Providentia

The Hoddle Street Massacre

As part of my visit to Melbourne, I naturally went on the Melbourne Crime Tour (who could pass up a name like that?),  Along with visits to various memorable scenes of gangland killings and famous murders, we made a stop at a nondescript spot on Hoddle Street in the Clifton Hill suburb of Melbourne.  Nondescript now, but things were very different on August 9, 1987.  That was when it became the site of one of the bloodiest massacres in Australia's history.

Julian Knight was a nineteen-year old former army cadet who had recently been expelled from the Royal Military College in Canberra.  Adopted into an army family at a young age, Knight's fascination with guns and the military seemed unremarkable.  He joined the army cadets at the age of fourteen and was part of the army reserve while still in high school.  Entering the Royal Military College at the age of eighteen seemingly marked the beginning of the military career he had always dreamed of having.  Unfortunately, Knight did poorly in all of his courses (except for weapons training) and was expelled after a bar brawl in which he stabbed a fellow soldier.  The disgrace of his expulsion and being plunged  back into the civilian life for which he was poorly suited left him deeply depressed.  Not only was Knight unable to find a job but there seemed no real home left for him (his mother had turned his old bedroom into a sewing room and he was forced to sleep on her couch).  His girlfriend had moved on as well and was involved in a new relationship.  

There were no warning signs when Julian Knight applied for a shooter's license which was granted three months later.  His collection of guns, including a 22 calibre Kruger rifle, a 12-gauge pump action Mossberg shotgun, and a Norinco M14 military rifle (all legally obtained) hardly attracted attention either. It's hard to say what triggered the deadly rampage of August 9.  All that could be determined afterward was that Julian Knight spent much of that night drinking at a local pub.  After about ten pots of beer (a pot is traditionally 425 milliliters although the measure can vary), Knight collected his gun and over one hundred rounds of ammunition before positioning himself on a raised platform behind a billboard at the corner of Hoddle and Ramsden Streets.  Why he chose that particular location was never made clear (although the position was easily defended).  Then the shooting began.

Bystanders were thoroughly confused at first over what was happening.  Some thought a vehicle was backfiring or stones were hitting their windshields.  When they realized their danger, motorists quickly took shelter at a local gasoline station where staff called police.  When police arrived on the scene, locating where the bullets were coming from took time and more bystanders were killed or wounded over the course of the next three hours. After a massive police response (including a police helicopter flying overhead), Julian Knight was finally forced from his hiding place and led the police on a half-hour chase.  He had kept one bullet in his shirt pocket to use on himself although this was somehow lost as he fled. 

Knight fired indiscriminately at the police, the various squad cars, and the helicopter (which was forced to land after a bullet ruptured its fuel line).  After running out of ammunition (and realizing that he lost his suicide bullet), Julian Knight was arrested without incident.  His rampage had killed seven people and wounded nineteen others, including police officers. When asked by police afterward why he killed innocent people, Knight replied: "I dunno, I'm not sure".  Newspaper journalists besieged family members and former friends of the shooter searching for clues to his rampage.  Details about Knight's solitary nature, his fixation on guns and the military, and his insistence on being nicknamed "SOF" (short for "soldier of fortune") became front page news.   Although there was speculation that the rampage was his way of acting out his combat fantasies or to make his father proud of him for "killing communists", Julian Knight's actions defy real explanation.

As arresting detective Graham Kent later said of him,  "Knight was like a young kid who had been on an adventure and been caught doing something naughty.  He seemed to be interested in what was happening to him but not concerned.  For a nineteen-year old, he seemed very immature".  Despite questions surrounding his lack of apparent remorse, Julian Knight was found fit to stand trial and was later given seven consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of twenty-seven years.   The sentence remains controversial given the option of parole although sentencing judge George Hampel continues to defend the decision given Knight's age at the time of the shooting and the possibility of rehabilitation.  Julian Knight will be eligible for parole as early as 2014 although representatives of the Victorian government have stated that it is unlikely he will ever be released.  

