He was always a wonderful boy.

April 16, 2006 4:48 PM

This fellow links to Metafilter on his blog. Now we can return the favor.
posted by thirteenkiller (211 comments total)

MySpace blog entry here, but it seems like his profile's been taken down.
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:49 PM on April 16, 2006

"They're made out of meat."
posted by digaman at 4:52 PM on April 16, 2006

Sorry, again: "They're made out of meat."
posted by digaman at 4:53 PM on April 16, 2006

Anyone remember when people kept thoughts about cannibalism to their own private diary, hidden away at the back of a locked drawer?
posted by Jimbob at 4:55 PM on April 16, 2006

"He wrote that he rarely left his apartment for long stretches, except to go to work and to buy food. 'I just sit here at the computer every minute of the day, when I'm not at work. A week or so ago, I spent my day off sitting here at the computer, barely moving from the chair, for 14 hours.'"
posted by mwhybark at 4:57 PM on April 16, 2006

Awesome, let's extend his fifteen minutes by spreading links to his site. Afterall, he's such a nice boy. Who murdered a ten year old girl and intended to eat her. Yeah, a nice boy who'll have a fine time in prison.

But I did enjoy reading the comments on his MySpace site, that was nice.
posted by fenriq at 4:59 PM on April 16, 2006

He links to wilwheaton.net
posted by fire&wings at 5:00 PM on April 16, 2006

"I wish I could do something creative, I want to write a story or something.

Even masturbation sounds boring. Of course, that lost its fun years ago. Now it's basically just a habit.

To once again put it bluntly, I really need some pussy. Actually, it's more than that. I don't just need sex. I need a girlfriend, a real relationship. Love, and shit like that. Even simpler than that, I just need to be touched, and I don't mean in a sexual way. But no one ever touches me, and I don't touch them. Even the simplest touch is the hardest thing for me. I dream of being hugged."
posted by digaman at 5:00 PM on April 16, 2006

"this appears to have been part of a plan to kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them, cut off their head, drain the body of blood, rape the corpse, eat the corpse then dispose of the organs and bones."

<max smart>Ah yes, the old kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them, cut off their head, drain the body of blood, rape the corpse, eat the corpse then dispose of the organs and bones trick.</max smart>
posted by furtive at 5:01 PM on April 16, 2006

"To once again put it bluntly, I really need some pussy."

+

"'I just sit here at the computer every minute of the day, when I'm not at work."

Some folks just don't get life, do they?
posted by Jimbob at 5:06 PM on April 16, 2006

So, was he registered here? Is he one of us?
posted by LarryC at 5:07 PM on April 16, 2006

Geocities page

Amazon wishlist

SA thread
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:10 PM on April 16, 2006

Weird, he seems so normal for an internet person. A pretty standard, boring blog, etc.

Weirdness.
posted by delmoi at 5:11 PM on April 16, 2006

Amazon wishlist? Life is funny.
posted by furtive at 5:12 PM on April 16, 2006

The MySpace comments are awful, although they are a good reminder of how MeFi commentary at its very worst is still orders of magnitude better than most mainstream alternatives.
posted by brain_drain at 5:13 PM on April 16, 2006

He said one of his main interests was the online role-playing game "Kingdom of Loathing," in which stick figures battle one another.

Kingdom of Loathing (as discussed here) is mentioned prominently in the CNN article. On the one hand, it's maybe the goofiest role-playing game of all time. It at least wins for most bad puns per kilobyte.

On the other hand... it's all about building up your meat supply, and cooking odd, empowering dishes...
posted by suckerpunch at 5:15 PM on April 16, 2006

"When I was a kid, I used to be smart. As little as five years ago, I used to have a huge vocabulary. Now my vocabulary has deteriorated to point that I can barely express myself. It's embarrassing.

When I was a kid, I used to be able to do lots of things.

So, my skills in every area are gone or failing. And that, I think, is the best explanation for why I am the way I am. Why I live this pathetic life. I have no skills of any kind. I have become a useless lump of flesh, not capable of contributing anything to society.

It's a horrible feeling really. My life is slowly dissappearing. I have trouble even remembering anything from more than five years ago. And everything since then isn't worth remembering. It's just the same thing day after day, one day blurring into the other. Wake up, go to work, watch tv, surf the internet, go to sleep. Repeat. It may sound like a joke, or a cliche to say this, but, I think Carl's Jr. really did have something to do with it. It wasn't until I started working there that things really started to go bad. I still had a huge vocabulary, and some skills, when I started working there. But that place broke my spirit in the worst way.

Ok, so, yeah, my life sucks. But I'm trying to change that. I'm finally moving out of my parent's house, and I'm going to find a better job, and I mean it this time. I've been saying that for 4 years, but all I ever do is fill out a couple of applications, and complain when they don't call me. I'm also going to work on becoming a computer and video game geek again. Most people probably wouldn't consider that last one a life improvement, but I do. That's the kind of life I want to live.

Ok, I've been sitting here too long. This blog is another thing that is sucking vast amounts of my life away. I spend way too much time on this thing, or thinking about what I'm going to write tomorrow, stuff like that. It would be different if it was actually entertaining or useful, of if anyone even read it. But it's not. It sucks, and almost no one reads it.

I'm going to go do something else now. I may write again tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe I'll quit this thing. Maybe no one cares."
posted by digaman at 5:17 PM on April 16, 2006

The MySpace comments are awful, although they are a good reminder of how MeFi commentary at its very worst is still orders of magnitude better than most mainstream alternatives.

Yeah, they're pretty stupid. This guy, when caught, basically said "yeah I did it, she's in the bag". I doubt he cares much about the threats of violence people are leaving for him.
posted by Jimbob at 5:18 PM on April 16, 2006

I'm sure he only read AskMe, anyway.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:23 PM on April 16, 2006

He mentions cannibalism, asking "If you were a cannibal, what would you wear to dinner?" and responding: "The skin of last night's main course."

I don't know how to respond to it. I can't decide whether, coming from a cannibal, it's ghastly or hilarious.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:26 PM on April 16, 2006

So, was he registered here? Is he one of us?

I think he's Bevets. I need to think that. I don't care if it's true or not.
posted by Decani at 5:28 PM on April 16, 2006

What's that I hear?

It's.... it's the world's smallest violin playing for this monster's personal problems. If only I read his blog more closely, I might have known what he was capable of!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:28 PM on April 16, 2006

Wow.
Not that the "Monster is in reality a banal and insignificant speck" phenomenon is news to me or anything, but I can actually relate to a lot of what he wrote.
I feel some empathy for him. Freaky.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:29 PM on April 16, 2006

freaky

I know. It's like he's Everyblogger.
posted by digaman at 5:30 PM on April 16, 2006

I hear Wil Wheaton once killed and ate a man just for snoring too loud.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:35 PM on April 16, 2006

So, was he registered here? Is he one of us?

Hmmmmmmm...
posted by brain_drain at 5:35 PM on April 16, 2006

He is Everyblogger.

But I have no empathy for him, because he is Everyblogger.

Just waiting for the Blame Game to start firing on blogs, Kingdom of Loathing, and Bill And Ted.

The Blame Game -- from Milton Bradley!
posted by dw at 5:39 PM on April 16, 2006

I told my mom, and told her about my social anxiety problem, and that I was going to drop out of college and start going to a psychiatrist. She didn't really understand my problem, and still doesn't (whenever I try to talk about how shy I am around people, her answer is, "Just stop, don't be that way.")

