The Washington Sniper: Sociopath, Psycho, Oxford Cloth Killer? Motivations, Profile?

Great Debates
21

one cartridge was left at a crime scene (the 13 year old boy).

I think the killer slipped up with this. The added pressure on the killer to stay anonymous led to more pressure at the time of the shooting, and the killer forgot to collect the cartridge after the shot.

If it was a muzzled rifle shot, its not really necessary for there to be 2 people.

I’m thinking it it the work of 2 nut jobs with no agenda to prove other than the fact they get off on the media analysis of who they are.

for those who think that it is a distraction from a bigger plot, bear in mind one thing. How is an increased alertness by the Police Force and the Public going to remove attention from shady behaviour? if anything, it would only make things harder.

22

Nothing at all in the CNN story indicates there were two people in that van, and there is certainly no necessity to have a separate driver and shooter. People are seriously overestimating how difficult these shots are. A hunting rifle with a properly aligned scope would make this shot a piece of cake at 100 yards.

Park. Wait for target. Roll down window. Shoot. Drive away.

No second person necessary.

23

Well, I hope they catch this guy soon, because my wife is scared to leave the house. We recently moved from the Aspen Hill area (about 2 blocks from where a couple of last week’s shootings occurred), and my wife often shopped at that Michael’s store.

Now, we live in Manassas.

I passed the crime scene on my way to work this morning. It is at one of the busiest intersections in the Manassas area. I haven’t read the newspaper account yet, but someone could have shot from a vehicle at the intersection and immediately made his way to the I-66 entrance ramp. But no one saw anything enough to get a tag number? There must have been at least 50 potential eyewitnesses within sight of the Sunoco station at 8:00. At least.

Profile? My guess falls along what has already been mentioned by some. I, too, am surprised that this seems like a tandem. My mental image of a sniper/spree killer is of the dissaffected loner acting out in a powerful way to compensate for social impotence.

The Tarot card seems like a red herring to me. If it is not, and the Police consider it an important clue, the last thing I want to do is read about it in the paper! The police should keep “calling card” clues like this under wraps so they can tell if future killings are tied to the same guy and not a copycat.

The killer may have an ego and want to establish a connection (even if in his mind it is a way to toy with the police). Cat and mouse. If so, they should let him, because it could eventually be his undoing. The press should respect this.

24

The Tarot card was found near a middle school. So, some semi-nihilistic 13 year old might have gotten it into his empty, rattling head to plant it there just after the shooting, because he thought it was “cool”.

Doesn’t have to be connected at all.

25

Our man (and yes, I’m pretty sure it’s a man) is probably between thirty and forty years of age, white, and ex-military. Maybe a Gulf War vet. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the renewed hostilities with Iraq were some kind of trigger if that’s the case.

The tarot card is probably some dumb prank being pulled by a Goth kid who wanted to get on the news. The D.C. sniper is smarter than that … he’s a mass murderer, not a serial killer, and that’s an important distinction to make. The only pattern to his choice of victim is a lack of one. There’s no rhyme or reason to these crimes. It’s thrillkilling, plain and simple. There’s no cry for help. Unlike the traditional serial killer, he doesn’t want to be caught. But he likes taunting the cops anyway.

There’s no way leaving the shells behind was a mistake. You don’t commit six murders in seven days, most in broad daylight, and get away without a single strong witness stepping forward unless you’re very, very smart and very clean. The shells are his calling card.

This is all assuming it’s one guy. From what it sounds like, it could be two, which is even scarier. Might be some kind of weird competition thing.

In any event, I hope they catch this guy soon. My girlfriend’s mom and younger brothers live in Maryland, and they’re pretty freaked.

26

There is no more evidence for two killers than there is for eight. As for leaving behind a shell, the only shooting where that apparently occurred was the middle school, where photos of police investigating the crime scene show them searching a leaf-covered spot in the woods. If the shooter set up in that outside area instead of a vehicle, and if the weapon is semi-automatic instead of bolt action, the shell would have been ejected and easily missed by someone in a hurry to get out of the area.

27

This would suggest a bolt-action rifle, as you would expect more cartridges to have been found with an automatic.
Which, in turn, would leave one to think that it was left intentionally.