Not surprisingly, the Hoddle Street Massacre (as well as a copycat shooting rampage in Melbourne later that same year) has led to stronger gun laws in Australia although gun control organizations argue that more stringent requirements are still needed.  The Victorian government also established the Victorian Community Council Against Violence (VCCAV) to investigate ways to prevent future violent outbreaks.   As for Julian Knight himself, he remains incarcerated at Port Philip Correctional Centre near Melbourne.  In the years since he was first imprisoned, Knight has earned a university degree with additional training in law.  His name remains in the news due to a series of legal challenges launched against the Victorian government surrounding prison conditions and Knight's failure to be granted rehabilitation programs that might improve his chance of parole.  He has also been denied the right to correspond with the families of his victims to express his regret over his actions.  In February 2003, it was determined that Julian Knight's various legal challenges have cost the Victorian government over AUD $250,000 with additional costs for legal aid consultations.

on October 19, 2004, a judge declared Knight a vexatious litigant which effectively bans him from pursuing any new cases for a ten-year period.  Although Knight has challenged the ruling, it has since been upheld.  As only one of only thirteen vexatious litigants in Victoria's recent history (and the only inmate to receive that declaration), he still makes news headlines (often commenting on issues of gun control following new shootings). The Hoddle Street Massacre continues to be the focus of books, news articles, and television documentaries.

Like other spree killers before him, Julian Knight's case often raises more questions than answers.  As new incidents occur, the few lessons learned from this rampage seem more relevant than ever.

Racism, Trolling, and the Internet

I could post my shopping list and I’m pretty sure the thread beneath would include some variants of “go back to Africa”  Hannah Pool

While the Internet has long been regarded as the last bastion of free speech where anyone could post comments anonymously without fear, the dark side of such freedom is also apparent.   Not only do women posting online often face horrific abuse and threats, often focusing on rape or “slut shaming”, but people belonging to sexual, religious, or racial minorities typically experience abuse as well.   Bloggers and journalists such as Hannah Pool, whose quote is included above, have long shared their concerns that the negative comments they receive based on their appearance, gender, or racial background can drown out legitimate commenters.   As a result, many would-be contributors who are part of stigmatized groups are often afraid to have a voice on social media platforms such as Twitter or to start their own blogs  (which may be the intent of many of these anonymous abusers).

A new study published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture examines this phenomenon by focusing the negative reactions many commenters receive to their  online contributions based on race.   A team of researchers led by Rachel Sumner of Cornell University’s Department  of Human Development examined reader comments to the Room For Debate blog published on the New York Time’s website.   The Room For Debate blog is intended to allow people from different walks of life to post opinion-editorial (op-ed) essays on specific topics such as interracial marriage or health care and also allows readers to post comments on each essay.   For the purpose of their study, Sumner and her fellow researchers focused on eleven discussions of racial topics published over a one-year period.  Topics included affirmative action, lack of minorities in popular television shows, racial relations following the election of President Obama, etc.   For each discussion, two essays were randomly selected:  one by a Black author and one by a White author.   The twenty-two essays selected were also evenly divided between male and female authors.

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

 

The Big Five and Politician Personalities

A recent study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences uses the Big Five framework to investigate personality differences between politicians and the general public and between politicians themselves based on ideology and party identification. A 50-item Big Five questionnaire was taken by 2586 respondents at the Open Psychology data website and 278 American state legislators. The author finds that politicians are more Extraverted, Agreeable, Emotionally Stable, and Conscientious than the general public. At the same time, they are slightly lower on Intellect/Imagination. All results are statistically significant for all traits and both sexes, except with regards to females and Intellect. When comparing politicians to one another and controlling for demographic variables, Republicans score higher on Conscientiousness and lower on Intellect and Agreeableness. These findings hold for a smaller sample when ideology is the dependent variable, although only Intellect/Imagination reaches statistical significance. Conservative ideology is also associated with Emotional Stability. The results show important differences between politicians and the public, and reveal personality differences among elites that are in some ways analogous to the results we find in more representative samples.

For the abstract

Can Hearing and Communication Problems Predict Dementia?

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that problems interpreting speech sounds may be a diagnostic marker for early dementia.  The study, which was conducted by researchers at Toronto's Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and the University of Memphis, used EEG measurement in older adults to show that abnormal functioning in regions of the brain that process speech predicted mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with over 80 percent accuracy.   Since MCI can be an early sign of developing dementia, testing for early communication problems may allow for doctors to diagnose potential dementia much earlier than is currently possible.  

While brain regions such as the brainstem and auditory cortex are not usually considered to be strongly affected by Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, the new study shows that the brainstems of vulnerable older adults show abnormally large activity within seven to ten milliseconds after speech sound first hit the ear.  This was tested by measuring brain activity while research subjects were watching a video as well as identifying vowel sounds.   Statistical analysis was then used to determine how changes to the brain can predict MCI.  