This didn't have to happen, I guess.
posted by fire&wings at 5:39 PM on April 16, 2006

anyone reading the comments on his blogspot blog? ... aside from the unsurprising comments about hell, prison, and various things people would like to do to him, there's also a mob who are harassing anyone who happened to know him online or in real life ... finding their blogs, making nasty accusations and pretty much forcing them to shut down their pages

people ARE nazis, you know?
posted by pyramid termite at 5:41 PM on April 16, 2006

So, there's a link between MetaFilter and cannibalism?

So, who should we eat first?!
posted by insomnia_lj at 5:42 PM on April 16, 2006

He links to wilwheaton.net

he links to my blog too

and even reposted a whole post of mine

creepiest thing thats ever happened to me.
posted by tsarfan at 5:42 PM on April 16, 2006

Eurgh. White, male, age 26. Favorite movies include "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Favorite musicians include They Might Be Giants and Weird Al Yankovic. Reads Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut. Spends a lot of time on Kingdom of Loathing. Reads MetaFilter. Is boring and rarely smiles.

If it weren't for the murder and attempted cannibalism, I would honestly think they were describing my long-lost identical twin brother.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:44 PM on April 16, 2006

Actually, regarding the blame game, if you read the comment sidebar at the linked blog, you'll note that there are already some anti Dungeons and Dragons comments. Basically, the comments I read were of the "see, this is what happens when you play those games" variety.

I'm glad that we can blame this crime on blogging and dungeons and dragons. It makes me safer knowing that once we ban those, we will never, ever, ever have to worry about murder again.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:45 PM on April 16, 2006

So, who should we eat first?!

Well, my choice would be... umm... no, I think I'll shut up now.
posted by Decani at 5:47 PM on April 16, 2006

Why the fuck do my hands smell like barbeque sauce?
posted by sourwookie at 5:50 PM on April 16, 2006

Yeah, I hadn't seen the sidebar....

you RPG people are the worst. Every KOL player has a little cannibal in them. F- Kevin Underwood and his loser, RPG, sci-fi associates. Get a life...

...OH I HATE THIS WEBSITE! It's for the "single, bored and lonely." Gives me chills.

Apparently, being "single, bored, and lonely" is now a crime. Every 18-25yo single male better get with the dating or else it's Gitmo for you!

Seems like the comments in the latest post is where people are venting their anger.
posted by dw at 5:53 PM on April 16, 2006

I saw that, sourwookie! shame!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:55 PM on April 16, 2006

He also linked to growabrain's blog.
Small world. I guess the internet does eat itself.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:56 PM on April 16, 2006

alt.slack, anyone?
posted by pyramid termite at 5:57 PM on April 16, 2006

I like how people called him "gay" on his myspace.
posted by borkingchikapa at 6:12 PM on April 16, 2006

Guess he tried to escape his depressive toughts by taking time in fantasy worlds online. The common error is thinking the fantasy world caused his behavior, but if so driving cars should be causing road rage.

Reading the blog I also noticed he was unhappy of himself : he remembered being outgoing and "kind of" popular by being the classroom bufoon, attracting attention this way. Yet when time come for personal face-2-face exchange, he kind of freezed.

He wrotes

The best explanation for why I am the way I am. From an unquoted source.

"It is not difficult to understand how children who have suffered from malnutrition or starvation need food and plenty of care if their bodies are to recover so they can go on to lead normal lives. If, however, the starvation is severe enough, the damage will be permanent and they will suffer physical impairments for the rest of their lives. Likewise, children who are deprived of emotional nurturing require care and love if their sense of security and self-confidence is to be restored. However, if love is minimal, and abuse high, the damage will be permanent and the children will suffer emotional impairments for the rest of their lives."

Somewhere else in the blog he writes about confessing his mother that he was dropping out of college because of his social phobias ..her mother , according to him, just said "just don't be that" which doesn't help anybody anyhow.
posted by elpapacito at 6:14 PM on April 16, 2006

Eurgh. White, male, age 26. Favorite movies include "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Favorite musicians include They Might Be Giants and Weird Al Yankovic. Reads Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut. Spends a lot of time on Kingdom of Loathing. Reads MetaFilter. Is boring and rarely smiles.

I know, that's what's so damn creepy about it. He seems so totally normal.

Did anyone else notice he had "The Vagina Monologs" in his Amazon wish list?

I wonder if maybe he had a psychotic break, or was on PCP or something?

He's not like that last child-murder with a blog, the one who was a registered high-level sex offender and dealing with that in a rather psychotic way.

----

The online lynch mob is rather disturbing though. I mean, I'm willing to bet many of those people really would do the things they say they would, in righteous fury, which in my mind makes them at least as bad as him. If not more so, in that they wouldn't feel sorry about it. I'm willing to bet that this guy already feels bad for the girl, and her parents, etc. (or maybe not).

On the other hand, the lynch mob hasn't actually hurt anyone, so that better then him.
posted by delmoi at 6:15 PM on April 16, 2006

So, was he registered here? Is he one of us?

My vote is for scarabic
posted by fatbobsmith at 6:15 PM on April 16, 2006

If he wants pussy, he can have the one that left a huge gash on my hand and nearly tore me to shreds this morning when I tried to pick him up.
posted by mike3k at 6:17 PM on April 16, 2006

looks like a little kid? ... (just as well that the image link doesn't work)

he likes hannibal

"this story made me laugh a lot" ... (scroll up for story)

"i love monty python"

seems rather like your ordinary semi-hip snarky online person ... until you consider what's happened
posted by pyramid termite at 6:19 PM on April 16, 2006

For your ease of reading and convenience, I have summarized his blog. It goes a little something like this:

I hate people. I hate Fridays. I hate this movie. I hate it. I also hate Aaliyah, or however the hell you spell her name. I'm glad she's dead, just like Tupac and Kurt Cobain. I hate Betty Boop almost as much as Smurfs. I hate it when I don't know how to end a post. I hate rap. I hate training people. I HATE JAMES! I hate him. I hate the Spice Girls. I hate work. I hate her, everyone hates her.

I hate cows. Really, I hate them, they are the stupidest most useless animals on the planet. All the do is stand around eating and shitting until they get killed and eaten. I hate stupid people. I hate people.

Talk, write, type, whatever. Fuck you.

posted by loquacious at 6:22 PM on April 16, 2006

"The online lynch mob is rather disturbing though. I mean, I'm willing to bet many of those people really would do the things they say they would, in righteous fury, which in my mind makes them at least as bad as him."

I agree. And how much you want to bet they're all "Christians" too?
posted by mijuta at 6:24 PM on April 16, 2006

whoa

this IS creepy
posted by pyramid termite at 6:24 PM on April 16, 2006

.

This is a horror.
posted by I Love Tacos at 6:36 PM on April 16, 2006

loquacious: yeah there is some vented anti-loser rage in some post, but it's not that dramatic. Consider he is sociophobic , therefore he dislikes a lot of people because he never really adapted, but he isn't sociophobic because he hates people.

It's the other way around, he attracted attention to himself by being a clown, because he didn't know better.

Course it's pretty hard to understand a person in real life, let alone from a blog.
posted by elpapacito at 6:39 PM on April 16, 2006

loquacious: yeah there is some vented anti-loser rage in some post, but it's not that dramatic.

If anything, I was going for detournement with a twist of the old tried-and-true context-free journalistic outrage. But I'm not sure I'd even look that deeply.
posted by loquacious at 6:42 PM on April 16, 2006

The blog itself isn't as interesting as what you can figure out on the user profile.

About Me Single, bored, and lonely, but other than that, pretty happy.

If you were a cannibal, what would you wear to dinner? The skin of last night's main course.

Favorite Movies
Silence of the Hams

Doing a search on his listed email address ([e-mail]) indicates that he also had a blog for Japanese lessons. More interesting than that, however, is his Amazon.com wishlist. And the book at the top of the list is...!




