and service were almost too perfect. Given his arrest for a string of crimes including two murders, however, it seems clear that his public persona was nothing more than a mask to hide his true identity. This is protypical behavior of a murderous sociopath.
He escalated quickly, from fetish break-ins, to sex assaults with no penetration to rape and murder. He logged his crimes, kept track of police reports of his crimes and left notes and messages for his victims. “Merci,” he thanked a 12-year-old in a typed message on her computer.
“Merci beaucoup,” he captioned a souvenir photo he took of his penis strapped to a sex toy he stole from a 24-year-old Ottawa victim in June 2008.
We learned that Williams made a video of his brutal beating and asphyxiation of Comeau after breaking into her home Nov. 24, 2009. He also made sex tapes of Lloyd after kidnapping her the night of Jan. 28, taking her to his cottage in Tweed, raping and torturing her for at least a day before dumping her corpse in a field.
Even more confirming of such a diagnosis would be his actions subsequent to his arrest. You would expect sociopaths when cornered to deny all allegations made against them, scrambling to come up with any plausible explanation for their behavior. A trapped sociopath will seem unflappable, confidently asserting his innocence. He is only half pretending. Ever an optimist, he will have deluded himself into believing that he may still skate away unharmed. In contrast, a truly innocent man would be apprehensive upon his arrest and prosecution because even an innocent man would understand the true danger of his predicament and the possibility of wrongful prosecution. If Col. Williams has seemed largely unshaken by his turn of fortune and confident of his imminent release, this would also be a strong indicator of sociopathic behavior.
What I don't really understand is why he pled guilty. Maybe he realized that the jig was up. Maybe they had such strong evidence against him that he realized it was better to just plead out and get a lesser sentence. Or maybe he realized that he had become a monster and lost all ability to control his impulses. If so, this is yet another cautionary tale of why you should not indulge urges to the point that they get out of control.
Yikes. This guy sounds more OCD than anything. Especially with him appearing to feel shame in the courtroom yet still unable to resist the urge to look at the fetish photos of himself.
ReplyDeleteMaybe even Asperger's, with his ultimately useless collection of data and attention to organization, Very one-track minded.
Asperger ???? Are you Crazy !
DeleteI'm autistic/have "aspergers" (female) and I thought exactly the same thing. Lots of his traits fit.
DeleteHow do u do italics in comment box? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteHTML.
ReplyDelete< i > blah blah blah italicized crap here < / i >
But without the spaces.
Thanks!
ReplyDeletetesting crapapaaaa
Can you write an article about Joran van der Sloot?
ReplyDeleteAre we allowed to attempt to illustrate differences between a sociopath and a psychopath now?
ReplyDeleteNo surprise here! Especially the part about appearing normal.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with ANON, I'd love to see your prospective on Joran van der Sloot as well.
Also, what do the sociopaths think of President Obama? Some say he's a sociopath. I disagree, I'd say more of a narcissist but I think most really powerful people are one or the other.
If Obama is not an aspie, and not manufcatured and placed in his position by non-aspies more powerful than he is, then I have down syndrome.
ReplyDeleteYou have Down Syndrome, Anon! :)
ReplyDeleteM.E., you should create your own line of books called, "Spot the disorder!" It'll be a lot like "Where's Waldo," except instead of finding a gay emo in Christmas clothing, you'll be searching a gritty scene full of people exhibiting all kinds of crazy behavior, giving them the task of finding the only 1 fitting a certain profile.
ReplyDelete"Find the aspie."
"Find the sociopath."
"Find the schizophrenic."
Considering how much people on your blog LOVE to play doctor, I think it'll be a hit. Just make sure you're kind enough to give them an answer key.
Where's the Wacko? Might be a better title.
ReplyDeleteI can't stop smiling when I see the picture attached to this topic. My first impression was that it was a doctored image that someone created. Deliberately pasting the skimpiest lingerie on the photo of some poor scary looking macho dude. I mean common, that would be kinda cute no? (ok so I'm a little sick). Then I read the link..
ReplyDeleteit's not a doctored pic? i don't think they would release the real photos.
ReplyDeleteAt least my disorder has been spotted :) I'll gladly remain guilty as charged.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous personality disorder?
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm...
The newspapers released several photos of Col. Williams dressed up in his burglary/rape/murder victims' lingerie, since he photographed himself wearing it. There have been legal discussions whether or not the jury will see videotapes he made, one of which includes murder (arguments are similar to the Paul Bernardo case, where only the jury saw the videotapes of murder, and the rest of those in the court heard the audio). It's a big story here in Canada, especially in the Trenton/Belleville area (which happens to be my hometown).
ReplyDeleteMy vote is that Col. Williams is a psychopath.
It would seem so, guilty again. I appreciated Ammy's question but I did not think it took one being a sociopath to be able to see puppet strings and perceive power structures.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was just some guy who wasn't hugged enough by his mother as a kid. I read this from a post in another topic.
