Friday 11 April 2014

Dr Michael Stone - "Most Evil"

This is one man who has made it his mission to study the lives and actions of sadistic killers, serial killers, spree killers and anybody convicted of heinous crimes.  He is a Forensic Psychiatrist at Columbia University, and has devised a scale from one to twenty two.  The higher the score, the more evil and diabolical the individual is.  He examines the backgrounds, the actual crimes, and afterwards, concluding where an individual stands on his scale.  He hosts a documentary series "Most Evil" which also shows various research projects carried out by other scientists on patients, hoping to discover why people act in certain ways.

    Dr Stone also conducts interviews with so many of these killers, and sometimes he gets a nasty reaction from the interviewee.  He has hit on a sore spot.  One was a vicious child killer, who said he would end the interview if he kept asking about the murders he committed.  He claims he is innocent and was framed by the police.  Another was Cindy Hendy, the woman who helped David Parker Ray abduct and torture women because it gave him a sexual thrill.  Dr Stone asked why a much younger woman would be around a much older man.  Was it a father thing?  She went mad at this.  He asked if she liked much older men.  She threatened to walk out if he asked one more question like that.

    Dr Stone has put a number at level 22 - Arthur Shawcross, Ridgway, Parker Ray, Chikatilo, Dahmer, Gacy, etc.  Bundy rated a couple of notches down, at 19 or 20.  Rod Ferrell, Manson, and his killers, all rated at 15. Some rate very low.  It is a very interesting series.  Dr Stone adopts an attitude of not showing any reactions to what he is told, keeps a calm voice and lets the person state their case, even if he does not believe it.  He tells us his conclusions after the interviews.  Essential viewing for budding and armchair psychiatrists.

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