If you search for subspecies23, you'll also find that he's an active member of the Church of the Subgenius, known as Rev. Underwood. He was also an active player on Kingdom of Loathing, a connoseur of cat pizza, an ebay shopper for KoL-related stuff, and a reader/commenter on Engadget. He also has an old Geocities site he hasn't updated for ages.

He also has a MySpace account, which is apparently "under maintenance". He left a message on this user's site saying:

Subspecies 23


2/22/2006 2:16 PM

Hello! I is to be your friend now! I is to sexz0r you!!!

He also has another email address - [e-mail], which he used occasionally to post to alt.slack (he primarily posted there with his other account) and other sites. He bitched about having an AOL account for over ten years, but never switched.

Btw, are there any Japanese women out there looking for a penpal?
posted by insomnia_lj at 6:54 PM on April 16, 2006

the old tried-and-true context-free journalistic outrage

How dare , how DARE you suggest some journalists may draw a picture of a person that is so far off the person it represents a cow to an half attentive reader ?

It's not like that ! It's the director that pushes for certain content, the journalist is blameless ! Think of his poor childrens !

I mean come on, hire insomnia ! He did more then the whole CNN staff !
posted by elpapacito at 6:57 PM on April 16, 2006

That's two posters who seem to think it's perfectly normal for a grown man to be a fan of Weird Al Yankovic.

>taking notes...<
posted by raider at 7:00 PM on April 16, 2006

Anyone else notice the ahem.jpg he uses on this page?


posted by furtive at 7:03 PM on April 16, 2006

I'm not sure what to make of this guy yet, when's Rita Cosby or Nancy Grace going to have a special report so I can know what to think?
posted by fenriq at 7:04 PM on April 16, 2006

One of my partners likes Weird Al.

She also likes nibbling on me, too. Hm.
posted by insomnia_lj at 7:05 PM on April 16, 2006

So, there's a link between MetaFilter and cannibalism?
So, who should we eat first?! -- insomnia_lj


Mmmm, I think a simple menu.

We should start with soup; perhaps Amberglow Bisque, delicate, but with a long lasting pleasant flavor.

Then of course the fish course; it could only be FiveFreshFish, lightly flavored with butter, tarragon and a soft white wine.

The red meat of the dinner would, of course, have to be Lasagna al' Matteo; sumptuous and overfilled with a mystery of ingredients that blend exquisitely on the tongue.

For the digestives course, cheeses, pastries, and fruit; I'd have to go with Quonsar, Dong_Resin and Pomegranate.

With Cognac ala MiguelCardoso to follow.
posted by dejah420 at 7:12 PM on April 16, 2006

My mom saw one of those tv commercials for Zoloft, or one of those depression medicines. It was all talking about Social Anxiety Disorder, and so now she's figured out that that's what's wrong with me, even though I've been saying that for years.

What did you say honey ? Mhhh there's Oprah on tv, talk later honey.....

I know that's what's wrong with me. So now she's trying to get me to go get some medication for it. But I don't want medication for it, that's why I never went to the psychiatrist years ago like I had been planning, I knew they'd just give me pills. I don't want to take pills, I shouldn't have to take pills just to live a normal life like everyone else, I should be able to do it on my own.

Damn misconceptions ! Scientology yapping about psychiatry and psycology being balooney, people buy into psycologist = doctor of crazy = you must be crazy if you wanna see a psycologist. Of course Scientology doesn't make you pop pills like crazy...sure.

Actually I have been thinking about it though, I've got to do something. I can't live like this much longer, I have to do something about it.

Too fucking late.
posted by elpapacito at 7:12 PM on April 16, 2006

It pisses me off that he's getting so much traffic right now, because there are people out there who will unwittingly (or worse, intentionally, out of a morbid sense of fun) click on his Google ads,

so he's making money thanks to all the lookie-loos who are in a rush to link him and make Monday morning news before the site gets pulled.

442 comments on his latest entry? What's that translating to in a CPM?

Isn't there some way to complain and get his Google ads shut down?
posted by pineapple at 7:16 PM on April 16, 2006

*belch*
posted by quonsar at 7:22 PM on April 16, 2006

Interesting that almost every person with a Blogger acount in Purcell matches the profile we've built of Kevin the Cannibal.

Therefore, we can say indubitably that Purcell is nothing but child-murdering cannibalistic bloggers.

If you're driving between Oklahoma City and Dallas on I-35, just floor it through Purcell.
posted by dw at 7:24 PM on April 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

It pisses me off that he's getting so much traffic right now, because there are people out there who will unwittingly (or worse, intentionally, out of a morbid sense of fun) click on his Google ads,

Arn't the google ads for blogger?

That would be funny though, if he was able to pay for all his legal bills with money from blogger...
posted by delmoi at 7:25 PM on April 16, 2006

Well, based on my experience with Google ads, he's going to makwe just enough money for a copy of the Sunday Times.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:25 PM on April 16, 2006

So...are there any meetups coming up?
posted by horsewithnoname at 7:26 PM on April 16, 2006

So...are there any meatups coming up?

Fixed that for you.
posted by CRM114 at 7:43 PM on April 16, 2006

Ha ha ha hahahahahahaha!! MEATUPS! I get it.

In the meantime, can y'all do something, you know, productive, and email [e-mail] and complain about offensive contact at futureworldruler.blogspot.com?

I don't really care if the guy's blog stays up -- but he doesn't deserve to earn a single dime off the notoriety from his heinous crime.
posted by pineapple at 7:56 PM on April 16, 2006

Hang on, what the fuck? Subgenius? I knew the name subspecies23 was somehow familiar. Christ on a stick.
posted by Jimbob at 7:57 PM on April 16, 2006

Then of course the fish course; it could only be FiveFreshFish

He'd probably enjoy fishfucker more.
posted by daninnj at 7:59 PM on April 16, 2006

Endless loop.
posted by Jimbob at 8:00 PM on April 16, 2006

pineapple, give it a fucking rest already. I'm sure you're scared and angry and all and feel the need to do something but what you're doing isn't helping anybody. Really, just turn off the computer and try to think about something else.

Anyways, after reading this guy's blog I guess I'm just disappointed that the internet failed to fulfill his needs for companionship. I wonder why that is.
posted by nixerman at 8:04 PM on April 16, 2006

He seems so . . . empty. Looking for something to fill him, in the absence of friends and loved ones.
posted by xthlc at 8:14 PM on April 16, 2006

Wow, who's scared and angry, exactly?

nixerman, sorry that you are confused about the motivations of someone trying to encourage others to take a 60-second action. I would assume that was the point of thirteenkiller's original post?

Or is posting anonymous blather on the guy's blog somehow hipper and more affected than using the Internet for good instead of evil?

Yes, yes, you said "give it a fucking rest," you win the cooler-than-thou Mefite-of-the-day contest. But, stop projecting your whatevers onto other people. I see a problem and I'm trying to correct it; don't ascribe feelings and motivations to me.
posted by pineapple at 8:15 PM on April 16, 2006

This is sad in like five hundred different ways. No friends, boring, mind-numbing job, shitty parents, and now, a dead girl who never hurt anyone. Maybe we should take mental illness seriously and treat it like as a problem that, eventually, effects all of us in some way.

Mmm, no, it's easier to blame Dungeons and Dragons or blogging or video games or whatever Sally Jessy MSW is discussing this week.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:19 PM on April 16, 2006

I seriously hope this SubGenius link doesn't end up hurting somebody else by association. (It doesn't appear that he attended any of the Devivals, at least as "Rev. Underwood".)