“When we hear a sound, the normal aging brain keeps the sound in check during processing, but those with MCI have lost this inhibition and it was as if the flood gates were open since their neural response to the same sounds were over-exaggerated,” says Dr. Gavin Bidelman, first author on the study, a former RRI post-doctoral fellow and assistant professor at the University of Memphis. “This functional biomarker could help identify people who should be monitored more closely for their risk of developing dementia.”

“This opens a new door in identifying biological markers for dementia since we might consider using the brain’s processing of speech sounds as a new way to detect the disease earlier,” says Dr. Claude Alain, the study’s senior author and senior scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute (RRI) and professor at the University of Toronto’s psychology department.  “Losing the ability to communicate is devastating and this finding could lead to the development of targeted treatments or interventions to maintain this capability and slow progression of the disease.”

Even for adults who score below the normal cutoff score for dementia screening tests, potential communication problems can alert doctors that certain patients need to be monitored more frequently.  Researchers also hope to develop a portable test that can measure different senses quickly and inexpensively.  “MCI is known to cause changes in different senses, such as vision or touch,” says Dr. Alain. “If we could incorporate these changes into a wireless EEG test, we could combine all this information and develop a better biomarker. One day, doctors could administer a short, 10-minute assessment and instantly provide results.”

More research is still needed measuring communication problems in patients with dementia or who convert early from MCI to full-blown dementia. An early test for dementia risk can be especially valuable giving the rising number of Baby Boomers who are entering into their senior years.

 

Taming the Wild Boy

On July 27, 1724, a German farmer named Jurgen Meyer made  a bizarre discovery.    While working in the fields on a farm just outside the German town of Hamelin, he came across what he first took to be a "naked, brownish, black-haired creature."   This turned out to be a boy, apparently twelve years of age, who was walking on all fours and who ran up a nearby tree whenever anyone approached him.   Though the boy seemed unable to communicate in any way, Meyer was able to entice him to enter the town by offering a pair of apples.   Frightened by a mob of street boys, the strange child was eventually locked up in the local jail, more for his own protection than any real concern about public safety.

The boy, who was quickly christened Peter, was later transferred to a local hospital where doctors could study his odd behaviour.  Peter continued to behave like a four-footed animal who preferred to sleep in his straw pallet instead of the bed that was offered him.   He also seemed unused to standing erect and preferred to rest on his haunches or crouching on all fours as if he were a dog or cat.  Frightened by where he was staying, Peter made frequent attempts at escaping,   He also refused to eat the cooked food that had been prepared for him and preferred to catch and eat birds which he tore apart with his bare hands.  When not eating meat, he preferred raw vegetables and grass.   While naked when originally caught, he eventually became used to wearing clothes though getting him to accept shoes was quite a trial.  

After a brief stay in Hamelin where he lived with a clothmaker who agreed to take care of him, Peter eventually came to the attention of George, the Duke of Hanover (who had recently been crowned King George I of Great Britain).   By order of the king, Peter was taken to the Herrenhausen Palace near Hanover as a ward of the royal family.   Treated as a curiosity, the "Wild Boy of Hamelin", as he came to be known, was dressed in a suit of fine clothes and seated at the king's table for his meals.  Unfortunately, his hosts soon discovered that the boy had no social skills whatsoever.  Gorging himself on whatever food he could shove into his mouth, he grabbed at every dish he could reach and the noisy sounds of his eating offended everyone at the the table.  The disgusted king finally ordered him to be removed from the dining area.  

After a few months of life at the palace, Peter (a.k.a., "Wild Peter") managed to escape back to the forest though he was soon recaptured.  Intrigued by his story, George's daughter-in-law Caroline (who was then Princess of Wales) arranged for him to be brought to England in 1726.   Once Peter arrived in London, he quickly became a sensation.    Not only was Peter a real-life feral child like the kind described in fairy tales and old legends,  his amusing antics also made him extremely popular at court.   Peter also became a particular favourite of Caroline who arranged for him to live in her palace apartments as a virtual pet.   Palace life wasn't easy for a boy who had grown up in a forest however which was why Caroline arranged for Dr. John Arbuthnot to oversee his education.

