Beyond Psychopathy: If Mass Killers Aren't Insane, What Makes Them Go On Killing Sprees?

Could Your Neighbor Be The Next Mass Killer?

Killing sprees in which lone perpetrators brutally slaughter people, it seems, have become just another part of life — a part of life that, though it never becomes less shocking, is no longer surprising. 

• Dylann Roof killed nine black parishioners in a Charleston, SC church in June 2015.
• Anders Breivik, from Norway, murdered eight people by detonating a van bomb and then massacred 69 participants of a Workers' Youth League summer camp in July 2011. 
• Robert Bardo executed actress Rebecca Schaeffer in October 1991. 
• Richard Farley's carnage left seven people dead and four more wounded at ESL, the company he worked for, in February 1988.
• Kip Kinkel, an expelled student, murdered his parents before perpetrating the Thurston High School shooting that left two students dead and 25 more wounded in May 1998.
• James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a Century Movie Theater in July 2012.

Then, of course, there was the infamous psychopath Ted Bundy, with his chilling quotes: "I didn't know what made people want to be friends. I didn't know what made people attractive to one another. I didn't know what underlay social interactions," and "I don't feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt," among others. 

I could go on — there was Elliot Rodgers, who killed and wounded women because they didn't want to go out with him, there was Kim De Gelder, who fatally stabbed two babies and a daycare worker at a Belgian daycare center, and there was, well — there were, numerous others.

Does It Matter Whether Mass Killers Are Insane?

James Holmes, who became one of America's worst mass murderers when he fancied himself the Joker and opened fire on a crowded movie theater, might have plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but he was still found guilty of first-degree murder. Concerns over Holmes' mental health probably saved his life, however: he'll spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, but he will not be executed.

Vince Li, a man who beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in 2008, didn't have Breivik's motivation to be considered fully accountable for his crime. He was found not criminally responsible for the murder he committed. Instead of being sent to prison, he was ended up at a mental health facility, from which he is now getting day passes for unsupervised visits to the rest of society — as long as he carries a working cell phone. In time, the Manitoba Review Board — which is responsible for deciding his fate — says Li may be able to live in a group home. 

READ Study: 20 American Kids Injured By Guns Daily

Whether someone who commits heinous crimes is considered legally insane or not holds the potential to have a very direct impact on the fate of such a mass killer — and with that, on the rest of society too. In that context, it's very important to decide exactly what makes someone insane.

Why Thinking Of Mass Killers As 'Insane' Is A Bad Idea

Some would, of course, argue that no sane person would engage in the act of brutally murdering other people, making mass murderers insane by definition. People who run amok and kill as many as possible are perhaps "mad" in the colloquial sense, but most of them are not legally insane — something that is demonstrated all too often in courts of law all over the world when those who kill large numbers of people are indeed found responsible for their crimes. According to forensic psychiatrist Paul Mullen, only about 10 percent of lone killers who set out to create bloodbaths have major mental illnesses, but most of them are not insane.

Still not convinced mass killers aren't insane? Science is:

• "Although studies suggest a link between mental illnesses and violence, the contribution of people with mental illnesses to overall rates of violence is small, and further, the magnitude of the relationship is greatly exaggerated in the minds of the general population (Institute of Medicine, 2006)."
• "…the vast majority of people who are violent do not suffer from mental illnesses (American Psychiatric Association, 1994)."
• "The absolute risk of violence among the mentally ill as a group is very small... only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill (Mulvey, 1994)."
• "People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001).
• People with severe mental illnesses, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis, are 2 ½ times more likely to be attacked, raped or mugged than the general population (Hiday, et al.,1999)."

Does Abusive Parenting Create Mass Killers?

Can we find answers in the childhood of mass murderers, then? Roof's childhood was reportedly torn apart by his father's violent tendencies, and Breivik's mother allegedly sexualized him as a young boy with neighbors saying sexual activity took place in the home while kids were present. What's more, she reportedly told him she wished he were dead on a regular basis. Robert Bardo was sexually abused by a sibling and placed in foster care after he expressed the wish to commit suicide. Evan Ramsey, the perpetrator of the Bethel Regional High School Shooting, was the victim of bullying. 

READ The Real Risk Of Being Gunned Down In America

At the same time, not all parents who raise violent children were nasty, violent parents. And equally importantly, we need to acknowledge that half of the world population would probably be dead now if a significant portion of those who had a horrible, abusive childhood went on killing sprees, and if large numbers of those suffering from any of the huge number of mental illnesses out there became mass murderers. 