Um, try not to mention her name in thread, so it doesn't become googleable.
posted by dhartung at 8:23 PM on April 16, 2006

btw. I really don't think "Social Anxiety disorder" can really cause this kind of violent behavior. Maybe it drove him away from other people and made him sort of despise them, or something but millions of people have "social anxiety disorder" and they're not all out murdering and eating each other.

If anything, this guy just seems sane, bored, and lacking in empathy. The girls' life was just worthless to him and he was bored and curious to see what she tasted like. Or maybe there was some other reason.

Being shy doesn’t make you into a homicidal maniac.
posted by delmoi at 8:26 PM on April 16, 2006

pineapple: I think I understand your viewpoint and what you're trying to accomplish, but you're coming across as breathless and hysterical.

I don't know that anything else remains to be said on the topic. I would assume by now his account has already been disabled due to suspected clickfraud.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:28 PM on April 16, 2006

I seriously hope this SubGenius link doesn't end up hurting somebody else by association. (It doesn't appear that he attended any of the Devivals, at least as "Rev. Underwood".)

Yeah, that bit is rather embarrassing for Sub Genius. I'm sure lots of murderers belonged to different churches, etc.
posted by delmoi at 8:28 PM on April 16, 2006

I'm kind of stuck on the comment of the charming young lady named...er...".uhh.i.hate.myself." And I quote:

your so God damn gay! fucking molesting a 10 year old little girl!

*shakes head at the logic*
posted by bim at 8:28 PM on April 16, 2006

Hmm, wow. From the little anon msg board on the blog:

I live in purcell and this girl knew him as her neighbor. She trusted him, been in his house before. Be careful who you trust!

Who knows how accurate that is, though.
posted by delmoi at 8:30 PM on April 16, 2006

I think I've figured it out. Every single thing this guy said and did online, I've seen someone else say or do. There was no him in anything he wrote about or enjoyed -- he's such a cliche (single twentysomething white kid who spends all his time on the internet) that it's actually spooky.

Take any average otaku, and you can find at least something weird or unique or interesting about them. For this guy, there's nothing. He was incredibly empty; any personality he had was more or less dissolved into nothing, and with it his empathy and ability to care about anything or anyone.

delmoi said it best:
If anything, this guy just seems sane, bored, and lacking in empathy. The girls' life was just worthless to him and he was bored and curious to see what she tasted like.
posted by xthlc at 8:36 PM on April 16, 2006

according to the news reports he lived in an apartment below the deceased. the reason he couldnt dispose of the body was because her father was sitting on the porch for days waiting for her to return.

also the reports say underwood let the little girl order a pizza from his phone recently. so i believe the anon msg board.
posted by tsarfan at 8:36 PM on April 16, 2006

Is human flesh really that tasty? Should this be an AskMe question?
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 8:40 PM on April 16, 2006

"Maybe we should take mental illness seriously and treat it like as a problem that, eventually, affects all of us in some way."

Amen. It's sad that mental illness is still such a stigma in this country. I feel horrible for this girl and her family. I also feel horrible for him and his family. What the hell would drive someone to commit such a monstrous act? The guy needed some serious help--if mental illness weren't so stigmatized, perhaps he or his mom wouldn't have been so resistant to getting it. Perhaps a psychiatrist or other professional could have helped him before it was too late . . . Now two familes are tragically ruined. And society will be left footing the bill for his jail time and likely state-sanctioned death.
posted by mijuta at 8:41 PM on April 16, 2006

Btw, are there any Japanese women out there looking for a penpal?
posted by insomnia_lj at 8:54 PM CST on April 16 [!]

Christ, doesn't anyone like sweet and sour anymore?
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 8:46 PM on April 16, 2006

The scary thing is not that he linked to my blog, but that I LINKED TO HIS...
posted by growabrain at 8:48 PM on April 16, 2006

Is human flesh really that tasty? Should this be an AskMe question?

well, someone knows. I wonder if this guy ever ordered any of that.
posted by delmoi at 8:50 PM on April 16, 2006

pineapple says: nixerman, sorry that you are confused about the motivations of someone trying to encourage others to take a 60-second action. I would assume that was the point of thirteenkiller's original post?

Or is posting anonymous blather on the guy's blog somehow hipper and more affected than using the Internet for good instead of evil?

Hey hey buddy, what are you talking about? You think I posted this because I want people to post threats on that guy's blog? Or because I want them to click his google ads?

lawl
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:52 PM on April 16, 2006

Dear CNN/AP: There are at least 15,200 potential cannibals using Blogger.

(Which doesn't make it OK.)
posted by davidfg at 8:56 PM on April 16, 2006

I wish people would stop projecting their whatevers onto me. :(

Also don't ascribe feelings and motivations to me tia.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:02 PM on April 16, 2006

Oh, Come on! HuFu doesn't taste like human flesh any more than Chicken McNuggets (tm) taste like chicken.
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 9:07 PM on April 16, 2006

Looks like he was certifiably batshit insane by at least September 2002:

"Holy Crap. There's a new Scooby Doo series on the WB. I must find out who is behind this and kill him/her/it/them. But I won't just kill them, no. First I will make their life a living hell, and then I will destroy all that they hold sacred and dear. They will suffer greatly for their crimes against humanity. Come on people, it's time to let Scooby die. But no, instead of relegating him to the dustbins of history, people have to keep bringing him back with countless reruns and new forms, and new merchandise and movies. I hate Scooby Doo. I HATE Scooby Doo."

"It never ends. Today I found out that they have Scooby Doo dog treats, and Scooby Doo breakfast cereal. It seems I must destroy the world to save it from itself."

But, GOD, somehow I feel really sorry for the guy...what a lonely, miserable life...
posted by banishedimmortal at 9:09 PM on April 16, 2006

he admitted to the crime, but he's still a suspect? odd.
posted by destro at 9:10 PM on April 16, 2006

I think I've figured it out.

mostly ... except for those creepy moments when his fantasies would peek through ... there was a "him" ... it was a "him" that none could see or understand

What the hell would drive someone to commit such a monstrous act? The guy needed some serious help--if mental illness weren't so stigmatized, perhaps he or his mom wouldn't have been so resistant to getting it.

but ultimately, he didn't want help ... he wanted to make his horrible fantasies come true ... he wouldn't have let a shrink know that part of him ... he would have covered it up ... and sure, the shrink would know he was avoiding something ... but odds are, he'd never know what

i don't think it's the loneliness or depression that drove him to this ... people weren't real to him in a basic way ... he lacked empathy and identification ... i don't think he cared about the cost to her or even the cost to himself ... he wanted to have this experience ... he wanted to change his life, even if it meant doing something utterly mad ... perhaps, in a sort of twisted logic, he wanted to validate and solidify the isolation he felt from the human race by doing something so awful that the human race would be compelled to isolate him for good ... i don't think he really wanted to deal with people much and he certainly won't be doing that now

i also think he wanted power over someone ... utter and complete

it's not what drove him to it ... it's what held him back for so long ... fear? ... nerve? ... perhaps a tiny bit of conscience?

whatever it was, it wasn't enough to stop him

i'm not sure we'll ever be able to single out the few psychopaths like him from the larger population of isolated and socially awkward people ... mostly because i don't think we'll ever know what makes most people in his sort of situation just mope through it .. or perhaps take their own lives in despair ... while a small minority are considering heinous, angry acts of power and finality

they may well have a professional try to figure him out after he's convicted ... but i'm not sure how much they'll really find
posted by pyramid termite at 9:13 PM on April 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

Hey hey buddy, what are you talking about?...

