"Thats not smart; smart people contribute to the betterment of society; a smart person would realize that they are doing something thats wrong and not beat a homeless man to death. Hes deceitful and cruel, and they are often confused. Don’t confuse cold manipulation with intelligence."

A fine line between genius and insanity. You can be the next Albert Einstein, but still make poor decisions with the "I do what I want to" mentality. Just because you make a bad decision, a terrible decision, or commit a crime does not make a person any less intelligent then a 'saint'.

You underestimate the criminal mind, which a dangerous thing to do.

As for the article. I believe it. There are some people who will just not learn, regardless of the parenting. I don't know if this kid was "born evil" or what, but I don't think bad parenting could be blamed entirely for that terror.

I'll only inject this into the discussion:

Anyone calling for him to be sent away to some boot camp or some "behavior modification" facility ought to know that he is GUARANTEED to come out nastier, less respectful of others (!!), and with even MORE hatred than he started with.

@austin lewis

by "smart" i ment they are extremely good at playing off peoples emotions and weaknesses and exploiting them to no extent. a person with a conscience would realize they are doing something wrong. yes he would have been "smart" to stop and realize what he was doing, but thats not the context i was using the word in. it takes a large amount of intelligence to manipulate and decive things and actually make them work without backfire, which is why these types of people are so dangerous. if they were not smart they would not be able to manipulate the way they do.

[...] Killer’s Step-Mother responds to Penny Arcade (Not on the show) [...]

@austin lewis

actually they are very smart. they are able to manipulate and twist things for their own benifit and get away with it alot of the time. it takes an intelligent person to pull a front and fool people like a sociopathic person can. they may be dumb to commit crimes like these but as far as their intelligence goes, its pretty high up.

@lightwarrior

the is NO way to discipline a sociopath. you can beat them, yell at them, anything you can think of will not work. they have no fear of the law or authority, so you cannot scare them into being good.

Ok I skimmed most of the comments here but I keep seeing "bea his ass...beat this..beat that."....and I know some of you read that full letter...child abuse was a big issue in her story.

There's gotta be a way to displine them without beating them.....and I dont think kicking them out of the house works eather.....if the child is smart...like this kid...they WILL report you....sadly that's probably why alot of kids grow up corrupt now....it seems "proper" displine is now illgeal.

i doubt a true sociopath would even care about a divorce going on. i hate to say it, but sociopaths are incredibly intelligent for what they do and how much success they get from doing it, they are able to manipulate anyone or anything around them for the shear feeling of having total control over something. being "god" is what they get off on. their minds revolve around power over life and death and how they believe they can control things for their own benifit without even once considering another persons well-being. the most disturbing thing is that they are intelligent for what they do and are extremely good at manipulation. not even the law scares these types of people, they have no emotions, so in turn, they have no fear. and with no fear, they feel invicible and "god" like, which is why they are so good at what they do.

parents of kids like that cant do anything really besides making an attempt to have them institutionalzed. again, sociopaths are incapable of seeing the feelings of others. they have no emotions basically. you can really program that kind of thing into someone if they dont have it. in todays world there is nothing that can be done to help them, however thats not to say that sometime in the future a treatment or method would be created. im hoping for one, as its sad to see someone as "evil" as that not be given a life other than the one they are forcibly given. i personally do not know anyone who has a disorder like this but i have read many medical journals and books on the anti-social personality but its hard to swallow the fact that these people really have nothing to look forward to in life other than a life of crime, separation, and a lack of the many things normal people are able to experience.

the trouble is they cant really identify them if they are underage, as underage people are prone to act out in many different ways. ways that could mirror the traits of someone who is a sociopath to some extent. i know lots of younger people that steal, get in fights, lie, etc. all those are characteristics of someone who is a potential sociopath yet at the same time they are common characteristics of a teenager. now murder is something totally different and cant really be predicted by anyone but by the time the conclusions are made the act has already been done, so its really difficult to catch these people before this sort of thing happens because you run the risk of branding someone the wrong thing.

@bluegus

Actually i would guess the younger brother to be closer to the age of 15 or 16 for pre-college... generally speaking, kids don't usually have the foresight to prepare for collage at the age of 12. Not to mention the step mother claims the second child has a similar upbringing in terms of parents, so i would assume that he is closer to the age of the older brother. this ofcourse would make the second kid only 1-3 years younger thn the messed up brother. 5 or 6, at time of divorce (assuming 10 years). also note you kinda mixed things up a bit by making the time of divorce being 7 years ago for the messed up brother and then making it 10 years for the good brother. make it 10 years, and the messed up brother is more like only 8 years old, not 11, and making it 7 years would put the good brother at 8-9. (just clearing things up a bit)... overall, i'd say the divroce impact on the two children wasn't too different, unless the younger brother is indeed much younger than his older brother.