Along with being a physician, John Arbuthnot was also well-known for his accomplishments in various fields including literature, medicine, and mathematics.   He was also one of the early pioneers in the use of vaccination to prevent smallpox and was a familiar sight at court.   Even though Arbuthnot's efforts at teaching Peter to speak seemed doomed to failure, he did manage to make him a bit more socialized.  Not only did Peter become used to wearing his tailor-made clothes, but he also learned to bow and to kiss the hand of any woman presented to him.    But that was as far as he was able to go in terms of education.   Aside from saying his own name and "King George" (albeit in a rather garbled form),  Peter never learned how to speak and, by 1728, Arbuthnot had given up after declaring Peter untrainable.

By that time, the public clamor over Peter hard largely died down as people got tired of him.   And so had Caroline.   She then made arrangements for her pet to be retired to a farm in Hertfordshire.   A generous crown pension was assigned for his upkeep but, from that point on, Peter was basically expected to remain on the farm and not make any trouble.   Which, considering he was still incapable of understanding language, seemed a bit much to expect of him.    Though he was still an adolescent (as far as anyone could tell given that nobody knew his true age), Peter developed quite a taste for gin and also enjoyed swaying to music until he became exhausted.

In the years that followed, Peter seemed to show a knack for getting caught up in  the political upheavals that gripped the United Kingdom, mainly because he tended to wander off the farm where he was living.   In 1745, during the Jacobite Rebellion, Peter was caught by soldiers and held for his own safety (mainly because he was unable to answer any questions that were posed to him).    While in prison, a fire broke out and, while the other inmates were being evacuated, Peter simply sat and enjoyed the heat.  

Though he was released soon enough, Peter continued wandering and, six years later, was arrested near Norwich as a suspected Spanish agent.   Finally, the farmer who had been taking care of him arranged for Peter to be fitted with a heavy leather collar with the inscription:  "Peter, the wild man of Hanover.  Whoever will bring him to Mister Fenn at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire will be paid for his trouble."   Peter became used to the collar which prevented any further problems with his wandering.

Peter, the Wild Man of Hanover, finally died on February 22, 1785 having lived to the ripe age of 72.  He was buried in Northchurch and his grave can still be seen on the St. Mary's Church grounds directly outside the main doors of the building.   The grave has since been declared a heritage site and is considered one of the more unique tourist sights in the area.   Also, the leather collar he had worn is still preserved at Berkhamsted School.   Despite these tangible artifacts of his life,  Peter's legacy seems harder to determine though. Despite the endless philosophical speculations raised about him, including writings by Daniel Defoe and Lord Monboddo over whether Peter was a feral child who had been raised by animals in the wild, modern researchers have come up with a more plausible explanation.  

Though there is no way to tell when he had really been abandoned,  one researcher has argued that Peter suffered from Pitt–Hopkins syndrome,  a condition that was only identified centuries after his death.  Rather than being abandoned as a child, he might well have been left to fend for himself only a short time before he was actually found.   Who may have abandoned him and what kind of life he might have had beforehand will likely never be known however.

The most lasting legacy Peter left behind was likely due to Jonathan Swift who based the yahoos featured in his classic novel, Gulliver's Travels, on him.   In all, an ironic form of literary immortality for someone who had never learned to speak or read English.  

The Flat Earth Fiasco

Alfred Russell Wallace was always up for a challenge. 

As a champion of science and evolutionary thinking, he was never afraid of adopting unpopular causes (hence his opposition to vaccination, among other things).  He was also, sadly, in frequent financial difficulties and worried about supporting his wife and children.  A series of bad investments depleted the money he made from bringing back exotic specimens from Malaysia (he was a scientist, not a financial wizard).  With the help of friends (including Charles Darwin), he eventually secured a modest government pension in 1881 and made extra money through his writings.  Still, he was always looking for new ways to supplement his income.

Unfortunately, this brings us to John Hampden and his Flat Earth wager...

Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, John Hampden represented the public face of flat earth advocates in England.  Although largely forgotten prior to 1800, flat earth societies underwent somewhat of a revival with "zetetic societies"  expressing their skepticism about orthodox scientific views of the shape of the Earth.  Most flat-earthers tend to be religious fundamentalists who based their beliefs on literal Biblical interpretations although they weren't above trying to use science to justify their thinking.  The 1849 book, Earth is Not A Globe, by Samuel Rowbotham argued that sunrise and sunset were actually optical illusions caused by light refraction (he also argued that the sun was 32 miles in diameter).  John Hampden was very much in Rowbotham's camp and was often confrontational in making himself heard.