No, I assumed you were hoping people would at the least click through and at the most... ? I have no idea what.

you're coming across as breathless and hysterical

thanks, ynoxas, for weighing in, I think. But mostly, I won't be losing sleep over whether y'all think I'm breathless and hysterical or not. It's really no great honor to win the Cooler-Than-Thou contest in this case. I'll save all my iciest retorts for a thread that really matters like Web2.0Filter or Neil Young's latest album.
posted by pineapple at 9:14 PM on April 16, 2006

destro writes "he admitted to the crime, but he's still a suspect?"

In the US, the term "suspect" is used until the accused is formally convicted of the crime, especially in journalistic contexts. It's pretty standard.
posted by mr_roboto at 9:15 PM on April 16, 2006

Also: I've been trying, but I can't think of a good joke for this. Help?
posted by mr_roboto at 9:16 PM on April 16, 2006

"he admitted to the crime, but he's still a suspect?"
I've been trying, but I can't think of a good joke for this.

Al Queda has admitted to many crimes that they porbably didn't have any real part in organizing, paying for, or executing.
Oh wait, that's not a joke.
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 9:25 PM on April 16, 2006

"But, GOD, somehow I feel really sorry for the guy...what a lonely, miserable life..."

You feel sorry for him? He's fucking FAMOUS now (on the internet), and who are you? A nobody (on the internet).

Fucking Scooby Doo.
posted by Eideteker at 9:26 PM on April 16, 2006

Pyramid, I think you may be on to something, but the two quotes CNN cited from his blog (pasted below) made me think that some kind of psychiatric intervention might have helped. Perhaps he later reached a level of hopelessness where he did lose all sense of empathy and identification with others . . .

"Pretty much the only time I believe in God is when I blame him for something," he said. "Or, when I'm really depressed, to cry and beg him to make me better, to make whatever is wrong in my brain go away, so that I can live like a normal person.

"That's all I want in life, is to be able to live like a normal person."

. . .

"For example, my fantasies are just getting weirder and weirder. Dangerously weird," he wrote. "If people knew the kinds of things I think about anymore, I'd probably be locked away. No probably about it, I know I would be."
posted by mijuta at 9:29 PM on April 16, 2006

pineapple, I was hoping people would have a look at this guy's presence on the web and discuss their impressions here. And that's what they're doing. It's going well. I think Metafilter people are a better lot than the ones who post crap on his blog.*

*possibly excluding myself. But you'll notice it's just silly and not vitriolic and I have full confidence that the guy won't ever read it. Interestingly, there have been a number of new comments there since I posted just this evening, shortly before I made this FPP. Maybe they're from Metafilter users! This blog is surely being spread about at different places as well, though, so I think it's likely that people making serious comments are directed from other places than Metafilter. Like I said, I think Metafilter people aren't in general that lame.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:31 PM on April 16, 2006

i also think he wanted power over someone ... utter and complete...
posted by pyramid termite

This is too late for him, but it may be the salvation of some others.
posted by leftcoastbob at 9:34 PM on April 16, 2006

BtW: Killing little girls is WRONG and EVIL. And it is a misallocation of resources when there are paid network executives and studio drones running around remaking shit that was only ever good through the temporally-abberated lens of nostalgia.

Please, if you're going to murder, at least find a victim who is deserving^*. Or someone who asks nicely (using "please" and "thank you"). And when you're done, please consider donating whatever organs you don't consume to science. Because what we need more of right now is science.
posted by Eideteker at 9:38 PM on April 16, 2006

My favourite comment on his blog:

once i was outside and i found my dog got hit by a car and was dead so i understand what's going on except my dog wasn't attacked and no one attempted to eat him.

poor girl. :(
posted by meech at 9:42 PM on April 16, 2006

Personally, I prefer SCIENCE! It's bigger, see?
posted by trondant at 9:43 PM on April 16, 2006

This would've been eponysterical if it was posted by tenkiller.
posted by knave at 9:48 PM on April 16, 2006

Things I've learned while surfing on topics related to this story:

1) There's a type of child porn where the child is being abused in non-sexual ways as well. e.g. girl in a cage with a grown man shitting on her.

2) Not only are there forums for "fantasy" cannibalism, there are seperate forums (and names) for men eating women, women eating men and they refer to it as "gay" cannibalism if you're interested in men eating men. (It hadn't occurred to me that cannibals would have a sexual orientation).

3) The internet is really fucking fucked up.
posted by I Love Tacos at 9:56 PM on April 16, 2006

The internet is really fucking fucked up.

so far on the accused's blog, i see people debating the death penalty, atheism (?), evolution (??), homosexuality (???), various trolls praising the guy (????), and some guy posting the collected works of h p lovecraft (really!)

the internet is a fucking freak show
posted by pyramid termite at 10:08 PM on April 16, 2006

oh, yeah, and spamvertisements to promote various web sites, one of which was really sick ... (no, go find it for yourself)
posted by pyramid termite at 10:10 PM on April 16, 2006

"But, GOD, somehow I feel really sorry for the guy...what a lonely, miserable life..."

You feel sorry for him? He's fucking FAMOUS now (on the internet), and who are you? A nobody (on the internet).

I don't see what his sudden internet fame has to do with my feeling of pity for the guy (feelings which detract not a bit from my condemnation of his evil actions). I don't think fame is what he was after -- he just wanted to be able to connect with someone, to have social interaction. And he got so alienated from humanity and reality that his fantasies finally led him to commit this awful crime. This blog is really interesting to me, you can just see the guy descend into detached insanity...

So, I say again, such a sad life...living with his parents, no friends, working dead end jobs he hated for years...I mean, just read the first month of his blog (Sept 2002)...I can just visualize the party nobody attended, the vacant midwestern small town, the hours in front of a computer playing fantasy games, the late shift cleaning shit and snot off the bathroom walls...

"The "party" last night, ended up being an almost complete failure. Hardly anyone showed up...This, then, is pretty much the extent of my social life. A small event like this once in a great while. I have basically no social life, and even less of a love life."

"Oklahoma sucks. No, I mean it. Oklahoma really is horrible. I live in a small town of something like 4000-5000 people...There are no clubs around here, if you want to go to a club you have to drive to Oklahoma City, which is like 40 miles away...I don't go to clubs though, because I'm too shy, and I don't like to go to them alone, and I have no friends."

"Ummm, yeah. I have to go to work later. Poo. I hate my job. My job sucks. Actually, I wouldn't mind it that much, if it piad better. I've been working there for 6 and a half years, and I only get paid $6.15 an hour. And now that they've cut hours, I'm going to get even less. I only work like 25 hours this week."

"Last night at work sucked. I had to clean the bathrooms, which is nothing new...Usually when I go in there I have to clean snot off the wall from where people have picked their nose and wiped it on the wall while they're on the toilet. And there's often crap smeared on things, and I mean actual crap."

Although I have a healthy social life, I can sympathize with feelings of alienation, and I can imagine what they could lead a person to feel -- this antipathy or at least inability to sympathize with other humans. One particularly clear example is his Sept 10, 2002 post about 9/11:

"I don't care about the WTC. No one I know was involved in either of them, no one I know was hurt. And as long as none of my close friends or I are hurt, I don't give a fuck how many people the terrorists kill. I'm not worried about it. I live in the middle of nowhere...For ultimately, this is how the victims of the September 11th attacks will be remembered, as just a statistic. A mere number, on the page of a history book, scribbled on by a bored child. All the loved ones lost in this attack will be reduced to merely this. And I will laugh."