ReplyDeletem.e. wrote:
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't really understand is why he pled guilty. Maybe he realized that the jig was up. Maybe they had such strong evidence against him that he realized it was better to just plead out and get a lesser sentence.
initially when being interviewed he was completely at ease. but when he realized that the jig was up, and they had evidence of his involvement, he pled guilty. here is an excerpt from an earlier article:
Whether Williams knew why he had been called in to chat with Ottawa police is unclear. As with the military motto for 8 Wing — in omnia paratus — Williams, at least in the early stages of nearly six hours of questioning, seemed “prepared for all things.”
He did not “fold like a deck of cards,” says the source with knowledge of the investigation.
But as information of the evidence being gleaned from the search warrants came in and was put to Williams, he realized he’d been caught.
He confessed, and the next day led police to Lloyd’s body, dumped on a seldom-travelled country road, which happened to be very near a hunt camp used by Williams’ neighbour, Larry Jones.
i read that after he was caught he tried to commit suicide by shoving a toilet paper roll down his throat, because he was having a hard time dealing with his emotions.
what is really unusual is that he targeted colleagues, friends and neighbours. most known serial killers maintained a circle of friends and family that were untouchable. col. williams seemed out of control.
also, the burglaries, rapes and murders took place very recently over a short period of time, and started in his mid to late forties. he was not known to police before that. it's as if he snapped.
it's tempting to say he was a sociopath because he maintained a very successful facade, but it's not only sociopaths who maintain facades. on the other hand, if he had these urges all his life, maybe they were so powerful and controlling them took such extreme mental discipline that when he got older they finally got the better of him.
Zoe said "also, the burglaries, rapes and murders took place very recently over a short period of time, and started in his mid to late forties. he was not known to police before that. it's as if he snapped. "
ReplyDeleteHe moved around a lot before that, as is common in the military (he was stationed in Dubai before Trenton). Perhaps he committed burglaries, rapes and murders all over the world ...
I'd be interested to hear what his childhood and adolescence was like.
ReplyDelete@Zoe's post above - Meaning to say that there are strong suggestions that this guy is not the typical high functioning Socio like Van Der Sloot but maybe had some other disorder (BPD?) which could be controlled/hidden up to a point in his life by the strict lonely regimes of a military carreer. I've always imagined that the perfect carreers for a chronic BPD would be either an airline pilot a soldier or an Oil and Gas worker - where decisions are usually black and white and if you didn't feel like being around people in "normal circumstances" because of - uncontrollable emotions, impulsive behavior, failure to have meaningful relationships - it wouldn't even be seen as odd and could even be a carreer boosting trait especially especially with the intensity of focus in long stretches of lonely boring work.
ReplyDeleteme too, Aerianne.
ReplyDeleteNaughtyRed, that's a good point. we only learn about the ones who get caught. maybe he got sloppy in his old age?
one more thing. if i have the facts right, he went to school (university?) with paul bernardo. do some generations turn out more serial killers?
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete@Zoe's post above - Meaning to say that there are strong suggestions that this guy is not the typical high functioning Socio like Van Der Sloot but maybe had some other disorder (BPD?) which could be controlled/hidden up to a point in his life by the strict lonely regimes of a military carreer.
interesting possibility. that might better explain the toilet paper roll suicide attempt.
funny though how rape and murder do not qualify as a disorder on their own. i mean does the need to murder come from bpd or does the bpd come from the need to murder (from having to deal with that need)? .. just a thought.
@Zoe's post - Thats the other point I forgot to mention - the self destructive tendency re-manifested after years of self discipline when he was discovered. Also my take on why He did not “fold like a deck of cards,” is simply because of military type discipline and not some sociophatic skill or lack of emotion.
ReplyDeleteI still think, despite what's easy to get away with saying, when we say sociopath and psychopath as if they are interchangable templates and mean the same thing we are incorrect. The point is that I am certainly not a psychopath in present form, but when I finally do break down I expect to be considered a psychopath and nothing else.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 9:44. Do you expect to break down? Do you think there is progression from Sociopathy to Psychopathy? For all Sociopaths? Do you say this because you notice impulses in yourself increasing, or what?
ReplyDeleteAll I am saying is that the sun appears yellow in color to us so we consider it so. If the sun's color changes, for whatever reason, we will then recognize it's change and comment about it and perhaps disagree on what we consider facts.
ReplyDeleteGive me an infant you consider normal and I can condition it as such that after years of my influence specific triggers can change it's color.
For all we know Col. Williams could be the victim of a sociopath and turned psycho because of it lol.
But no, I have no impulses to perform anything I have mentioned, not even defining the sun as anything other than blinding.
Being as successful as he is carreerwise, money would be no issue. One would think why didn't he fulfill his urges or fetishes legally by paying for discreet proffesional sex services. Was he a family man?