Also, i don't think the birth mother abandoned the child, cause it sounds like they parents had joint custody. Unless the parents live very close to eachother, the child can't really live with both of them because he has to go to school and what-not. So normally the child will live with one parent and occassionally visit the other parent, like on weekends or something. If the mother really wanted to abandon the child, she would have given the father full custody, which is apparently not the case. The police used to bring the boy back to his mother everytime they caught them. If the father had full custody, then she could have told the police to drag the child back to the father seeing as she was not the one legally responicble for the child; something she would have done considering the hell the kid was giving her. So she must have shared the custody and it was just decided they he would mostly live with the father, only to visit the mother on occasion.

@Thefremen
I would personally think that this kid is more like Achilles from Ender's Shadow.

@Wardo
I completely agree with your statement, and I think that the leniency towards minors is ridiculous. Even before the age of 10, I knew right from wrong, and I am willing to bet that I am not alone. I was reading the CNN article, and I think that it is ridiculous that this dumb little fuck only got 15 years for killing a man. I mean has our justice system degraded so far that they think the life of a man is only worth 15 goddamn years from a psychopathic little bitch? The homeless guy served in the military, and he wound up being beaten by three little bitches, had shit smeared on his face, and got stuffed into his own grill. Am I the only person that thinks that these kids should be executed or have life sentences without the possibility of parole? I mean come on. And if these kids suffer from APD, they should be removed from mainstream society as soon as possible because, do you really want these monsters to exist around you?

@Brer
Looking back on your statement, I find that I agree with you statement that the Army is not a dumping ground for criminals. These monsters need to be jailed or executed, preferrably the latter. I highly respect our fighting men and women who volunteered to serve our country, and if I was an enlisted, I know that I would not want a fucking psychopath like these kids in my platoon, or in my unit for that matter.

@Bluegus
For starters, the “**** you, I don’t have to listen to you,” thing was a quote from the email. However, I have looked back over my earlier post and I would like to revise it. For starters, I had just quickly reviewed the stuff published on GP, and it really pissed my off because it is bastards like these kids who ruin it for the rest of us and give teenagers a bad name. However, since then, I have had a little time to view this objectively and research some of the matters more carefully. I still believe that the system is too soft in believing the kids without investigating beforehand, but I believe that I worded my views on parenthood a little too loosely in my above post.
First, I would like to say that in no way do I advocate a super-strict household. Far from it, I feel that parental involvement should be more of a passive role, giving advice and guidance while allowing the child to learn from his or her own mistakes. I find that the things my parents constantly hammer me on usually go right over my head, but when I screw up something and the blame lies solely on me, then I usually learn from it and retain that lesson. Parents should be like an advisor to their children, sharing with them what experience has taught them. In extreme cases however, I feel that parental involvement should become much more active, such as not allowing a child to experiment with drugs. A parent should give the child the illusion of privacy but monitor their activities constantly to prevent them from making a really dumb mistake that could kill them.
One thing that really irritates me is when parents insist on dominancy over their child. Demanding respect from him or her, the parents punish relentlessly for what they feel is insubordination. However, just because you brought someone into the world does not give you the right to demand respect. Respect must be earned, not demanded, and I find it interesting that parents think that they can get their kids to respect them by punishing them. A parent should not be hypocritical: if you drink, then don't hammer your kids for drinking unless they are underage; the same thing goes for smoking. If you don't want your child to curse (although I consider this to be a negligible offense in light of the other, more serious offenses) then don't curse in the house yourself. The line between parent and child is not a thick line, and thus, the parent is not above the rules of the child. If you show the child that you respect him or her as an equal, then they will respect you back. Parents must learn that respect is not something they are entitled to, far from it, it must be earned through mutual understanding and respect.
I hope this clears up any misconceptions of my view of parenting, although as you pointed out, I don't have kids. I am only voicing my opinion from what I have witnessed as a child, so it may be a tad unrealistic. Still, I feel that parents should never forget that their kids have rights as well, and if they hope to have a decent rapport with their kids, they must respect their children as individuals and equals, for children are people too, and though they may sometimes act strangely or in an uneducated way, that is merely their own way of thinking. If you want to change it, explain what is wrong with their way, in a rational, objective manner, and then suggest what they should do.