Idon't even know what to make of the point about me being a "nobody" on the Internet, so I'm going to assume you were being sarcastic or something.
posted by banishedimmortal at 10:13 PM on April 16, 2006

Tell ya what, based on his eBay profile, this guy is going to have 11 extremely enthusiastic character witnesses at the sentencing portion of his trial:

Great transaction! Would gladly deal with again. Thank you!
A superb buyer is you!
Great Buyer! Please shop again!
Super extra fast payment! Recommended!
good buyer track your package at www.usps.com track #03050830000267757964
Trouble-free deal -- couldn't ask for better!
Thanks so much for being such a great eBayer!
Prompt Payment, Good Communucation - has it all!
Excellent customer! Excellent transaction! Thanks so much!
Great transaction. Come back any time!
Very prompt payment and communication. Recommended!
Superb, A+++
An awesome buyer. A+ in my book -- great, great, great!
Extremely fast payment. Great, smooth deal and a quality buyer!
Very fast payment via PayPal. A pleasant transaction with a great buyer! Thanks!
Great buyer, glad to have your business.
Great Buyer with good communications. A+ would sell to again!
Great buyer, fast payment. Pleasure to deal with.
LIGHTNING PAYMENT, GREAT EBAYER,LET'S DO THIS AGAIN REAL SOON CTP 1932
posted by juggernautco at 10:24 PM on April 16, 2006

I think I've figured it out. Every single thing this guy said and did online, I've seen someone else say or do. There was no him in anything he wrote about or enjoyed -- he's such a cliche. . . Take any average otaku, and you can find at least something weird or unique or interesting about them. For this guy, there's nothing.

Figured what out? He was like everyone else, so obviously he was a one in 10 million insane killer?

He was incredibly empty; any personality he had was more or less dissolved into nothing, and with it his empathy and ability to care about anything or anyone.

This makes absolutely no sense.

Also for all the talking-points about what a boring nonentity he is, I would rate his interests, personality and intellect as above-average. Seriously, try reading some random livejournals - the insipidness and flatness is overwhelming. This guy is plenty 3 dimensional - maybe even more so than me. Of course, on a more superficial level, there's nothing new under the sun; we're all nothing special.

i don't think it's the loneliness or depression that drove him to this ... people weren't real to him in a basic way ... he lacked empathy and identification

I don't think this has to be true*. I certainly am not getting this from his writing, where he seems to express all kinds of emotion for others. A series of posts genuinely concerned about his ill mother, for instance. Were Nazis and slaveholders all cold, sick, inhuman "others"?

The answer is 'no'. The banality of evil.

People here are trying too hard. Stop linking to things like one cannibal joke he made on Usenet three years ago, like you've "uncovered" evidence of the abnormality that was always there. It's not convincing. You could find the same thing for lots, and i mean lots, of people. Including me. There are millions of people on the Internet exactly like this guy in every way, except they aren't going to rape and kill children. Stop looking for the Holy Grail - it isn't there. Stop trying to "explain" it - you can't.

Human beings are complicated, and the theories I see here are no more convincing than the 'Evolution made him do it' canard which will inevitably start circulating.

*Also, I don't get where you're going with all those ellipses?
posted by dgaicun at 10:34 PM on April 16, 2006

oh, yeah, and spamvertisements to promote various web sites, one of which was really sick ... (no, go find it for yourself)

I liked this one:

I hope you get ass raped in prison by some nigger then die while bleeding out your anus.

http://www.ni............rs.com

[elipses added]
posted by delmoi at 10:37 PM on April 16, 2006

Hey, let's all click on his ads and whatevers.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp -Cooler-than-Thou Mefite
posted by Falconetti at 10:39 PM on April 16, 2006

Compare:

He was incredibly empty; any personality he had was more or less dissolved into nothing, and with it his empathy and ability to care about anything or anyone.

And:

i don't think it's the loneliness or depression that drove him to this ... people weren't real to him in a basic way ... he lacked empathy and identification

With:

I went to Tim's funeral, and I also went to see Genie in the hospital every day. She did make it through, but she was in the hospital until December 18, the day before my birthday. I went and saw her every day, and I would sit there for hours. Even the days she was unconscious, or so doped up on morphine she barely even knew who she was. Even when she was conscious, she'd still be so doped up I had to help her eat. Most days I was the only visitor she had, her family hardly ever even came to see her. Partly because it was about an hour's drive to even get to the hospital she was at. But I drove it every day, and sat with her every day.

posted by dgaicun at 10:39 PM on April 16, 2006

That mess is part of the coolness, btw.
posted by Falconetti at 10:39 PM on April 16, 2006

That mess is part of the coolness, btw.

Of &amp;nbsp;course!
posted by delmoi at 10:45 PM on April 16, 2006

dgaicun, I know that you were trying to show that he had empathy and identification with someone else, but why don't you post the rest of that entry:

I felt like a horrible person. Because in the back of my mind, a voice kept telling me, "Hey, she's single now, just give her a couple of months to get over the loss of Tim, and then make your move." I'd tell that voice to shut up, and stop thinking things like that, but it kept coming back.

I mean, he developed this obsession with this girl and when her boyfriend died and she was severely injured in a car crash, Underwood just saw it as an opportunity to move in and be her boyfriend. Seems pretty cold to me.
posted by banishedimmortal at 10:55 PM on April 16, 2006

The posts on his blogspot page are just getting goofy now:


<sub>you guys are a bunch of mean jerks what if you were gonna rot in prison and internet people made fun of you?
...
At 7:15 PM, Anonymous said...

remember, this was posted back when chuck norris was still mildly humorous, so don't be too hard on him.

At 10:46 PM, Anonymous said...

one time chuck norris ate a little girl.</sub>
posted by delmoi at 10:56 PM on April 16, 2006

Ellipses... add... profundity.

Anyhows, the fellow is a hell of a lot more articulate than most of the folks who are really being productive by posting anonymously on a blog he'll never read again. Someone he's related to will probably see it, though.
I'm sure that will help them get through this.
How many of those commenters will be inspired by this murder to take action, to volunteer at a crisis center, to get involved with a neighborhood watch, to... to fucking DO SOMETHING other than satisfy their egos and stoke their moral hard-ons?
Probably none. They'll be too busy mocking the next internet freak of the week: "Hey remember that fag who ate that kid- LOL! Lookit this fat gurlz dancin!1! OMFG!!!"

I am still stunned by how easily I could write those entries, if I was a little less stubborn, if I had let myself get worn down, was a little more isolated. It's not a vaccuum or a void inside of a person; dehumanizing him may make you feel better about yourself, but completely misses the point.
He existed in a vacuum, in a void. Life with the sound turned off. He could have just as easily snuffed himself one night, but instead he killed a little girl.
Why?
Cowardice, regaining control over some aspect of his life, striking back at a society he felt had rejected him?
I don't know. I can speculate from my own experiences and knowledge, but it's all moot.
He knows why he did it.
Until he says why, all this conjecture and jigsaw puzzling and armchair monster making is just as useless as the crudest "Fuk u, u going to burn in hel!!!"
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:01 PM on April 16, 2006

Sorry, that should have been "He seemed to have existed in a vacuum..."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:05 PM on April 16, 2006

I mean, he developed this obsession with this girl and when her boyfriend died and she was severely injured in a car crash, Underwood just saw it as an opportunity to move in and be her boyfriend. Seems pretty cold to me.

To be fair, he saw it as an opportunity, but was disgusted with himself, or at least felt he shouldn't be thinking that way.

It's not so clear-cut.
posted by delmoi at 11:06 PM on April 16, 2006

Here's another prophetic post, from 9/16/03:

Here's a funny conversation I just had with Melissa. Melissa is a girl that lives in California that I met online and have been friends with for about five years now. Well, not really a girl, she's a few years older than me, and is getting married soon. She is the "WooTequila" in my chatterbox down there. She's really weird, and cool. Dammit! I just went to copy the conversation, and my Yahoo Messenger crashed and the window closed! So I'll have to try to remember the conversation as best I can.

missy_custer: Mmmm, I'm hungry.
missy_custer: What did you have for dinner tonight?
SubSpecies23: Children!
missy_custer: lmfao
SubSpecies23: lol, not really. I had meatloaf.
SubSpecies23: Made out of children!
missy_custer: lol, meatloaf, the singer?
SubSpecies23: ew, no, lol. Though he looks like he's probably eaten a child or two.
missy_custer: Yeah, the evil bastard.

