Accused Craigslist Killer Offers Larger Lesson: You Don't Really Know Someone
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
How many times have we heard a long-time acquaintance of an accused killer say something to the effect of, "He never could have done something that horrendous."
As a local news reporter in the 1980s, I must have covered a dozen stories in which it was my assignment to speak to friends, neighbors, acquaintances of accused murderers, burglars, or you-name-it varieties of violent criminals. Not a one of them told me, "Oh yeah, he did it. He's a scary human being."
Yet here we go again in the case of accused Craigslist killer, Phillip Markoff. We don't know yet whether Markoff is guilty of murder, but it's natural for people to speculate whether he could have done it. And, typically, his friends and family are expressing disbelief:
A high-achieving dentist's son from upstate New York, Philip Markoff is described in various ways, but everyone, even those who didn't like him, is shocked at the charges against him.
If he is innocent, then that disbelief is justified, but plenty of convicted killers have gotten similar support from friends. So for future reference, can we all please remember that people are peculiarly wired so that they are capable of hiding aspects of their personality from other people? In other words, even when you've known someone for a very long time, that person is capable of keeping a different aspect of his/her personality from you.
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Reader Comments
Craigslist--Example of Corporate Irresponsibility
Craigslist would rather continue accepting ads for "erotic services" (ie prostitution) than to be corporately responsibility by discontinuing the category. Craigslist has blood on its hands.
Craigslistkiller
You are ignoring the fact that some people who knew him saw strong signs that he was disturbed.
His lab partner at med school told the press that she was not surprised he was arrested for murder, and that she thought he was bizarre.
Markoff's fiance was just delusional.
Sorry, the evidence against this guy is damning. He did it.
Pastor Rick Warren
Rick Warren doesn't get it, just like president Obama! You cannot stradle the fence when it comes to politics or religion. You are either for God or you are not, you are either for homosexual marriage or you are not and you cannot make everyone love you, okay? Jesus Christ was hated and mocked when He voiced his opinion and spoke the Truth in love. He said it like it was and the truth today, like it was then, is not popular with the liberal masses and the liberal media. If you are a conservative and speak the truth, you are hated and called a racist or homophobic. I happen to be a minority and a solid Christian and when I have stated my views, have been ridiculed! As Jesus Christ Himself stated, "wo to you who calls wrong right, and right, wrong. This is America, land of the "free" and the liberals are trying their best to take this freedom from us. Rick Warren, I hope you are reading this, so take a stand for what you believe in and "not" what is popular and what the liberal masses want you to say!
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