John Acton’s popular quote, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” perfectly encapsulated the demise of an infamous man as a result of his lust for power and control. His unforgettable identity is Jim Jones and he committed one of the worst crimes in history, even though he escaped the consequences. In 1956, Jim Jones established a church that was founded on the ideas of communism and integration. The name of the church was the Peoples Temple and it was originally founded in Indianapolis, Indiana. Initially, the Peoples Temple gained positive attraction for its promotion of equality, but the church eventually spiraled out of control as a result of Jones’s actions. Members of the church claimed that Jones was a loving father figure to them, but pride and desire were lurking underneath that innocent façade. As time passed, Jones progressively became more controlling, manipulative, and mentally abusive. The Peoples Temple became so brainwashed that they unquestionably moved out of the country one day after Jones had bought land in Guyana, which he later declared to be Jonestown. In 1978, Jones’s façade disintegrated after U.S. Representative Leo Ryan visited Jonestown and was shot by a group of people following orders given by Jones. Ryan had expressed a desire to help some of Jones’s followers escape, but Jones wanted to do everything he could to keep the town together. As a result of Jones being found out, he quickly organized a town meeting and ordered all of his followers to drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide before the U.S. officials came to “torture them.” On November 18th, 1978, more than 900 people died because of Jones’s leadership (Jones died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the same day). One of the worst moments in history.

As you absorb the story of Jonestown, you are probably wondering what influenced Jones’s manipulation and what caused the people to subject to Jones’s will. Let’s take a look at the information that investigators have uncovered about the Peoples Temple and the tactics that Jones used to warp the minds of the helpless.

According to information collected from interviews and the Peoples Temple, the purpose of the church was questionable from the start, along with Jones’s intentions. People of all races, ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds, sexes, and ages were welcomed into the Peoples Temple, but anyone who joined was required to do one thing: purge everything they owned and “donate” it the Peoples Temple. Sounds suspicious already, right? Once the Peoples Temple had gained a large influx of people, Jones focused on gaining trust and dominance over the people. Jones first brainwashed his new followers by forbidding any contacts with the outside world, reorganizing marriages, and humiliating select individuals in front of everyone to prove equality and to scare the people into disobedience. Jones even demanded the people to call him “Father” or “Jesus Christ,” and displayed “divine powers” to prove his supremacy (the acts of “divine power” were all feigned). On top of it all, Jones developed an addiction to drugs, which caused him to increased his paranoia and manipulation tenfold. Jones would also give the members of the Peoples Church drugs when he wanted them to do something without question, such as the shooting of U.S. Representative Leo Ryan. Jones’s mental state became so unstable that he relocated the entire Peoples Temple to Guyana, a remote island that had few buildings, a scarce food supply, and no civilization. The most extreme form of control that Jones ever exerted over the people. To make matters worse, the sole reason for Jones’s manipulation was to satiate his desire for control.

My heart breaks for the people that were under Jones’s control and it makes me wonder, why did they never escape in the first place? If you think about it for a minute, it starts to make sense as to why they never attempted to leave. The people had nothing to their name, their lives were threatened every time they even thought about leaving, and once they had moved to the island, where could they go? Jonestown is a truly heartbreaking story. A story that reveals the nonexistent boundaries that limit one with a sick mind. A story that reveals the effects of one of the worst drugs out there, and that drug is power.

As I was searching for another story about a psychopathic criminal, I found a fascinating case study about a young child diagnosed with psychopathy. This particular study became widely known in the 1990s after it was televised as a documentary called, Child of Rage. In the case study, Beth Thomas, a six-year-old girl, was studied by Dr. Ken Magid, a clinical psychologist, and was later treated by Connell Watkins, an educated “therapist” (Watkins allegedly never got a therapy license and practiced questionable types of therapies). What influenced Beth’s adoptive parents to seek professional advice about the six-year-old’s behaviors? What environmental factors influenced Beth’s development of personality disorders? What kind of treatment did she receive? Lets explore the fascinating story of Beth Thomas and find out what happened to her.