Finally, I would like to ask two simple questions.
a) Why is CNN only sensationalizing the beating/degrading of Rex Baum when it occurred in 2003?
b) And why do all these little bastards get such small sentences when they are killing or seriously maiming these homeless people? (see the CNN article)

If the mother wrote it or not. The person nailed it. Video Games didn't make him kill!

@ Fremen

No, because eventually Peter used his violent, agressive urges for the betterment of the Earth.

"Parents who screw up a divorce cause far less damage to a toddler than they do a child who’s already 8 or older."

I was 7. Phew; guess I just narrowly missed that "future hobo killer" threshold. :p

Bluegus, don't forget that his brother went through the same circumstances, and still stayed a rational human being. Heck, what is it – half of all marriages end in divorce these days? Why isn't half our youth population out murdering the homeless? Because most of them aren't born sociopaths.

Everyone has problems. This kid, and others like him, are problems.

grombar: I was waiting for someone to bring that up. It's a very interesting point.

Let's analyze this. The letter seems to indicate that the other brother is younger . "He is currently working his butt off right now to save up money to go to school for architecture." Which means he's pre-college. From this I surmise that the brother is currently probably between the ages of 12 and 16. If we assume that the father split with the biological mother about 1 to 3 years before meeting the new wife, that puts the split-up of the parents at about 10 years ago (new wife has been with father for 7 years.) Which means that little brother was probably between the ages of 2 and 6 at the time his parents split.

The impact of divorce on a 10 year old is much, much heavier than the impact on a toddler. I've gone through it myself. I practice it (I'm an attorney who does some divorce work.) Parents who screw up a divorce cause far less damage to a toddler than they do a child who's already 8 or older.

The fact that this kid has a well-rounded brother really doesn't mean anything within the context of the information we have in front of us.

hmmmmm............kids who beat a homeless man to death in cold blood might have had issues before they started playing video games?! Shocker.

"if I wasn’t worried about this punk going Private Pyle on somebody."

Let him keep running his mouth, and if he physically threatens another soldier, they would be within their rights to defend themselves, and anyone who assists will be acting in his defense, hence, he'll land his ass i nthe hospital a few times. As far as i know, in the military, he won't be able to force no as an answer, because they don't take no as an answer. Hell, let him into Iraq and let him experience true hell.

And I hate to bring him int othis ,as in fact, he does haven nothing to do with it, but despite if this letter is real or not, Thompson would fight this kid's imprisonment tooth and nail and demanding that Rockstar execs take that place in a cell. He's defend psychos like this before when it was obvious it was them who caused their child to go postal.

My apologies for that, feel free to delete this opsot and I'll just repost the first part.

I'm going to give this the benefit of the doubt. That letter had so much detail, not to mention emotion in it, that I think it would be very difficult to fake.
Honestly, I can't imagine how she (and the real mother and father) must have felt, to try everything you can think of and be completely unable to do anything for this wretched soul in the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

That link is all about something called Antisocial Personality Disorder. Something that, in light of the kid's actions and the letter from the Step-Mom, this kid most likely suffered from. Here's some highlights...

Common characteristics of people with antisocial personality disorder include:

Persistent lying or stealing
Recurring difficulties with the law
Tendency to violate the rights of others (property, physical, sexual, emotional, legal)
Aggressive, often violent behavior; prone to getting involved in fights
Disregard for the safety of self or others
A childhood diagnosis of conduct disorders
Lack of remorse for hurting others
Lack of guilt
Recklessness, impulsivity


This isn't something that boot camp, spartan living conditions or beatings can correct. With no guilt and no regard for the self or for others, what are you appealing to? He won't mind the pain, and he won't feel shamed. He won't follow authority and he won't care whether his parents love him or fear him...and he certainly won't fear or love anybody else.

Unfortunately, this is not something that can be diagnosed in a kid, although it's very apparrent that he suffered from it, or a similar disorder. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, and other than medicating him, I don't think that there's anything that the parents could have done.

@JonC2006
The kids obviously a sociopath: Failure to learn from experiences and change according to punishment, Failure to feel any sort of empathy or sympathy for the victim, and he appears to have some sort of Anti Social Disorder.