28

One of the problems with backseat profiling is the inability to qualify what is first-hand, accurate information, and what is rumor that has belatedly reached us. Profiling involves taking the most tenuous of clues and deduction; false clues will wreck that.

On that score, I find it highly dubious that there are two shooters; the victims are chosen at random, which implies an asocial loner who cares not for human life. For my money, the accomplice theory is wrong; who would chauffer a cold blooded killer of random humanity?

Here is a list of the victims; randomly chosen; children not excepted. Suppose you were both a sociopath and a megalomaniac. Who might you not shoot? Most people have highest empathy with those who look like themselves. Might that be why no young men have been fired at?

The Tarot Card could easily be a prank; but according to the press, it was found at the school where the boy was shot – an extremely sociopathic prank, if it is one – and it had a private message to police instructing them not to reveal it; it leaked out; someone else was shot at a gas station.

A gas station, a gas station; who was the list of where these people were shot? I see several parking lots and gas stations; all road targets, perhaps something you could drive up to and fire from the van.

But why has no one heard or seen the shooter? I think he’s firing from the van itself. Imagine one of those 60’s vans with an open window, and a sniper’s nest built into it. Fires, closes the window or door, and drives off. If that’s his shell, he must have left it.

The shell and the card speak, to me, at least, not of Vietnam era books, but of watching too many serial killer movies. “Death leaves a calling card.” What better calling card than Death from a tarot deck?

White male, 19-35; Recently ejected militia-nut or military wipe-out; No hobbies besides guns and FPS; Gun hobbiest, probably went to gun shows; talented craftsman; owns power tools; loner, misanthropist; social and sexual failure; probably hired a hooker right before the spree; no superego, highly inflated ego, low self-esteem; feels owed by the world. Probably fought with his neighbors. Abandoned by one or both of his parents; didn’t go to college; barely could bother to finish high school owing to his truancy. Writes personal fiction for himself. Possible military fiction writer online. Connection with Iraq is ???

29

Latro: If the guy has been shooting from inside a vehicle, you wouldn’t find any shells at the scene even if they’re automatically ejected. They’d be in the vehicle, no?

Regardless, there’s no basis to conclude whether the gun is semi-automatic or bolt-action.

30

—There is no more evidence for two killers than there is for eight.—

Well, gee, all except for witness accounts of “two men” in a white vehicle driving away from the scene of the crime in the latest case. Could be connected, could not be, but it at least ties in with one of the other killings. No one said that two men were required: rather that this is what some witnesses have reported.

—This would suggest a bolt-action rifle, as you would expect more cartridges to have been found with an automatic.—

The person is also firing only one kill shot each time: no need for an auto, or even to cycle out the round.

31

I take that back: looks like the police are backing away from that claim: “Authorities backed away from an initial state police report that two white males were seen in a white van near the scene.”

Of course, that they say this now was no reason to pretend the information wasn’t being given out before.

32

And I retract my earlier comment that there was nothing in the CNN story re: two men. That detail is in the current version, although the source of the report appears to be something from last week, not last night. I’d still be greatly surprised if more than one person were involved.

33

I’d turn around my conditional probability thing: if it’s terrorism, then two men would be the way to go: one guy to set up for the shot, the other to scan the set up area to make sure that no one is close enough to hear the muffled shot and pinpoint its location. If this isn’t terrorism, then it’s very likely just one guy.

I agree that there doesn’t need to be two guys: these aren’t hard shots: at a hundred feet, I could definately make them with a bow and arrow (without being anywhere near as deadly), let alone a nice modern rifle. What’s strange is that no one saw anything: that would take at least some thought on the part of this guy (perhaps at least planning out what spots to use ahead of time during his spree period?), and psychos don’t normally think that straight.

34

I’m not sure why some folks seem to think the one shell casing found was intentionally left. In all but one case, it appears the shooter was firing from a vehicle, thus, no lingering shells would be left lying around. In the one case where it appears the shooter was outside lying in wait, a shell was found. It could very well just be slop on the part of the killer. Overconfidence, and all that. One might very well find the van (or whatever vehicle is being used) littered with the shells from the previous shootings, if/when this guy is caught (and heck, maybe him cleaning out his vehicle will be what finally brings him down…).