ReplyDeleteHe enjoyed pulling one over on the system and thumbing his nose at convention. He was so rigidly controlled in his military life and so out of control in his crazed obsessive compulsive sexual sadist life. These personas are so different from each other. I think he had an infantile narsissistic part that liked to say "tee-hee-hee look at me all dressed up and being a naughty boy". Really grotesque.
DeleteWhile my father did not murder anyone, he did sexually assault little girls when we lived overseas. When we came home he started the same behaviour on adopted children living with my parents. He was addicted to valium. This man was a pillar of the Catholic Church and the community. I cannot forgive him until I understand how and why he became a sociopath. 25 years ago, in his last communication to me, he wrote: God has forgiven me. That was his answer to my question: Why did you do these things. I am still waiting for a proper answer. Can anyone enlighten meÉ
DeleteI still think, despite what's easy to get away with saying, when we say sociopath and psychopath as if they are interchangable templates and mean the same thing we are incorrect.
ReplyDeleteAnd that’s just the problem, if you can call something like this a problem. Sociopath and psychopath are interchangeable terms precisely because there is a lack of empirically sound theoretical models to ground them both in reality. I know Hare’s model has wide acceptance, but as more and more people are pointing out, its basis on the prison population necessarily skew the results, very likely creating an incomplete picture. So ultimately, until more work is done, you are left with people using these terms in ways they think is best, given the information they have available to them and their own opinions about it. Not very objective true, but there you have it.
Daniel I am glad you posted, you explain much better than I. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGag, I would suggest you see more success/reward in his career than he did.
Why? and may I have the pleasure of knowing who you are?
ReplyDelete..just realised how my earlier post might be misconstrued. Nothing can justify the acts of this man and what has already happened but I was just exploring a hypothetical alternative scenario that, if he was a man who had some disorder that prevented sexual interaction with people normally - but could have other forms of alleviation as and when, legally and discreetly, then maybe the whole fiasco wouldn't have escalated into such deviancy and ended in rape, torture and murder. Does that sound better?
ReplyDeleteHe was not interested in obeying social conventions. He loved the thrill of illicit, dangerous and perverse acts in secret. As a predator, the thrill of the chase is all important
DeleteNobody here has the pleasure of knowing who I am, sorry. I do not assume it's a pleasure to be had though.
ReplyDeleteMay I know you first? lol. I'm kidding.
What I mean is this:
You were trying to apply logic where there is none, but I am not saying that is a crime. I am just contributing perspective.
Not that this has anything to do with the subject, but I wanted to say that I love how people on here don't talk like ignorant children. If I go back to read the conversations, I notice that I haven't read any stupid comments and haven't been pissed off. It would be great if the rest of the world could hold a good conversation.
ReplyDeleteThat's because I've been holding back. I've been dying laughing all day because Russell Williams looks SO serious in his underwear. And yes I'm fully aware the underwear might not be his.
ReplyDeleteIt's ok to let it out at the right time, it's just most people walikng around think that others enjoy their outbursts of empty speech. It seems everyone today thinks the right time to ba an idiot is all the time. people are falling back to the caveman level of language. They even put ain't in the dictionary because people couldn't talk intelligently...Humanity fails. Lol It's cute.
ReplyDeleteBeing as successful as he is carreerwise, money would be no issue. One would think why didn't he fulfill his urges or fetishes legally by paying for discreet proffesional sex services.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe you are missing that the whole crux of his obsession was the illegality of it? The risk, the getting away with it. People he knew having no idea that he was sneaking into their bedrooms and having a ball. The underwear is secondary.
I doubt going to some dungeon where he can run around masturbating all over the walls in girls' underwear and be accepted for it would be anywhere near as satisfying to him.
You always hear that rape is not about sex, anyway.
ReplyDeleteWearing their undies may have given him a sexual thrill but that, and touching their other belongings is about violation.
ReplyDeleteAttempted suicide doesn't sound very sociopath-ish. Neither does fessing up.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit, he has his set of problems, but I don't think sociopath is one of them.
Control is obviously important to him, and being a Colonel, he didn't exactly have a shortage of available people and resources to manipulate.
I sometimes feel that ASPD is wrongly targeted for all the ails of any criminal without a conscience. We're not the only ones, after all.
These crimes sound as if they steamed from anger, not kink.
ReplyDeletecould he have been a very frustrated, very angry, closet drag queen? or maybe his behaviour had an organic cause, like a brain injury?
ReplyDeleteso how do i purge that picture from my mind before going to bed tonight? :(
I wonder if he had an overbearing mother. I wouldn't be surprised.
ReplyDeleteme neither. doubt she would have approved of the mismatched underwear.
ReplyDeleteFrom the NYT:
ReplyDeleteHis activities may have been aided by the largely separate life he lived with his wife, an executive with a large Canadian charity. During the week, he lived alone in a cottage near the base. He spent weekends with his wife in Ottawa.