"I’d take every thing out of his room till it was spartan; a bed, a mattress, and a desk"
Well, Austin, like she said:
"We tried absolutely everything we could think of to get him to behave like a normal human being… we tried groundings, negative reinforcement / punishment, positive reinforcement, counseling, and anything and everything the counselors suggested. We tried to get him interested and involved in extracurricular activities, like hockey, drama, music, art, anything, but he got himself kicked out of every group he was in with his “make me” attitude. When we would ground him, we took away everything. No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food…. Everything. When he was grounded, he was only allowed to sit in his room and read or draw. He was actually a pretty good artist, and we tried to encourage him to spend his time working with his talent. He would just sit there and take it… the groundings had absolutely no affect on him at all. Most of the time, he didn’t even remember why he was being grounded. At the end of it, we would ask him if it was worth it to have everything taken away in exchange for what he did… he usually just shrugged. He could be grounded for weeks, or a month at a time, and then the very next day would do something to get back in trouble again. Most kids get grounded or punished a couple of times, and then they want to avoid having to go through it again… not this kid, nothing seemed to phase him."

@Gil.
I don't mean just taking away the extras. i mean making his room a prison cell.
"No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food"
Add to that no music, no radio, only 2 pairs of clothes left in the room, etc.

Well, there's a plethora of things you can do to this bastard kid.
ONE:
You send him to a holding cell; police would normally do that. Go to a police station and tell them you can't deal wit the fucking bastard.
TWO:
Beat him. When I was little, if I had done something like this, my dad would've crippled me. I don't have to do what you tell me to my ass. I'd take every thing out of his room till it was spartan; a bed, a mattress, and a desk. If he kept acting up, I would jack him up. There's a saying: You live in the King's House, you obey the king. If he was out of control, you have to deal with it, in a violent manner if its forced.
THREE: Abandon him somewhere.
FOUR:COMMIT HIS BITCH ASS.

I would actually recommend that readers here go look at the slashdot discussion. Much of it is really interesting.

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/22/1924205

""can someone be born evil?" vs "the parents could have done something differently.""

Well, by a technical standpoint, both are possible. Someone isn't necessarily born evil, but rather, imbalanced. Chemical deficiencies, brain misdevelopment, etc. can all lead to such negative behavior which cannot be cured by therapy unless it's medical, which often, I believe, can have serious side-effects. As for if the parents could have done something; if it was biological, options would probably have been limited. However, if it was psychological, well, again, options would be limited.

This kid belongs in a mental institution.

Oh, almost forgot.

According to the CNN article, the kid is now 18. Military work might not be a bad idea, if I wasn't worried about this punk going Private Pyle on somebody.

Now see, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt, just like Gabe did.

This kid is sick, that's the bottom line, he's sick and he was stubborn, the worst combo in any human. Massive damage occured when she mentioned he was 6'1 and 220, because from personal experience, those guys don't go down without some serious injuries.

This kid didn't need his little buddies to help pull this off, not in the least. It's in my firm belief (and no I will not debate this here with people) that you can in fact be born with a twisted sense of reality. People like that, who have the means simply need to be beat the hell up. I'm not saying abuse here, not by a long shot, but someone has got to beat them down to make sure they realize they are not nearly as strong as they thought they were.

Send the kid to the army, let him mess with those guys, and for god's sake take the cuffs off the drill instructors! Either way, he won't get any worse if he's forced to serve his entire life, and he'll still be a productive member of the world.

For God's sakes, people, quit bringing Jack Thompson in articles that he's not the subject of. To think, people around here wonder why others think we're obsessed with him...

I'd like to think Gabe and the Penny Arcade Justice Team verified this lady's identity before slapping her story up on the website. It's only common sense for such a serious subject, after all, and one can only hope that he's not as dumb as his character in the comic.

This situation doesn't really lower my faith in humanity too much (a faith that changes depending on news articles I read and the weather.) Honestly, this kid's just an f' up who needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars to make sure he doesn't do crap like this again.

HE (yes, him) will publicly accuse this woman of child abuse on account of her reading Penny Arcade and therefore being a gamer.

Yeah, I was surprised my faith in humanity has sunk to the level where I would consider this a liklihood but there you go. This is what people like him do to humanity.

I'm kind of concerned what will happen if it is true. During one part of the email the lady says she is a long time reader of Penny Arcade. It's not a reach to believe that she is a gamer since she reads PA. If that is the case, then the videogame argument won't die, but instead it will be raised to question the gamer parenthood ability instead.

the kid was probably a sociopath as the nature of the incident just sounds like the work of one all though it could be possible that he wasnt. if in fact he was, he couldnt really be helped. and like she said, video games could not have contributed to it in anyway whatsoever as their perception of right and wrong isnt there to begin with. sociopaths view other people as "objects" or "tools" and really have no regard for other people, they simply use them for whatever ways they believe will make themselves feel in control. their upbringing is irrelevent to a point as well.

Everyone assumed PA has done something like that.

The discussion on slashdot has been pretty fierce. Alot of it boils down to "can someone be born evil?" vs "the parents could have done something differently."

http://www.feelingame.com