# Repentance from an atrocity **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966 "2020-01-05T09:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/21 "2020-01-06T20:57:18Z")
Anybody who did what Melinda Loveless did, I would consider a psychopath that has put on a very good “normal face” to get released. I might not run her out of town with a pitchfork, but I would never, ever, want her alone with anyone I loved. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/22 "2020-01-07T00:29:39Z")
Not even a big act of heroism could probably redeem some of these people in society’s eyes. They could rescue dozens of children from a burning building but the newspaper coverage would probably read: “Former serial killer So-and-So saved 24 lives today” and then the readers’ eyes would be drawn more towards their past than their present. The best many of them might be able to hope for is just quiet anonymity and a life of doing good things quietly. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/23 "2020-01-07T00:44:39Z")
If you committ an atrocious/heionous crime, being sincere about repentance is not going to keep you from being defined by that act. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/24 "2020-01-07T01:10:07Z")
How do you define atrocity, does “mere” murder count? The actor [Charles S. Dutton](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001165/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1) killed someone as a young man, served his sentence, and then went on to a fairly successful acting career. His past doesn’t seem to have slowed him down. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/25 "2020-01-07T01:23:20Z")
At the risk of fighting the hypothetical, whether I believe them wouldn’t be very important to me. What would be important to me is keeping myself and others safe while not being too much of a dick about it. A person who’s committed a crime like that might genuinely believe they’ve changed. They might have genuinely changed. They might be 99% unlikely to commit another murder ever again. But I’m going to stay the hell away from anyone who I think has a 1% chance of being a murderer. I don’t like those odds. I’d hire her for jobs where she wouldn’t be unsupervised around kids, and I’d be okay with her living in a neighborhood without many kids. But I’d want her to have frequent therapy sessions and check-ins with a parole officer. And there’s pretty much nothing she could say that would make me feel happy about having her as a next-door neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/26 "2020-01-07T01:26:31Z")
No, that’s not an “atrocity”, it’s just a hazard of growing up in dangerous surroundings. I don’t view a gangland stabbing at age 16 as being much different from killing someone after being drafted into a war. He was sentenced for manslaughter, not first-degree murder. It’s not like he had corpses buried under his yard. Edit - this is regarding Charles S. Dutton. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/27 "2020-01-07T02:18:54Z")
I recently saw a rerun of an episode of Forensic Files. A dude that stole a car, sexually assaulted on of the people who had been in it, and then shot and killed two police officers, got away, and apparently lived, after that, a crime free life for almost fifty years. New forensic technology identified him, and at age 77 he went on trial and was sentenced to life in prison. He died there when he was ninety. Good, I say. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/28 "2020-01-07T07:10:52Z")
This reminds me of the sex offender list where people, after being released, are put on a list and have their names put out there that anyone is allowed to look up and identify. Frankly this hurts their neighbors as much as them because it hurts their homes resale values. Now imagine this woman lives next door. But wait. She wont have to register in the same way so you would not know. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/29 "2020-01-07T08:03:55Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Having worked closely for many years with psychopaths, serial killers, and prison psychiatrists, I’d still the favor the psychiatrists, as the coin flip would give a 50% chance that the psycho killer won’t kill again. Most prison psychiatrists fall back on the maxim: **The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior**. This is the truest thing I’ve learned about behavior in my 4 decades in medicine. I recently listened to John Douglas’s latest book [The Killer Across the Table](https://www.audible.com.au/pd/The-Killer-Across-the-Table-Audiobook/0008346534), read by Jonathon Groff who plays Holden Ford, the “John Douglas” character in\* Mindhunter\*. He several times expressed your maxim. He recounts stories of authorities willing to overlook it and accept the convict’s account of how changed they were at face value. Concerning one case he says: > [@](#): > > But these reports on McGowan’s mental state made me even more uncomfortable about their role in determining his suitability for parole. If you had severe physical symptoms that definitely indicated something was very wrong and you were examined by four different doctors, each of whom came up with a different diagnosis, you would seriously question the efficacy of their diagnostic protocols. You would, unquestionably, demand a battery of tests to determine what was actually ailing you and wouldn’t be satisfied until blood work and endocrine and imaging studies confirmed a specific cause for your ailment. > In most cases, though, no such tests exist for confirming the correctness of a mental diagnosis. We know the symptom—in this case, the brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl—but we cannot prove the cause. So what concerns me the most is how accurately we can predict future dangerousness. It would be like the doctor saying she couldn’t prove what caused a condition, but she was most interested in whether it would recur. In other words, we can only speculate, only offer an estimation or opinion. But I always start from the same premise, one that I taught throughout my years with the FBI: Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/30 "2020-01-07T12:08:44Z")
Don’t ask, Your article said mentions past behavior predicts future behavior. However in this case the behavior happened over 30 years ago when they were a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/31 "2020-01-07T15:43:18Z")
So, what, being all mass-murdery might just have been a phase they were going through? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/32 "2020-01-07T15:49:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So, what, being all mass-murdery might just have been a phase they were going through? I’m a pretty forgiving guy, but after reading the events of that torture and murder, it’s too bad, so sad. If you truly have come to your senses and repented, then I think you’d understand why society does not want to ever let you out of your cell. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/33 "2020-01-07T16:33:11Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Don’t ask, > Your article said mentions past behavior predicts future behavior. > > However in this case the behavior happened over 30 years ago when they were a teenager. The intervening behavior needs to be examined very closely. Even if a bunch of civil behavior is documented during the interval, it’ll still be a crapshoot. But if a lot of at risk behavior is seen, that would carry a lot of weight. People can and do change. But that’s not the way to bet, especially if stakes are high. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/34 "2020-01-07T16:35:09Z")
This story is o hideous I’m putting it in a spoiler box. Click if you dare Google "Latie McGee There is nothing these two monsters could do to convince me they don’t deserve to die in prison. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/35 "2020-01-07T17:09:12Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I would place more weight on the opinion of the team of trained psychiatrists who deemed it safe to release the psycho killer from custody, than on her exquisitely polite invitations to come over for tea. I think it’s adorable that so many Americans believe this will actually happen. When the sentence is up, they can’t hold them. Nor do they have the space to hold them all even if they could.All that evaluation is only in place to decide whether or not they should be let out early. And I have personally sat and watched a conscienceless man charming psychologists, doctors, GALs and other court “experts.” They are very good at it. And some of them can act good for long periods in order to obtain the freedoms that good reputation allows them. The one I knew joined a Mormon church and worked his way up through the hierarchy. When I knew him he almost always had a scotch and a cigar close by. There are very few people who can actually gain pleasure while another person suffers. Once they have been proven to have that capacity, no one should ever trust them again. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/36 "2020-01-07T17:10:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > This story is o hideous I’m putting it in a spoiler box. Click if you dare Google "Latie McGee > > There is nothing these two monsters could do to convince me they don’t deserve to die in prison. My GoogleFu is not working. Are you sure that name is right? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/37 "2020-01-07T17:17:19Z")
My error. The first name has a double “T” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/38 "2020-01-07T17:20:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > My error. The first name has a double “T” Ah, I thought I had tried that, in addition the changing the “l” to a “k,” but I guess not. Got it now, The story is vaguely ringing a bell. Happened around here when I was 12. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/39 "2020-01-07T17:24:05Z")
NM Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/40 "2020-01-07T17:59:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ah, I thought I had tried that, in addition the changing the “l” to a “k,” but I guess not. Got it now, > > The story is vaguely ringing a bell. Happened around here when I was 12. Ugh. And down the rabbit hole I ended up finding the story of Sylvia Likens. Fucking hell, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966.md?page=3)