He confessed, he said, to “make her life easier.”
Pretty telling right there.
I think he probably lies about everything. I would continue to keep up the facade as the loving husband because it was such a good front for him. Lots of perverts do this.
DeleteExcerpts of Williams's confession
ReplyDelete"He would take the police to Ms. Lloyd’s body, 0.7 kilometre from a particular intersection. Det.-Sgt. Smyth asked how he’d come to measure the distance. “That’s just the way I am,” Col. Williams said. “Numbers, I have to know the numbers.”
ReplyDeleteThanks for the video link Zoe.
ReplyDeleteNotice how he kind of bobs back and forth. At first I thought maybe it was a rise in blood pressure, but I think it's more of an Aspergery thing, as he doesn't seem stressed and isn't turning red. He just seems stoically perplexed.
Yes, stoically perplexed. You described that well, Medusa.
ReplyDelete"stoically perplexed" is the perfect description. interesting observation about the aspergers. i was also wondering earlier if he had it, or some type of ocd, with all the obsessiveness.
ReplyDeleteat the end of the interview when asked how he feels, his response was "disappointed". during the trial when they were showing pictures of him in the girls undies he was stealing glances. you would think he would be too embarrassed or ashamed to look. but it's like his obsession consumed him above all else, even into the trial.
creepy guy.
Regardless of what he actually is, there are two common truths.
ReplyDelete1. He passed the point of no return
2. He wears women's undergarments quite well.
Zoe said, "you would think he would be too embarrassed or ashamed to look. but it's like his obsession consumed him above all else"
ReplyDeleteI think that could be an indication that he lacks a conscience.
It's hard to say whether he lacks a conscience. He probably does. But even if he does have a conscience, his obsessions and impulses overrode it.
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems more like he couldn't help looking. Part of the clearly very powerful obsession. Overrides any sense of shame (or the logical desire to not look conscienceless like a sociopath would try to do by refraining from looking up at the photos) that he may or may not feel.
Or maybe he kept looking out of perplexity or disassociation. "Was that really me? That's me in these photos? How weird."
ReplyDeleteDuring the interview, when asked why he confessed, he said it was to make things easier on his wife.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what he meant by that?
It's interesting how we're commenting more on diagnosis semantics than the actual heinous acts that he has done :P Clearly we're from a different cut of cloth than most.
ReplyDeleteLack of conscience is not exclusive to a sociopath. I often feel we're the whipping boys for this pesky trait. I've commented on it somewhat in a recent blog post of mine at notablepath.blogspot.com
Speaking of an odd diagnosis, I was at the Dexter site (or maybe wiki?) not long ago and it seems that he may very well not be a sociopath, but a vein of schizophrenic, thought to be a sociopath, and thus expecting himself to act a certain way. I also comment on this in my blog, in regards to the damage that can be dealt when openly labeling someone as a sociopath when they aren't.
Anyway, I don't have the Dexter link on hand, but I do have a link to my blog post at: http://notablepath.blogspot.com/2010/10/myths-about-paths.html
I saw your blogspot last night but it was much too late to read it then. Now that I'm reminded, it's much too late for me, again. I do want to read it soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how we're commenting more on diagnosis semantics than the actual heinous acts that he has done :P Clearly we're from a different cut of cloth than most.
ReplyDeleteWell I think a big problem with stories like these is that people focus solely on the crimes themselves, cry "sociopath", note that he either seemed "nice and normal" or a "loner", and then send him to the chair, and then it's over. People cry "why why why" but they don't really care why. If they did, there'd be more conversations like this one in the media.
Plus, this shit happens every day, in life and in fiction. What's the point in noting that these crimes are heinous and leaving it at that? It's like saying that people who smell bad... smell bad. Okay, and...?
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ReplyDeleteYou're right, Medusa. People were offended enough to investigate body odor and develop antiperspirant and deodorants because body odor effected pretty much everyone; up close and personally.
ReplyDeleteIt was my form of observational self-indulgent humor.
ReplyDeletePut a room full of sociopaths in front of a murder/rape felon and they'll argue if he's a , not wonder about specifics of the crime with the exception of how he got away with it for so long.
It's just nice being able to shoot the breeze with people who literally think the way you do. I can't stand dealing with people who have Borderline PD or a similar personality. The Coldest or the most profusely bleeding hearts you'll ever has the displeasure of meeting -_-
I know it was just a light hearted comment, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny, though, is that no one discussing this here (besides maybe you) is a self-proclaimed sociopath ;)
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ReplyDeleteI just don't know what the obsession with armchair diagnosis is. All we have to go on is a video clip and accounts of his recent conduct. Without a great deal more evidence, I would hesitate to even speculate. He might just be a nutbar.
ReplyDeleteGiven his bent for ladies undies, he has to be a bit of a fruitcake. (Groan. Bad joke. I know.)