After Beth and her brother were adopted by a pastor and his wife, the six-year-old girl began to display startling behaviors that concerned the adoptive parents tremendously. In an interview with Dr. Ken Magid, Beth openly confessed to sticking pins into her brother and her pets, stealing sharp knives from the kitchen, sneaking into her brother’s room at night to punch him in the stomach, killing baby birds, and many other alarming behaviors. On top of the chilling pastimes for the young girl, Beth calmly explained to Dr. Ken Magid that she desired to inflict pain on her family members and her pets because she wanted to kill them. Beth never shed a morsel of emotion or sympathy as she revealed her infatuation with pain and murder to Dr. Ken Magid, which is extremely disturbing to watch. As a result of Beth’s behaviors and cold-blooded lusts, she was diagnosed with psychopathy and reactive detachment disorder (RAD). You’re probably wondering what sparked Beth’s personality disorders in the first place, and if we take a look at Beth’s early childhood, the answer to your question will be crystal clear.

As a young child, Beth was raised solely by her biological father because her birth mother passed away when she was at the age of one. Her father was no loving parental figure whatsoever and severely abused both Beth and her brother. To elaborate, Beth experienced neglect, physical trauma, and violent sexual abuse until she was 19 months old. Beth’s childhood was extremely unpleasant and is difficult to process, yet it uncovers the source of Beth’s aggressive behaviors and her anger. Her childhood also explains how she developed reactive detachment disorder (RAD), which is a disorder caused by a lack of love and nurture at an early age. Beth’s story emphasizes the importance of proper early childhood treatment and the impact of early childhood traumas on maturation. After determining Beth’s diagnosis and gathering information on her background, a trained individual was able to work with Beth and was able to give her a second chance at life.

To help Beth recover from her early childhood horrors, Connell Watkins welcomed Beth into her home and focused on building trust. Beth was eventually able to gain Watkins’s trust by asking permission for every single thing, which was a habit that Watkins enforced. Slowly but surely, Beth began to develop an emotional bond with Watkins and was able to understand emotions and sympathy. Watkins transformed Beth’s lifestyle and achieved a wonderful miracle…

As of today, Beth works as a nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and has co-authored books, participated in talks, and spoken in webinars about reactive attachment disorder with her second adoptive mother, Nancy Thomas. Beth’s early childhood traumas may have impacted her at a young age, but with the right help and guidance, she was able to overcome the dreadful hauntings. Beth’s story is truly inspirational and gives professionals a sense of hope as they continue to engage in old and new therapies with other struggling children.

Recently on August 21, 2020, another one of America’s worst serial killers was sentenced to “‘the absolute maximum sentence the court is able to impose under the law.'” On the day of the sentencing, 74-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo confessed to 13 gruesome murders and over 50 rapes that he had committed during the 1970s and the ’80s. DeAngelo clearly alluded detection for decades and was commonly referred to as the “Golden State Killer, the East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker, and the Visalia Ransacker” among authorities. How did DeAngelo go undetected for so long? Is DeAngelo considered a psychopath? What do the relatives of DeAngelo’s victims have to say after mentally suffering for over 40 years as a result of the assaults that their loved ones endured? Let’s dive into DeAngelo’s case and look into yet another criminal mind.

According to authorities and testimonies of family members related to DeAngelo’s victims, DeAngelo committed horrific crimes. The Golden State Killer reportedly murdered or abused his victims by choosing a combination of the following methods: physical beating, bludgeoning, gunshots, and rape. DeAngelo never had any particular targets or plans, he simply broke into random homes and ultimately tortured whoever was inside. After entering the homes, he would locate the victim(s) and tie them down to the bed. He would then proceed to rape the woman, even if she had a husband tied down next to her her, helpless and incapable of stopping anything. One report stated that DeAngelo placed dishes underneath the couples he had tied down and told them that if the dishes made any noise, he would kill them. DeAngelo’s crimes are absolutely spine-chilling, disturbing, and awful. My heart breaks for DeAngelo’s victims and their family members because they have all suffered in the worst way imaginable.

DeAngelo was able to commit horrendous crimes and alluded authorities for over four decades as a result of his tactics and ideal disguise. The serial rapist and murderer was a former California police officer. The irony is shocking, but its the perfect hobby for a killer. No one would suspect that a police officer, a trusted member of our community, would be saving people by day and snuffing out lives by night. The Golden State Killer also wore a ski mask during his crimes, which made it extremely difficult for raped victims to provide any physical details of their assailant to authorities. In addition, DeAngelo was part of a loving family, which created the allusion that DeAngelo was was your ordinary fun-loving and caring guy. When DeAngelo’s ex-wife, Sharon Huddle, was told the crimes that her ex-husband had committed, she was mortified. DeAngelo had never done anything to raise suspicion or curiosity among family members; clearly an expert at deception. Sharon Huddle revealed in a letter sent to the courtroom on the day of DeAngelo’s sentencing that that her life would never be the same due to the knowledge she has of all the lives devastated by the hands of DeAngelo.