My vote is for “crafty”, but not a criminal mastermind of any sort. More a hunter-type, than some elite special forces kinda guy. He’ll screw up sooner or later (if he hasn’t already).

35

Something occured to me that would point to the opposite. An automatic or semiautomatic rifle ejects the shell once it is fired. However, a bolt-action or single-action rifle keeps the casing in until it is broken out. This character makes one shot. If he is confident of his skills, he doesn’t eject the cartridge to take another shot. Makes me think it’s an AR-15 more than an Olympic rifle.

36

Two things srike me as quite odd.

First off the idea there is a shooter and a driver. What does this mean? A team of terrorists? An abused wife? A couple of equally nutted-out partners?

Next, at least one shot (at the schoolkid) was from a nearby wood. This implies some super-duper local knowledge. Did he go to school there? How did he get something like an M16 into the wood? Did he preposition it?

The Death card is interesting as it implies that the bad guys want to communicate (although they themselves may not know it). This indicates he (they) are not professional terrorists. It points toward the social-defective idea.

Of course he could get away scott-free if he threw the rifle into the river and went to Vegas for a few weeks. Strangely, nutters never seem to do this.

37

Actually, you can by brass catchers to put on a semi-rifle. Keeps spent cartridges from getting all over the floor. Really nice if you are asked to clean up after yourself at the range, or recycle the brass for handloading.

38

From the “huh…how about that?” department:

About five or so years ago, the television drama “Homicide,” which took place in Baltimore, Maryland, mind you, featured a two-part episode in which a sniper held the city hostage in exactly the same way, with exactly the same results (people afraid to leave their houses, windows being boarded up, etc.). Instead of tarot cards, though, he would leave games of hangman sketched in chalk on the ledges of the towers, buildings, etc. from which he would shoot his victims and would strike at exact eight-hour intervals. I recall at the time many fans scoffing at the idea of a such a killer, that “Homicide” had strayed into the sensationalistic. Now “Sniper (pts.1&2)” seems more prescient than anything. By the way, once the killer finally solved his hangman puzzle (the word was “e-r-o-m-i-t-l-a-B”), he commited suicide…only to have a copycat resume his work eight hours later. The way I see it, both are very real possibilities (the suicide and the torch being passed to a copycat) in regards to today’s real-life situation, as well.

39

That’s why it makes me think it isn’t an ugly gun. An AR-15 and M-16 look exactly the same from a distance, and someone sneaking around with one is somewhat conspicious (particulary in MD). A guy with a hunting rifle would be much less noticable then a guy who was carrying an ugly gun, (or as the media loves to call it “assualt weapon”)

40

I know this part of Maryland, and anyone openly carrying ANY kind of gun is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

A couple of thoughts:

A profesionally trained sniper would not be using a .223 caliber round. Gun nuts like to bitch about how underpowered this round is and how it lacks stopping power.

A professionally trained sniper would probably have a custom crafted bolt-operated rifle. If the shell casing is from him, I tend to think that he is using a semi-automatic.

If a profesionally trained sniper went psycho, I would expect him to showcase his training. As some people already mentioned, these shots were all baby shots. The average person could have made them. I would expect an “elite” sniper to be pulling off head shots from 600+ yards.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t rememeber the “death” card in the vietnam books as being a tarot card. I thought it was an ace of spades that had been printed to have the patch of a specific unit printed on the front.

I’ve wondered if the shooting of the kid was a copycat killing since the MO seemes different.

My Wag on things we don’t really know:

No way this guy is an ex-anything that is considered elite.

If there are two people involved, then I’m betting on an Islamic angle. I’ve always thought this would be an effective, cheap and easy method for them to use here.

Of course the guy loves the attention. Regardless of his/their motivations, he’s not killing people and stuffing them in a closet.

I’m betting on the wanna-be type. Maybe he was a regular cop or soldier and was rejected (or failed out of training) in his attempt to join a Swat team or whatever other “elite” team that is out there. Or maybe he was rejected while trying to just be a regular cop or soldier.

I’m betting the motivation is a little bit of revenge directed at those who rejected him, and this is his way of showing that they made a mistake.