When Hampden advertised his infamous Flat Earth Wager in 1870, the terms were simple enough:  he would pay 500 British pounds to anyone who could provide absolute proof of a round Earth.  Given the size of the reward (which was a hefty sum in those days), Wallace was tempted enough to discuss the wager with Charles Lyell.  After Lyell suggested that "It may stop these foolish people to have it plainly shown them",  Wallace accepted the challenge. As an experienced land surveyor, designing an appropriate proof seemed simple enough (but he should have realized the offer was too good to be true).  Hampden appointed fellow flat-earther William Carpenter as his referee while Wallace appointed science journalist J.J. Walsh.  Both Hampden and Walsh put up 500 pounds in a London bank for safekeeping and Wallace signed an agreement that he would repay Walsh if he lost the bet. 

The test itself was scheduled for early March, 1870 at the old Bedford Canal in Norfolk (Hampden picked the site).  The methodology Wallace used was flawless:  he would set three objects spaced three miles apart along a straight line.  Using a telescope, he would verify that the middle object would appear five feet or more above the objects at the two extremes, consistent with what was known about the curvature of the Earth.  Prior to the experiment, Wallace submitted a diagram to Hampden, Walsh and Carpenter illustrating the planned experiment and none of them objected.  On March 5, Walsh was unable to attend and sent a substitute who agreed to act as referee in his place.  On the following day, Carpenter, Wallace, and the new referee, Coulcher, ran the experiment and verified that Wallace's predicted findings were absolutely correct.

Then the obfuscation began.  After initially agreeing with Wallace, Carpenter changed his mind and claimed that the telescope used was inadequate since it lacked a proper cross-hair or level.  When Wallace corrected the telescope and obtained the exact same result, Carpenter agreed to abide by the findings (Hampden refused to look through the telescope himself).  Unfortunately, Carpenter suddenly reversed himself and declared that Hampden was the winner.  Baffled by Carpenter's behaviour, Wallace and Coulcher went home in disgust.  Although J.J. Walsh later reviewed all of Wallace's findings and declared in writing that Hampden had lost the bet, both Carpenter and Hampden sent in convoluted rebuttals that accused Walsh and Wallace of "a gross perversion of the facts". 

When Walsh followed through on the terms of the bet and paid Wallace the money, Hampden began a bizarre campaign of harassment directed against Wallace, Walsh, and everyone else he considered to be involved in the wager.  Although Walsh and Wallace considered Hampden to be a harmless lunatic, he was an extremely vindictive one.  In the following months, Hampden sent them both letters, pamphlets, and leaflets accusing them both of being swindlers.  In one incredible letter that Hampden  wrote to Wallace's  wife, he wrote that, "If your infernal thief of a husband is brought home some day on a hurdle with every bone in his head smashed to a pulp, you will know the reason.  Do tell him from me he is a lying, infernal thief, and sure as his name is Wallace, he never dies in his bed.  You must be a miserable wretch to live with a convicted felon.  Do not think or let him think that I have done with him."

Naturally, Wallace went to the police and laid charges against Hampden. Despite being sent to prison for a week and  ordered by the court not to bother Wallace or his family for three months, Hampden wasn't stopped for long.  As soon as the three months were over, the harassment began again.  Hampden was careful not to make any further violent threats against Wallace but he continued to send letters and pamphlets to every professional organization in the country.  By 1871, Wallace had enough of the harassment and sued for libel.  Although Wallace won the libel suit, Hampden simply turned over all his assets to his son-in-law and declared bankruptcy.  Not only did this free him from any requirement to pay Wallace for damages but it also forced Wallace to bear all court costs. 

Hampden still continued with his  increasingly bizarre attacks.  While Wallace recognized that his adversary was mentally ill, that didn't provide much comfort considering the harm Hampden's accusations were doing to his public image.  Although Wallace was able to win an additional libel suit against Hampden (including forcing him to make a public apology), nothing really changed.  With the help of his flat-earth friends, Hampden brought a countersuit against Wallace demanding the return of his 500 pounds.  Through a obscure legal  technicality, Hampden actually won this case and Wallace was ordered to repay the money.  After a lengthy legal battle, Wallace was left even more in debt than ever.  By the time the whole sorry matter had ended in 1876,  Wallace was left with a permanent stain on his professional reputation.  He would say afterward that the entire wager had been one of the biggest mistakes of his life.  Flat earth advocates (and, yes, there are still a few of them around) continue to invoke the Wallace-Hampden controversy to lend scientific authority to their arguments.