There, that's pretty much what was said. I'm surprised I remembered it that well.
posted by banishedimmortal at 11:07 PM on April 16, 2006

banishedimmortal,

I could post plenty of other examples. Regardless if you feel it was "pretty cold", that description does not fit the psychopathic profile or the italicized descriptions offered in any way, no matter what his 'ulterior motives' were. Neither does "feeling like a horrible person" while spoon-feeding a half-conscious girl with head injuries.

Read Robert Hare, if you'd like to distinguish what you consider "pretty cold" from the genuine characteristics of psychopathy.
posted by dgaicun at 11:09 PM on April 16, 2006

Since we're all playing amateur psychologist I thought I'd just add in my own.

He was totally sane, but he had a fetish for eating children. You see evidence of people with fetishes all over the place including some pretty strange ones. I mean, a totally normal person can get super turned on by friggin balloons, or animals, or god knows what, it's certainly possible that they could get turned on by cannibalism, for whatever reasons.

Some fetishes are socially acceptable (like breast fetish, which is considered a fetish) and some are just gross (furries anyone?) but not immoral so people find each other and act out on those fantasies.

He, in fact may have had a lot of empathy for the girl (which may be why he admitted it so easily) but he was just overpowered by sexual desire. I think it's possible, certainly that happens with many violent pedophiles.
posted by delmoi at 11:25 PM on April 16, 2006

"Seriously, try reading some random livejournals - the insipidness and flatness is overwhelming. This guy is plenty 3 dimensional - maybe even more so than me."

As a person who helped create LiveJournal, I take offense at this remark.

Sure, some of us LiveJournalers are insipid and flat, but at least we don't have sex with the dead and then eat them, like you Blogger users do.
posted by insomnia_lj at 11:29 PM on April 16, 2006

To be fair, he never actually got around to eating the little girl.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:34 PM on April 16, 2006

HURF DURF MUNCHKIN EATER
posted by Rumple at 11:43 PM on April 16, 2006

Back in the day, you actually had to grow up with a serial killer to know them.
posted by anthill at 11:50 PM on April 16, 2006

Mark, I love livejournal, but that comment was just lame. If it was meant to be funny, it was flat. And if it was serious, you need a chill pill. It's a lose-lose situation!

Alvy, thanks for making my point to banishedimmortal more clear. I mean, a lot of people can speculate and write about this dude, but fuck, man. He went out into the world and DID it. He wrote what he really felt, no masks, and acted on it. None of this armchair shit like you guys are engaging in.

It's rather like Taxi Driver, in a sense, except he didn't end up a hero.
posted by Eideteker at 11:57 PM on April 16, 2006

I better stop before I fall further down the ladder from the height of "wit" past "sarcastic" to "troll."
posted by Eideteker at 11:58 PM on April 16, 2006

Mark, I love livejournal, but that comment was just lame. If it was meant to be funny, it was flat. And if it was serious, you need a chill pill. It's a lose-lo

Hmm, I thought it was helarious.
posted by delmoi at 12:19 AM on April 17, 2006

Once upon a time, people in his situation would just pack a bag and leave for new places. In a new place, you start fresh. The stimulation of newness changes you, and people don't respond to you with the baggage of your past, since they don't know it.

Of course today this is seen as dangerous. You can't step out with $22.53 in your pocket and hitchhike to Metropolis. Someone will mug/rape/kill you. You'll get arrested and accused of terrorism. You'll be viewed as a bum. Besides, who would want to live without easy Internet access, and no where to plug in your game console?

Perhaps in another time, some lonely gay man would have come along and actually touched him. This might have given him some relief, and/or perhaps scared him into pushing himself past his social difficulties.

Faced with terminal dullness-of-life, he lost his humanity in a bid for excitement, and a little girl lost her life as a result. At least, that's how it all sounds to me.
posted by Goofyy at 12:39 AM on April 17, 2006

Perhaps in another time, some lonely gay man would have come along and actually touched him. This might have given him some relief, and/or perhaps scared him into pushing himself past his social difficulties.

I don't think the problem was that he was gay.
posted by delmoi at 12:45 AM on April 17, 2006

Also I doubt working in a chick-fil-a in "metropolis" would be better then working in a chick-fil-a in bumbfuck oklahoma.
posted by delmoi at 12:54 AM on April 17, 2006

I agree with delmoi. Changing your address won't solve your problems. And gay or otherwise, I don't think hustling can solve personality disorders.
posted by Snyder at 12:59 AM on April 17, 2006

One thing I couldn't find in his blog : why didn't he ever leave Purcell?

Maybe I missed some information, but I don't think he ever mentioned trying to leave the town. Why didn't he think he could leave?

Not that, if he left, he'd suddenly lose the urge to eat 10-year-old girls, but finding a home with friends elsewhere may have helped...
posted by suckerpunch at 1:18 AM on April 17, 2006

Oops, didn't read some of the comments above. Delmoi : I'm wondering if it's a matter of understanding his options. Did he think his only option was a Carl's Jr. in Purcell? If he had moved to 'metropolis', would he have stuck to the Chick-Fil-A job path? Maybe. I don't know.
posted by suckerpunch at 1:20 AM on April 17, 2006

It looked like he moved to OK city from something I read about this. Which is, you know, not exactly Metropolis, but it's bigger.
posted by oxonium at 1:21 AM on April 17, 2006

I think what this story shows, if anything, is just how amazingly depersonalised and unpersonal most "social spaces" on the internet are. The man passed every test for "normal on the internets" but I'm sure the people who worked with him thought him a little creepy. No, not that creepy.
posted by alloneword at 1:48 AM on April 17, 2006

From what I understand, the people who worked with him and lived near him thought he was normal but quiet and boring.
posted by Justinian at 2:28 AM on April 17, 2006

I've just found this google search, but I'm too scared to click onwards ... (really, truly, not safe for work).
posted by feelinglistless at 2:34 AM on April 17, 2006

I clicked, feelinglistless. The link is broken.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:43 AM on April 17, 2006

...and then I clicked the Google Cache link. It's a porn video site with a lot of miscellaneous spam text. Nothing to see here.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:44 AM on April 17, 2006

Thanks. What about the google cache?
posted by feelinglistless at 2:45 AM on April 17, 2006

Oh I see. Thanks again.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:46 AM on April 17, 2006

I'm coming to this late. This may be long...

digaman writes "Even simpler than that, I just need to be touched, and I don't mean in a sexual way. But no one ever touches me, and I don't touch them. Even the simplest touch is the hardest thing for me. I dream of being hugged.'"

Whatever he did, that is achingly sad.

digaman writes "When I was a kid, I used to be able to do lots of things."

And that entire passage is even worse. Has to make you wonder, would this awful, tragic thing have happened if he'd had someone, anyone to truly reach out to?

fire&wings writes "I told my mom, and told her about my social anxiety problem, and that I was going to drop out of college and start going to a psychiatrist. She didn't really understand my problem, and still doesn't (whenever I try to talk about how shy I am around people, her answer is, 'Just stop, don't be that way.')

"This didn't have to happen, I guess."

And there's the answer to my question.


elpapacito writes " Actually I have been thinking about it though, I've got to do something. I can't live like this much longer, I have to do something about it."


