“Liam was, in many ways, mature for his age. He wasvery responsible. For that reason, Mrs. Cass was persuaded by him to purchase a pet hamster. Unfortunately, the first hamster allegedly escaped and she had to buy him another. Liam told her the second hamster escaped as well, but then she caught him burying it in the backyard.”
“Was the hamster dead?”
“Yes, but Liam finally admitted that he was the one who killed the hamster. He let it slowly starve to death.”
“Jesus.”
“Yes. It was quite upsetting. After a few months, it was very clear Liam was suffering from antisocial personality disorder. Do you know what a sociopath is, Detective?”
“That’s the personality disorder when you don’t feel emotions. Weren’t Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy sociopaths?”
“Most likely. As early as the 1800s, doctors who worked with mental health patients noticed some patients demonstrated outwardly normal behavior, but they had no sense of ethics or empathy. These patients were called ‘psychopaths,’ but then it was later changed to ‘sociopaths’ because of the effect these people had on society. Now both terms are used but ‘sociopath’ generally refers to a milder form of the disorder. Psychopaths are much rarer.”
“So what does that all mean?”
“Well, for starters, sociopaths don’t have normalhuman emotions like empathy. They have no concern for the feelings of others. They also have a very high threshold for disgust, which has been measured by a lack of reaction in these patients to photos of mutilated faces. But sociopaths don’t care about faking emotions. Psychopaths, on the other hand, are excellent actors. They’re intelligent, charming, and fantastic at manipulating emotions. They can make you believe they care, when in fact, they feel nothing.”
“So they’re good liars.”
“They are pathological liars. They can tell the most outlandish stories without blinking an eye. And the other salient characteristic of sociopaths is a weak conscience. They feel very little guilt or shame or remorse. Psychopaths, on the other hand, havenoconscience. Can you imagine what that’s like? To feel no remorse whatsoever for your terrible actions?”
“…”
“On top of that, sociopaths have a very low tolerance for frustration or for discharge of aggression.”
“Meaning…?”
“It takes very little for them to become violent.”
“I see.”
“And they’re fearless. When a normal person is put in a situation where they anticipate a painful stimulus, such as an electric shock, their sweat glands will increase inactivity. But in psychopathic subjects, no skin conductance responses were emitted. They don’t feel fear the way we do.”
“Right.”
“So if you put it together, Detective, you’ve got an individual who feels no empathy, no remorse, no fear, and is prone to violence. It’s not surprising so many serial killers are diagnosed as psychopaths.”
“So are you saying Liam Cass is a psychopath?”
“It’s hard to say. He was only nine years old the last time I saw him, and most of these personality disorders technically can’t be diagnosed until eighteen. But…”
“Yes…?”
“He was definitely a sociopath, but my gut feeling was that he was also a psychopath. Even at such a young age, he was an amazing liar and manipulator. But at the same time, when I first met him, my instinct was to like him. It took several sessions before I could see through him. And I am a professional.”
“So he’s a serial killer?”
“Be careful making that jump. Nearly all serial killers are likely psychopaths, but not all psychopaths become killers.”
“But you believe Liam is capable of murder?”
“Well, psychopaths are capable of murder. So if Liam is a psychopath, then yes, he is capable of murder.”
“How long did you work with Liam?”
“Two years.”
“That doesn’t seem very long, everything considered.”