Many of those people who have suffered as result of DeAngelo’s crimes gave impact statements and testimonies over the course of DeAngelo’s three-day sentence hearing. All of the stories were emotional and expressed heartache, anger, and despair over what DeAngelo had done to their loved ones or themselves. Victims and family members all voiced that DeAngelo deserved his consecutive life sentences and that he is nothing but a “‘monster,'” a “‘devil,'” a “‘beast,'” and a “‘madman.'” After hearing all of the testimonies and emotional stories that countless people had the courage to share in front of the courtroom, in front of DeAngelo, the serial rapist and killer only had one thing to say: “”I’m truly sorry for everyone I’ve hurt.'” The words, “‘I’m truly sorry,'” rolled off of DeAngelo’s tongue without an ounce of emotion and his face was cold, blank, and void of sympathy. People in the courtroom were astonished and claimed that DeAngelo’s “apology” sealed the deal. The man is clearly a psychopath, a sociopath, and everything in between. All he cares about is himself, his desires, and how can manipulate others into trusting him or how he can gain the sympathy of others.

“‘No compassion, no empathy, no remorse,'” Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said at DeAngelo’s hearing. “‘He has and always will be a sociopath in action.'”

On April 3, 2014, one of America’s top serial killers was executed by lethal injection. Tommy Lynn Sells, famously known as the “Coast to Coast Killer,” was convicted of two murders, but confessed to over 70. Sells was a vagabond for most of his life, hence why the killer was able to allude authorities for almost three decades. What crime or evidence led authorities to Sells? What drove Sells to commit more than 70 murders? Was Sells considered a psychopath? Let’s take a deeper look into the killer’s personal history, but I have to forewarn you… Tommy Lynn Sells is one of the most violent people I have ever encountered through research.

On December 31, 1999, Sells committed the crime that would seal his fate. That morning, Sells snuck into a trailer home in Del Rio, Texas. The trailer home belonged to Terry Harris, a “friend” of Sells. With a butcher knife in hand, Sells entered one of the rooms in the trailer home. In the room was Terry Harris’s 13-year-old daughter, Katy Harris, and 10-year-old Krystal Surles (one source claims Krystal was 11), a friend who had planned to spend the night with Katy. While Katy was sleeping, Sells approached her bedside and cut off all her clothes. Sells then started to touch the young girl inappropriately, which is when Katy jolted awake and yelled to her friend for help. At that instant, Sells blocked the doorway and brutally attacked Katy by slitting her throat more than once and stabbing her 16 times. Before leaving, Sells quickly slashed Krystal’s throat as she lay frozen in her top bunk. After Sells left, Krystal was miraculously still alive. Thinking that everyone else in the trailer home was dead, she ran to a nearby home for help. Shortly after, Sells was caught as a result of Krystal’s detailed descriptions, which she had to write on paper due to her severed windpipe.

Once Sells was apprehended, the killer calmly claimed to have murdered Katy and even showed authorities what he had done at the scene of the crime step-by-step. Sells’s cool, collected, and transparent attitude shocks me, but it becomes more understandable after listening to an interview that he had with ABC News. In the interview, Sells explained that he wanted a prison sentence to punish himself and that he was “‘raised to do time.'” A fascinating and bewildering confession. Sells revealed a lot of information during the interview, including a statement indicative of his psychopathic tendencies: “‘Two words I don’t like to use are love and sorry because I’m about hate.'” The psychologists involved in Sells’s case confirmed that he was indeed a psychopath. Like all the other psychopaths in my past blog posts, Sells also lacked sympathy for his victims and displayed no remorse over the grotesque crimes that he had committed; strongly correlates to Sells’s statement on feelings. Sells’s facial expressions also revealed his psychopathic tendencies. If you closely examine his face, you will notice that it appeared to be a blank slate. Facial features void of expressions are another staple characteristic of psychopaths and are present as a result of their inability to process normal emotions. Sells’s ease with confessing to murders and describing each one in full detail also played a role in his diagnosis as a psychopath.