ReplyDelete... AND the one other self-proclaimed sociopath is uninterested.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I'm interested in the diagnosis is that this story was posted here with the assumption that the dude is a sociopath — armchair diagnosis right there.
This is SociopathWorld after all, and if there's no reason to believe this dude to be a sociopath... well.
I do so love it when you're crestfallen, Medusa. :D
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm here for the splendid articulation, too.
ReplyDeleteCrestfallen? Okay, whatevas.
ReplyDeleteI think you're just mad that you can't claim this guy as one of your own.
Who's crestfallen now?
;)
Oh, and as I meant to bring up, as long as we're doing the wild mass guessing thing...
ReplyDeleteHas anyone considered schizoid, yet? Solitary (what with the cottage), secretive (betcha his friends didn't know about all this), and emotionally cold (all the things you've all been saying). His sexual habits aren't entirely out of the scope of such a diagnosis, either.
Has anyone considered schizoid, yet?
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but schizoids generally don't have much interest in sex or power.
I did wonder about schizophrenia but decided I was too tired to bring it up.
ReplyDeleteMedusa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoid_personality_disorder#Schizoid_sexuality
ReplyDeleteThe latter half mentions some work by Guntrip, Horney, Seinfeld, and most especially Akhtar which support a schizoid diagnosis.
Notably: "a clinically accurate picture of schizoid sexuality must include both the overt signs: 'asexual, sometimes celibate; free of romantic interests; averse to sexual gossip and innuendo,' along with possible covert manifestations of 'secret voyeuristic and pornographic interests; vulnerable to erotomania; tendency towards compulsive masturbation and perversions,'"
Aerianne: Schizoid Personality Disorder, not schizophrenia.
Anyway, class in 6 hours and the NyQuil's kicking in. I'll have to catch this train of thought later, unless the responses are quick.
Should be "works", not "work".
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing to be gleaned from the video. The interrogator was doing 99% of the talking. The guy was just nodding his head to fill the awkward silence -politeness? lol!- I didn't even bother to finish watching even though its only 5 minutes of pointlessness. Better time spend reading a Patricia Highsmith novel. What would be interesting though, is if anyone here might have done anything similar. What would his/her views be?
ReplyDeleteAh. Well then I suppose he could very well be schizoid. Doesn't explain the obsession with data, organization and risk-taking though.
ReplyDeleteEither way, point being that he's not a sociopath.
Anon, really? There's a ton to be gleaned from the video. Words aren't the only things that explain or hint towards someone's character.
ReplyDeleteNot to say that any analyses of what is being gleaned are necessarily correct, but there is a lot of information in there to be taken away.
Comorbidity with OCD is certainly not unheard of. If I remember correctly such a pairing is actually one of the recognized subtypes of SPD.
ReplyDeleteActually whats going here is even even more bizzare. All our knowledge and reality seem to be well, based on some kind of "artificial" processing. Next thing you know we'll be running back to our couches to get the latest updates on the earthquake outside our doorstep.
ReplyDeleteSo. Having a polite conversation is more bizarre than raping and murdering girls. Okay.
ReplyDeleteBut what do you mean by "artificial processing"? And why the word "artificial" in quotes, like what you say is artificial is not really artificial?
I think you are trying to saying, and I'm just guessing here, that it's easy for us to talk like this because we are so far removed from the reality of the situation in a physical and emotional sense?
History. Case studies. Video excerpts. TV news. Internet blogs and forums. All these medium of data require some kind of processing or editing by others. Television for example - Now we have a hybrid - called reality based shows. Digital games/simulators, role playing scenarios in entertainment/workskill training to enhance the complexity of the way we look at things, anticipate our emotional responses and extend our range of options in decision making. Question now is how much of the reality based on this kind of processing is altered or made? Would it be the same for someone without access to such data?
ReplyDeleteGag. Well this is why (see disclaimer above) we can't know anything for sure about the data we are receiving about this guy. Not only because the data is very limited and what is available can be interpreted many ways, but also because considerations should be made about the delivery of such data. We are only seeing a small slice of this guy's interview, for instance.
ReplyDeleteTrue, some people don't understand the amount of filtering that goes into the delivery of data. People who call such picked-and-chosen bits of data as "reality" are naive.
But an argument can be made that those who control the storage and delivery of data do indeed create reality. And a real reality, in a sense.
ReplyDeleteDepends on if you believe that reality is relative or not.
Depends on if you believe that reality is relative or not.
ReplyDeletePrecisely what I was going to address next. In other words does this expanded or enhanced "awareness" really help makes things more objective or does it just add another level of subjectivity to our value judgements?
If you really want to get meta about it, people do their own processing and filtering and editing of reality as data enters their brain, based on their own biology and personal history. Everyone does this, and there is no escaping it.