Predicting Massacres: Warning Signs That Someone Is About To Run Amok

Though the media loves to say that a mass murderer "just snapped", this does not actually happen. Ever. Committing mass murder takes meticulous planning and preparation, including but not limited to the need to obtain the deadly weapon(s) these "psychokillers" will use in their attacks. You've probably heard the phrase "running amok". Wikipedia tells us that we say someone "runs amok" when they, "in the grip of strong emotion, obtain a weapon and begin attacking people indiscriminately, often with multiple fatalities". 

For this to be true, we have to recognize, would-be mass slaughterers would have to remain in that "grip of strong emotion" for a very long time, often many months.

"Running amok", interestingly enough, is a phrase that comes from Malaysia. In Javanese, "amok" means "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding", and these episodes have been occurring in Malaysia long enough for the deadly phenomenon it have its very own word. The planning phase is critical, because it's at this point that a carnage someone is mulling over in their head can still be prevented.

Gavin de Becker, a leading expert on violence, has devoted two entire books to the idea that criminal acts could be predicted with much more accuracy if only we — meaning the rest of us — actually took the time to look for the warning signs, which he calls "pre-incident indicators", and to react to them. 

OK, OK, there's more to de Becker's books than that. Much more, including the message to trust your intuition, because it can save your life. I highly recommend The Gift of Fear as well as Protecting the Gift. You'll actually have to read them to get the full gist of what he's saying, but he did mention some of the warning signs a student may be violent on his website. The most important of these, I think, can  be summed up as follows:

• Aimlessness and being sullen, angry and depressed. 
• Being preoccupied with guns and weapons, experience with and access to guns, seeking status and self-worth through violence, being chronically angry and threatening violence or suicide.  

Being European, I never understood the American obsession with guns. Surely, regulating gun ownership has a role to play in preventing mass murders too?

In addition, those who go on killing sprees have to actively like the impending consequences of their actions, including the prospect of ending up dead or in prison for the rest of their lives. They want, if you will, to be villain-martyrs in their own war on humanity. Want to find out whether Gavin de Becker is right about being able to predict violent behavior? Just read the "hindsight is 20/20" reports of previous violent behavior in people who go on to commit killing sprees, and his lessons become hard to ignore.

De Becker isn't alone in his mission to raise awareness of pre-incident indicators. Forensic psychiatrist Paul Mullen, another "violent mind" expert, offers some unique insights.

• Western mass killers who "run amok" and kill people until they are either captured or killed themselves are a relatively new phenomenon. The first "mass psychokiller" incident occurred in Germany in the early part of the 20th century. Since then, killing sprees have become increasingly publicized, essentially creating a "cultural script" for "angry, disaffected, desperate young people" to kill themselves in what they may see as (shockingly!) "a blaze of glory".
• The people who commit mass killings are almost all men between the ages of 20 and 40, who are socially isolated. They are also obsessive individuals with rigid mindsets, capable of meticulous planning. As de Becker mentioned, Mullen says they are almost all obsessed with guns, weapons, and anything militaristic. Interestingly enough, Mullen lists "extreme right wing views" as another risk factor. 
• Mullen agrees with de Becker that most people who go on killing sprees are extremely aware of those who have previously committed similar acts, compiling information on violent killers that came before them. Some of them clearly imitate their very own violent, mass-killer idols. (As an example, Mark Chapman who killed John Lennon brought along a copy of Catcher in The Rye to his deadly excursion. John Hinckly, who went on to assassinate President Reagan, and the aforementioned Richard Bardo, did the same thing.)
• Gun control may not put a stop to massacres committed by lone killers, but it does reduce the lethality.
• Would-be mass slaughterers have a certain pattern of internet usage. Coupled with the steps they take to obtain the types of weapons required for mass killings (semi-automatics), this should lead police to pick up on their violent plans, and to pick them up.
• It doesn't matter whether mass killers are psychotic or have anti-social personality disorder or not, at the end of the day. Regardless of any mental diagnoses they may have, those who seek fame through violence are rigid, obsessional people who plan things carefully. Throughout the course of their planning phase, Aspiring killers will inevitably drop hints that should land them in an interrogation room before they ever rob someone of their life.