There does seem to be a certain strange irony in the fact that the same libel laws that Wallace used against John Hampden would also be used more than a century later in the 2008 British Chiropractic Association lawsuit against science writer, Simon Singh.  Much like Wallace however, the plaintiffs in that case would find once again that suing for libel can be a dangerous business. While using a courtroom to settle scientific arguments is often counterproductiive, there is can be little choice at times.  The Hampden case also shows the risks involved in dealing with True Believers, especially when they think they've been wronged.

How Safe is Safe Drinking?

A study published recently in the journal Victims and Offenders was undertaken to test if precautionary drinking behaviors can be associated with reduced risk of violent victimization. Some studies have shown that these behaviors (e.g. limiting alcohol intake, eating before or during drinking, and having friends close by) reduce the negative consequences of drinking, but very few have focused on criminal victimization. National College Health Assessment data from 20121 were utilized to examine the association between precautionary drinking behavior and violent victimization (physical assault or verbal threat), controlling for demographic and risky lifestyle factors. Regression analyses found that precautionary drinking behavior reduced the odds of victimization only among men who frequently drink. In this same group being “single” increased risk. Other variables were consistent predictors: drug use, multiple sex partners, mental health disorder, and first year student status. Binge drinking and having a disability were also frequent predictors. Finally, Black women but not men were more likely to be victimized. These results suggest that the risky or protective nature of types of drinking behaviors is gendered and taking precautions is especially important for men who drink frequently.

For the abstract

Too Much To Do, Too Little TIme

How busy are you in the course of a normal working day?    

For many men and women in modern society, the pressure of meeting all the responsibilities at work and at home can be overwhelming.   This is largely due to the role overload faced by working Americans who often find that there aren't enough hours in the day to do what needs to be done.  According to the role dynamics theory first proposed by Robert Kahn and his colleagues at the University of Michigan, every role that we assume puts unique pressures on us because of the expectations that we are expected to fulfill.   Whether the role is being an employee, spouse, parent, homeowner, volunteer worker, etc., the psychological stress imposed by needing to carry out these roles, along with the guilt if our efforts don't measure up to what is expected of us, can often build up over time.   

With working parents, for example, the role responsibilities of caring for a child can often come into conflict with responsibilities at work as well as other time demands.  According to Kahn and his co-researchers,  it is this total role overload which can lead to problems associated with chronic stress.  How severe this overload can become often depends  on the inner resources of the individual trying to meet these responsibilities as well as the kind of support they are receiving at home and at work.  

 

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

 

 

Indian Father and Grandmother Arrested in the Exorcism Deaths of Two Children

While their mother was kept locked in a room, two children were electrocuted by their father and grandfather in a bizarre exorcism.   The grandmother reportedly convinced her son to carry out the exorcism due to her reputation for having "divine powers" and to cleanse the children of "evil spirits."  Police in northern India have arrested Nirmal Kaur and her son Kulwinder Singh after officers discovered the bodies of the two children.  

According to police, Kaur had convinced her son to carry out the exorcism which involved beatings and electric shocks.   When the mother of the children objected, she was locked in a room and neighbours ignored her screams for help for two days out of fear of Kaur's powers.   Singh's five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter were believed to be possessed by ghosts or demons and subjected to repeated beatings and electric shocks.  On March 8,  after previous rituals had failed to drive out the demons, Kaur and Singh increased the voltage and killed both children.   Neighbours were finally alerted by the screams of the children and their mother and notified police.  

In questioning Kulwinder Singh afterward, police learned that his mother had brainwashed him into believing that nothing could go wrong with the exorcism.   He was also led to believe that his mother would bring the children back to life if they were killed.  

This is the second fatality involving children killed in magical ceremonies in a week. Earlier, the body of  a ten year-old girl in India's Karnatka state was found on the outskirts of the village where she had been living.  Ayesha Mohammed Nurulla had apparently been sacrificed in a black magic ritual intended to cure her cousin of paralysis.  Believing the paralysis to be due to evil spirits, members of the cousin's family kidnapped Ayesha from her home and cut her throat as part of the occult ritual.   Four people have been charged, including the brother of the paralysed man.  