ReplyDeleteSo, by your implied definition, this would mean that everyone is living in an "artificial" reality, and that there is no "objective" reality.
*That should be "people do their own processing and filtering of data as it enters their brain"
ReplyDeleteWhat's written says something other than what I meant.
That particular bra looks rather unflattering on him. Perhaps a balconette would be better suited to his figure.
ReplyDeleteWorst. Lingerie model. Ever.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite pleased with the comments since I've first posted. It almost looks like a variety of individuals from many different thinking points can almost agree there CAN be a difference between what's regarded as sociopathy and completely losing it.
ReplyDeleteComic anonymous said, Worst. Lingerie model. Ever.
ReplyDeleteRight?
I would agree with Anon if I were unable to chuckle at the picture.
ReplyDelete@ notable path
ReplyDelete'It's just nice being able to shoot the breeze with people who literally think the way you do. I can't stand dealing with people who have Borderline PD or a similar personality. The Coldest or the most profusely bleeding hearts you'll ever has the displeasure of meeting -'
well, i've not partaken in this discussion till now and i've been happily reading all these comments with no sign of my bleeding heart yet. maybe i'm just having a Cold heart moment. it is possible for emotionally sensitive types to be entirely rational you know. there's just a heck of a lot more to us that we need to sort through and juggle, not least our endless sense of responsibility to all and sundry. it's a curse indeed, but we are not all conflicted imbeciles. count yourself lucky mr sociopath. :)
though i understand your sentiment. i like to talk to both those who feel like me and those who think like me, and more often than not i can't find both those things in just one person.
ReplyDeletecall me the everything to everyone. no wait, that's just weird, and a little wrong. sociopathic perhaps? joke.
ok, that makes no sense. the something to everyone? bleh.
ReplyDeletelol
ReplyDeleteMedusa said...
ReplyDeleteAnon, really? There's a ton to be gleaned from the video. Words aren't the only things that explain or hint towards someone's character.
listen to medusa, anon. words often count for very little.
research estimates that body language including facial expressions account for 55 percent of all communication. paralanguage, the way something is said rather than what is actually said, accounts for 38 percent of all communication. that means what is being said accounts for less than 10 percent of communication.
the video shows the first few moments when he realizes he is caught. his body language suggests he was caught off guard, he seems frozen, stunned, but there is also this look of absolute concentration as if he's mind is racing trying to find a way out, even as if he's realizing at the same time that there is no way out.
anon, did you expect him to crack and break down ranting and crying that he was innocent? his emotional flatness and reasonableness right up to the very end is striking and almost inhuman. you can learn more from people by first paying attention to how they say something before you weigh what they say.
when he says that he confessed to make it easier on his wife, there is a slip of the tongue where he first seems to start to say "life". i think during those moments he was playing out all the options in his head and seeing no advantage in not confessing, and perhaps some in working with the authorities.
The experts cited in this article do not think Russell Williams is a sociopath. They say he was "driven by shame."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/col-williams-a-rarity-among-sex-killers-defies-psychological-labels-experts-105210694.html
I would have added quotations around the word experts Aerianne.
ReplyDeleteThis links to a blog about William's testimony. http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/10/19/liveblog-col-russel-williams-hearing-day-2/
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Daniel Birdick
ReplyDeleteI made the lingerie model joke. Admittedly a weak one but that was my initial reaction when looking at his picture, that he really doesn't have a clue what he's doing (in a sexy "Victoria's Secret" way). Judging from the blank look on his face and his "pose" (or lack of one), it's like someone forced him to dress up that way. Shouldn't he be having fun if that's what he's into? Doesn't he feel sexy or is that really his idea of sexy (assuming he puts the underwear on because it represents feminine sexuality). Maybe it's simply the deviance of breaking gender rules that turns him on. I don't know, he just seems so clueless on so many levels which is the most disturbing aspect of it all to me.
^That’s actually a fair point. For all the trouble he went thru, he doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself very much, does he?
ReplyDeleteHe has mother issues for sure.
ReplyDeletehis eyes are not smiling but the bottom half of the face seems to be trying to smile.
ReplyDeletei was just thinking, a lot of the people whose homes he broke into never reported it and possibly didn't realize he was there. i would hate to be the person whose home that is, staring at this picture, and suddenly realizing hey that's my living room and those are my bra and panties!
I wonder how many people are trolling Ebaysee if they can bid for the bits that he was caught wearing. Btw, don't you think the panties he's got on in the pic looks a bit damp at the crotch?
ReplyDeletecould williams have taken any kind of medication to control his impulses,urges?
ReplyDeleteyou mean for the fetishism? i know two guys who are into fetishes and it's the absolutely most important thing in their lives. i can't imagine either one willingly taking meds to curb the urges. also, they're both in their late forties and are more into it now than they were when they were younger, and are acting out more.