After understanding Sells’s diagnosis, you’re probably wondering why Sells developed psychopathic habits in the first place, and so did I. Well, Sells’s psychopathy stems from his childhood. As a child, Sells frequently moved from home to home and he “was left mostly to fend for himself” (The link leads to an article on Sells…it is quite disturbing). By the age of seven, Sells was skipping school and drinking alcohol. Around the age of eight, Sells started visiting a neighbor and spent nights at his house. Unfortunately, the neighbor befriended Sells for the wrong reasons and sexually molested Sells on multiple occasions. As a young teenager, Sells dropped out of school and spent much of his time either smoking pot or drinking alcohol. As Sells matured, he became increasingly more violent, angry, sporadic, unpredictable, and sexual, which culminated in his killing spree for almost three decades. Based on Sells’s childhood, it is hard for me to believe that it did not cause the development of his psychopathic tendencies. In Sells’s interview with ABC News, he also happened to mention how he felt like he was taking out his rage on the neighbor who had molested him each time he murdered a victim. Such a powerful statement reveals the role Sells’s childhood played in the development of his mental illness.

In the end, I believe that Tommy Lynn Sells deserved his capital punishment. He shed no ounce of compassion for any person he came in contact with and pondered on murder with relish. Such individuals are dangerous and significant threats to society that should be dealt with accordingly.

At the age of 13 years old, Paris Bennett calculated and executed one of the worst crimes imaginable that left authorities and psychologists stunned in Abilene, Texas. One evening, Paris and his younger sister, Ella, were being cared for by a babysitter. At one point during the night, Paris was able to successfully convince the babysitter to leave; at that point the first part of his plan was complete. Driven by evil intentions, Paris then approached his sister while she was sleeping and proceeded to choke, beat, and stab her to death (Paris stabbed Ella 17 times). Driven by shame and guilt, according to Paris himself, he called 911 and confessed what he had done to his sister. Paris told Piers Morgan in an interview that he remembered an officer walking into Ella’s bedroom and whispering to himself, “‘Oh my God,'” after witnessing the crime scene.

After hearing the beginning of Piers Morgan’s interview with Paris, I was shocked. What would motivate a 13-year-old boy to spontaneously murder his 4-year-old sister? Well, Paris revealed to authorities that he had first desired to kill his mother, but changed his mind and came up with a plan that would result in the murder of  his sister instead. His goal was to emotionally destroy his mother for the rest of her life, but why? To answer that question, Paris claims that he received minimal care, love, and attention from his mother and had a rough childhood socially, which is what ignited his sinister desire to “inflict pain and misery upon his mother.” However, his mother is far from being inconsiderate and unloving towards Paris. In reality, she has never abandoned Paris and continues to be present in his life, even after he was convicted of murdering his younger sister. His mother has forgiven him for what he has done, but she struggles to find peace and comfort when she is around him because of what he has proven to be capable of.

According to criminal psychologists involved with Paris Bennett’s case, the once 13-year-old killer boy is no doubt a psychopath. Psychologists claim that Paris was diagnosed as a psychopath and will never stop being one. However, Paris strongly believes otherwise, which is quite surprising to me. During his interview with Piers Morgan, Paris did admit that he believes that he committed a monstrous crime, but it should not define who he his throughout the rest of his life. Several psychologists indirectly disagree with Paris because a person can never except psychopathy after the diagnosis; I agree with the psychologists. During the interview between Piers Morgan and Paris, Piers asked Paris if he is able to understand the concept of ‘love’. The answer that Paris gave was vague and ‘beat around the bush.’ Paris also claimed that he would probably not be able to point out an example of love, if he were asked to. At first, his answer may seem reasonable, but it is a little suspicious to me. How can a 25-year-old not come up with a brief definition or simple example of ‘love’? I understand that he has been incarcerated since the age of 13, but the average person would be able to construe some sort of explanation of what ‘love’ is, especially someone with an amazing IQ of 141; Paris is a smart individual. Also, Paris never shed any ounce of emotion over what he had done to his sister or the emotional damage he had caused for his mother. In my eyes, the criminal psychologists are right. Paris will always be a psychopath. Don’t be fooled by his charisma, intelligence, and good looks. He hides a twisted mind and an emotionally void soul beneath his persona.

Paris Bennett is currently “serving a 40-year sentence at the Ferguson Unit Texas State Prison.” Yes, you heard me correctly. He is only serving a 40-year sentence, which means he will be a free man one day. What do you think about this? What should his mother do? Do you think Paris would try to kill his mother or the other child his mother had while he was in prison? Let me know what you think in the comment section. The answers to these questions are complicated and I’m curious to see what your thoughts are.