The Case of Frederick Mors (Part Two)

Continued from Part One

After Frederick Mors' successful escape from the Hudson River State Hospital in 1916, a police manhunt turned up no trace of him and, after months of investigating, public interest largely died down.

 In the meantime,  World War One continued to rage in Europe and industrial output in many U.S. factories rose sharply as a result.   Due to the numerous military contracts that had become available, not to mention growing confidence that the United States would be eventually entering the war,  the need for factory workers was greater than ever.  Certainly that was the case at the Torrington Factory located in Torrington, Connecticut (hence the name).  Though regulating industrial safety standards were largely hit or miss depending on where factories were located and how dangerous the factory work actually was,  the Torrington Factory boasted its own first aid department with a staff physician to deal with any injuries that occurred.  

It still isn't clear how and when "Frederick Maurice Beno" began working as an physician's assistant at the factory.   By all accounts, he soon became a well-known fixture in Torrington, Connecticut where he was living,  as much for his peculiar manner and strange way of dressing as for his work treating injured workers.   And there he might have gone on living quietly had it not been for one problem:   being a German national living in the United States meant that he was officially designated an enemy alien and needed to be registered with the U.S.  government to remain in the country.   More importantly, authorities belatedly checking his file discovered that nobody by that name had ever entered the country legally and, for all intents and purposes, "Frederick Maurice Beno" didn't exist.   Aside from his claim to being born in Munich, Germany, there was absolutely no evidence to support his identity.   When police picked him up in February, 1918, Beno raised suspicions by being deliberately vague about his activities between 1915 and 1917 when he arrived in Torrington.   He was charged with violating his residency permit though he was soon released (presumably he wasn't considered a flight risk).  

 Despite his release however, the publicity over his arrest cost Beno his job and generally made life in Torrington unbearable.   By April, he had disappeared after leaving behind three letters to people he had known in town   In  all three of the letters, Beno announced that he would be committing suicide.   Fearing the worst, police and local scout troops  searched the local woods for any trace of his body but nothing was ever found. And that would have been the end of the story for Frederick Beno if it hadn't been for a factory worker named Henry Godere.

While he was having his lunch at the factory where Beno had once worked, Godere happened to be reading the magazine section of the New York Herald dated March 21, 1915.   And there, along with the story of Frederick Mors and his murders, was a picture of the man he knew as "Doctor" Frederick Beno.   Godere was so struck by the resemblance that he began showing the picture to his co-workers,many of whom had been treated by Beno, and all of them agreed that that he strongly resembled the picture of Frederick Mors in the magazine.   When Godere notified the police, a new investigation was launched, including checking with New York authorities about Mors/Beno's prison status.  

After learning that Frederick Mors had escaped custody in 1916,  Torrington police launched a full investigation.   Not only did Beno fit all the available descriptions of Frederick Mors, including his odd manner and way of dressing, but police also learned that he had given a cigarette case with the initials "F.M." to a man with whom he had been boarding.   Though all the nearby towns were notified, no trace of the escaped fugitive ever turned up.    People in Torrington were understandably disturbed to learn that the man who had been living in their town was suspected of being a multiple murderer but interest in the case of Frederick Mors/Frederick Beno  largely died down after a few months.  

It was only in 1923 with the discovery of a skeleton at a farm in Northfield, Ct., not far from Torrington, that the question of what had happened to Mors could finally be answered.   Despite having no head and the absence of any identifying marks, a coroner formally identified the body and concluded that Mors had poisoned himself at some point after he disappeared from Torrington.   Two bottles were found next to the corpse, but , while one contained whiskey, there was no way to tell what the other bottle contained.  Given the condition of the skeleton, there was also no way to tell how long he had been dead.  The spot Mord had picked to end his life was isolated enough to ensure that his body would not be discovered until years later.  Only after a thorough investigation were police able to solve a mystery that had been haunting Northfield for weeks after the body was found.   It also meant that police in New York could finally close the file on the eight patient deaths linked to Mors once and for all.    The mystery of what he did in those final months before his death died with him.  

While there have certainly been other examples of  patients being murdered by caregivers, the case of Frederick Mors is still one of the most unusual.  Whatever his reasons for killing eight patients, he certainly managed to become a local legend.   Something that likely suited him just fine.