ReplyDeletei hate to judge, but fetishists creep me out big time... the intensity of the obsession, the way it overrides almost everything else, and in williams's case even leading to murder.
here is a hypothetical profile of williams, which to me seems more likely than the label psychopath:
not psychopath. has conscience, empathy and a great need to dominate. sexual orientation is fetishist. liked to dress up in his wife's underwear, but couldn't perform. she knew about his fetishism. they were married, but led otherwise separate lives.
the first time he stole women's undergarments it wasn't planned, but happened only because the opportunity presented itself. then he learned how easy it was. the rapes were opportunistic, and met his need to dominate. the point was the fetishism. he killed only to protect his identity, and this was easy for him because he was trained to kill.
people assume that something is wrong with him and that whatever it is, it's one disorder. it's too easy to label him psychopath and too frightening to consider that there may be nothing at all wrong with him. the facts suggest a guy with a need to dominate, with a fetishist predisposition, who is an opportunist and trained to kill. none of these by themselves area a disorder. at some point he gave himself permission to cross the line and as he kept doing it, it just got easier.
Maybe he is evil.
Deletewow Gag, you were really looking.
ReplyDeleteI suppose Zoe was too now :)
ReplyDeleteCouldn't help it!! It is still the most funny pic here no matter what.LOL!
ReplyDeleteZoe Btw, if its too easy to bill him as a Psycho, is there anything else known in the Neurosciences or have previous cases of that would be the closest fit(I hate the word -label)to the description in your hypothetical profile? for example - my suggestion of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
Yes, I wasn't quick enough to comment on how funny the picture is.
ReplyDeleteBut also, don't Borderlines usually hurt themselves as part of crossing the threshold? Usually their self mutilation is made obvious BEFORE the rampage. It is almost as if they need you to know who they aren't.
I may be wrong but I do not see our lingerie model here as having dropped one of his aces from his hand specifically, however we can almost conclude he did not care much about the cards he was holding!
Please excuse the double posting, but something just came to mind regarding fetishes. OK lets be honest here; Most of us have taken a peek or more at weird porn (lets just stop at that premise). So we've seen both Men and Women of all build and ages, and god knows what else, engage in fetish sex. What would be interesting to know is, if (for the sake of discussion)there is any research on whether it is Men who are always more inclined (biologically wired -maybe?- for perversity at whatever stages/situations in their lives)towards non typical sexual gratification or are Women just as capable of being sexual "Creeps" or "Wackos". Non porn Media, Movies, Fiction, Crime cases, table-talking seems to slant towards Men as the Evil Sexual Predator. How much of that is fact and how much of that is due to Social factors for eg. the preservation of the "chaste" Female Gender image reinforced by most societies? Would the secrets thoughts and repressed urges be just as deviant as men if there less "taboos" for women?
ReplyDeleteGag, I view both predators as equal. I view the weapons used as different.
ReplyDeletegag, he could be bpd i suppose. but not all bpd's kill and rape, so isn't possible that some "normal" people do? or do we label anyone who deviates from the norm?
ReplyDeleteask yourself, if your entire life, your family, your reputation and career, was threatened by someone and you knew that by killing them you would eliminate the threat and no one would know, would you do it? what if the threat involved revealing publicly your greatest shame? and you were trained to kill?
i think his fetishism led him to be in a position to rape and kill. if he hadn't been able to break into homes and steal underwear so successfully he may never have committed these offences. keep in mind this guy went to a very exclusive private school. perhaps he also had a sense of entitlement, where he felt the right to take up more space than others, that his needs mattered more. how far can conscience go if you don't respect the rights of others?
but maybe the rapes are related. he wasn't just masturbating into the underwear, he was putting them on, again and again and again, photographing them, himself in them, sorting and cataloging it all.
on the one hand he puts on their undergarments, then on the other hand he brutally rapes them. maybe his disorder is gender identity issues where the rapes acted out his desire to dominate that part of himself that wanted to wear girls underclothes, that wanted very much to be a girl. the problem though with saying that his disorder was gender identity is that it's not something that leads people to rape and kill.
until you arm someone you just never know what they will do. becoming proficient at breaking into people's homes was kind of like arming him.
years ago, i spent a few months in the reserves and when we went on the rifle range the first time and were given loaded rifles, our instructors armed themselves too. as they stood watching they promised to shoot us dead if we turned with the rifles in our hands and so much as waved them in their direction, or anyone else's, even by accident. because they knew that you just never know what's going on in someone's mind. and also i don't remember any psychological assessment. there was a physical, and if you passed that and weren't dressed in tin foil you were in.
i would like to see his military psyche evaluation.
oops long rant. the fetishist thing really got to me. :(
gag, the guys i know who are into fetishes date only women who are into them too, and apparently many are.
ReplyDeletewow who's the bozo who left that long rambling rant above me, sheesh.