And there was no one there who could hold his hand and say "Hey, you're not alone. Not really." So many of you are sitting there feeling superior because you've felt some of this pain, and you didn't go out and kill that girl. Guess what? You're not superior. Why? Because I highly doubt that any of us here have felt the alienation and isolation that he felt to the obvious extreme to which he felt it. Antisocial behaviour is a tragic--and often, clearly, deadly--feedback loop. But it's one that can be broken.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:24 AM on April 17, 2006

I think what this story shows, if anything, is just how amazingly depersonalised and unpersonal most "social spaces" on the internet are. The man passed every test for "normal on the internets" but I'm sure the people who worked with him thought him a little creepy. No, not that creepy.
posted by alloneword at 4:09 AM on April 17, 2006

Delmoi: read much? I didn't say he was gay. Which is why I suggested that a gay experience might bring some relief, OR motivate him to work past his social issues (I've seen it happen). I have no reason to suppose he was gay, but I don't discount the possibility, either. But I've hugged (etc) more than one terribly lonely straight man, who was grateful. I've been with plenty for whom the affection was far more their need than just getting off, gay or straight. I'm an affectionate guy.

Nor did I say that moving was an "end to his problems". What I said was, moving shakes things up and can have a very positive impact. I know from experience. 'Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town' turns in to a rut. Given his difficulties, that rut was damn deep. It is trite to echo the standard "Moving doesn't solve anything" line of psychobabble.
posted by Goofyy at 5:44 AM on April 17, 2006

Meatfilter.
posted by greatgefilte at 5:45 AM on April 17, 2006

Being shy doesn’t make you into a homicidal maniac.
Or does it ? Looking for a single point of failure could be a logical error, running on the assumption there can't be, but a single cause.

The girls' life was just worthless to him and he was bored and curious to see what she tasted like.

I think it's more complex then that. He somehow was fascinated by cannibalism and developed an obsession for it ; he certainly didn't find cannibalism fantasy to be repugnant , as much as most of us don't find eating cow meat repugnant. It could be a kind of fetish and it would be mostly harmless, except that he didn't find fantasizing good enough, he at some point decided to enact the fantasy.

Combine this with his apparent callous disregard for other people feelings ; indeed as you say he may have lacked empathy, but he was partially aware that there was something -wrong- with him..probably when he realized the cannibalistic fantasy excited him sexually he realized something was odd ; yet a the same time he rejected the idea of being treated with pills, thought he shouldn't be taking pills to live a normal life and found that pills didn't help him with the cannibalistic fantasy, so pill don't work ergo why take pills ? By doing so he reverted to his mood jumps...I guess he maniac-depressive aka bipolar, not unipolar depressed.

He apparently was afraid of being interned and being afraid of people , having zero trust as he said, why should he confess a doctor he had these fantasies ?

dgaicuin also did a good job and found that he really isn't completely callous, he went to visit Genie , probably he found Genie
to be in a similar condition, alone and with no help.

He was totally sane, but he had a fetish for eating children.

A fetish for human flesh, not necessarily strictly for children flesh. Nitpicking ? Maybe, but the children is an easier target.

He, in fact may have had a lot of empathy for the girl (which may be why he admitted it so easily) but he was just overpowered by sexual desire.

If he empathized with the girl he killed, he probably wouldn't have killed her. My wild guess is that he was in a maniac mood, got excited by the idea of enacting the fantasy, killed the girl and later returned to depress mood, realized the complete hell he produced but didn't want to escape , I guess in his depressive moods suicide was an option.
posted by elpapacito at 5:54 AM on April 17, 2006

I told you I was hardcore.
posted by knave at 6:42 AM on April 17, 2006

And that entire passage is even worse. Has to make you wonder, would this awful, tragic thing have happened if he'd had someone, anyone to truly reach out to?

fire&wings writes "I told my mom, and told her about my social anxiety problem, and that I was going to drop out of college and start going to a psychiatrist. She didn't really understand my problem, and still doesn't (whenever I try to talk about how shy I am around people, her answer is, 'Just stop, don't be that way.')

"This didn't have to happen, I guess."

And there's the answer to my question.


Why is it always the mother's fault? She claims he was always a "wonderful boy", perhaps that's how she saw him. He says he was "sorta popular" in high school, by being the class clown. Whatever happened to him as he reached adulthood shouldn't be pinned solely on his upbringing. There came a time when she suggested maybe he may need drugs to help him-he flatly refused to take drugs. He felt he wanted to live a normal life without having to use medication to do it. But he couldn't. As he became an adult, his mother couldn't help him if he didn't want help. It became time for him to help himself-that's what being a grownup means. Beyond all that, for the most part, he was just an ordinary guy. And that's the scariest thing of all.
posted by annieb at 7:11 AM on April 17, 2006

I only thought it was strange that they referred to him as a suspect since it implies they haven't charged him with any crime yet. Once you admit to the crime and they find the evidence, don't they refer to you as the accused?
posted by destro at 7:34 AM on April 17, 2006

I guess he maniac-depressive aka bipolar, not unipolar depressed.

Great. This really is Frist-level speculation, y'know? I'm couting down the minutes until someone posts a reasoned diagnosis of 'multiple personalities' based on his blog posts.
posted by verb at 7:42 AM on April 17, 2006

I only thought it was strange that they referred to him as a suspect since it implies they haven't charged him with any crime yet. Once you admit to the crime and they find the evidence, don't they refer to you as the accused?

It would be negligent for officials to refer to him as anything other than "suspect" before he's indicted. Although it seems likely now that he did it, given the presence of her body in his apartment, it's certainly not unheard of for people to make false confessions. For example, in this case last year a man confessed to murdering a little girl, saying she found his meth lab. The confession sparked this big feel-good "take back the town" anti-meth movement and then investigators decided that someone else, a good old-fashioned pedophile, had killed her for good old-fashioned pedophile reasons and not meth. Oops! So, until the investigation has proceeded to the point where they're ready to declare in an official legal proceeding that they really think he did it, it's good to exercise a bit of restraint. I would say let's definitely not post "I hope you get raped in jail" on his blog at least until he's formally indicted.

Anyway, that's how the criminal justice system ought to work. It's courts that convict people, not cnn articles and myspace bloggers.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:56 AM on April 17, 2006

but I'm sure the people who worked with him thought him a little creepy

They didn't. A fomer co-worker even trusted him to drive around his little daughters. They said he didn't make them uncomfortable.

Because I highly doubt that any of us here have felt the alienation and isolation that he felt to the obvious extreme to which he felt it.

Oh whatever. This is like that Chris Rock joke about Columbine ("No one would play with us. . . we had no friends.' Hey, I saw the yearbook picture. It was six of 'em! I didn't have six friends in high school. I don't have six friends now!"). He had friends and family. Trying to link loneliness with some horrifying paraphilia is just more pathetic armchair absurdity of the 'Marilyn Manson made him do it' variety.

Has to make you wonder, would this awful, tragic thing have happened if he'd had someone, anyone to truly reach out to?

He had people to "reach out to", and no I don't wonder that, anymore than I wonder maybe all Mao Zedong needed was a great big hug.
posted by dgaicun at 8:29 AM on April 17, 2006

dgaicun, you're wrong. The guy was extraordinarily lonely and alienated. Read his blog.

Anyways, playing diagnose-the-murderer-through-his-blog is a fun game and I'm sure it'll prove to be popular Internet past-time in the future (I can already see the flash games) but let's not take it too far. Believe it or not, this is a real event where real people have been hurt.

What I find myself wondering is how much it would've cost to treat this guy. Let's say, a monthly prescription of Lexapro and weekly sessions with a therapist... what is that, $400/mo? $600/mo? Any ideas?
posted by nixerman at 8:39 AM on April 17, 2006