Zoe, Wow! A picture of you as a Cop suddenly comes to mind with your enthusiastic attention to details and your gun drill training. Sorry please disregard - totally irrelevant observation! But yeah, I totally overlooked (or maybe it was beyond my grasp)the neurosis behind the cross dressing gender identity conflicts. I must be such a typical boring hetero.Damn!
ReplyDeleteeverything I know I learned from this man...
ReplyDeletenorman
hmm cop fetish... not so boring at all, gag.
ReplyDeleteZoe said...
ReplyDeleteeverything I know I learned from this man... norman
eeeewwwwww!!! I'd rather stick with looking at Russell Williams. At least he makes me laugh. I actually did a quick flip to compare both pictures.
lol, are you a hetero guy or girl, gag? i'd rather look at norman. in. his. boxers.
ReplyDeleteokay i did a quick flip and you are so wrong, williams is way creepier than norman. to begin with his head looks like it's too big for his body which really makes me wonder if that pic has been photoshopped. and he's wearing the exact same expression Al Bundy used to when sitting in front of the t.v. with his hand down his pants.
ReplyDeletenorman looks more intelligent, and deep, but homey too.. the kind of guy who brings you hot cocoa and gives you foot massages. you'd never suspect him of knife wielding skills, too bad.
Now thats such a mind-fuck question Zoe. Are you seriously in doubt? Would a girl give herself a name like GagReflex??
ReplyDeleteRussell Williams looks so much like; Phil Collins which is quite unfortunate cos he's one of my favorite singer ;-(
ReplyDeleteLink didn't work the first time Phil Collins
ReplyDeleteYikes! the names even ryhmes... creeeeepy...
ReplyDeleteGagReflex said...
ReplyDeleteNow thats such a mind-fuck question Zoe. Are you seriously in doubt? Would a girl give herself a name like GagReflex??
i thought you might be bulimic.
anyway didn't think guys would be ewwwwwed by norman. on second thought though it makes sense if you're a hetero guy that you'd rather look at williams in drag. my apologies, gag.
lol, poor phil
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGag, I view both predators as equal. I view the weapons used as different.
"Biological" weapons (of course!) with enhancements for each scenario...
Zoe, your analyses are quite insightful. Nice.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be interesting to know is, if (for the sake of discussion)there is any research on whether it is Men who are always more inclined (biologically wired -maybe?- for perversity at whatever stages/situations in their lives)towards non typical sexual gratification or are Women just as capable of being sexual "Creeps" or "Wackos".
I don't know about any research, but I'll tell you right now that females can be just as perverted and creepy, when given/exposed to/interested in the same cues as males.
But of course social constructs will limit this.
"Crush" fetishes are a good example.
ReplyDeletethanks Medusa, i enjoy reading your posts too.
ReplyDeletei don't know what to make of crush fetishes. i found a site that claims these fetishes often involve crushing living things like bugs because no one cares about bugs enough to care if people go around crushing them. assuming the site is for real, are there really people out there who get turned on by a smashed insect? kinda gross. how does that even work, do they crush them with their body parts?
ReplyDeleteit's possible that williams was escalating to a crush fetish, but that doesn't explain the persistent theme of him dressing up in women's bras and panties.or does it?
if anyone here is into fetishes, can you explain to me the attraction it holds, and why a foot or bug or piece of rubber is more appealing than another human being or just doing yourself?
Zoe, I always thought that for some people it begins for reasons like it's not boring and usual, it's pushing the envelope, moving boundaries, doing something naughty, being a rebel, etc.
ReplyDeleteyes, of the two people i know who are self-proclaimed fetishists (is that the word?) one presents himself exactly like that... as being sexually free, a rebel. he's tried for years to get me to join him at the fetish clubs he frequents. while i was curious, the thought of spending an evening putting up with groping leering individuals held zero appeal. his extreme use of sex as well as legal and illegal drugs seemed like just a way to numb out and tune out. a desperate hedonism.
ReplyDeletethe other guy was a loner who would go to the clubs but didn't like them. he would visit them once in a while only when he wanted sex. he was good looking but secretive, and unable to talk about his emotions. he had huge emotional issues that he would hint at then turn almost purple in the face as the feelings briefly bubbled to the surface before being pushed back again. he was extremely stressed by change, flat emotionally, and never once in the years that i knew him looked me in the eyes. if he had to look at you, he would stare at a point above your eyes, like the forehead. his lack of response to facial expressions of others made me wonder if he had some degree of face blindness. the fetishism seemed like a symptom of a much bigger problem.
M.E,you talk about col williams about losing all ability to control his impulses and its a lesson for us all but how??could he have taken something to curb his desires?
ReplyDeletemaybe he just didn't want to waste the money it would cost him to fight the charges...
ReplyDeleteDuring the interview, when asked why he confessed, he said it was to make things easier on his wife.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what he meant by that?
Was it really to make it easier on her? After all, what could destroy her life more painfully as head of this charity than for him to confess?
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