Crime, Serial Killing and Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Hello
I was wondering if anyone knew of any connection between Autism Spectrum Disorder and crime.
It may just be me, but i think that due to various behavioural issues that many people with Autism Spectrum Disorder suffer from, we are prone to being the usual suspects for various crimes, which i believe is unfair.

For example. suffering from meltdowns is fairly common among people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Some people who suffer from meltdowns exhibit behaviours that may frighten onlookers which may easily make
onlookers mislabel us as psychopaths, where we are generally not.

For example. When i have a meltdown, i can be verbally aggressive and confrontational.
I do not get violent though, although at times i have threatened to punch someone (like most men).

Suffering from meltdowns may make some automatically think that such people are psychopaths, i guess because some perceive the verbally aggressive meltdown person as someone who may be capable of acts of violence.

Psychopaths however are usually the opposite to people who outwardly show aggression.
Psychopaths are often capable of cruel violent actions without showing emotion, which is the opposite to autism spectrum disorder meltdowns, which occur to being overwhelmed by emotion rather than lacking in emotion.

Nonetheless, i thought it would be interesting to start a post that explores any links between autism spectrum disorder, psychopathy and crime.

A subject that i do not know a great deal about, although i have seen a number of people in the news who have been convicted of various crimes who have a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

When a person does not make eye contact it is believed that a person is lying which if you are being questionedby the police is a bad thing.

There have been only a couple of suspected autistics who were serial killer's and of those were not ultra killers like,Manson,Dahmer,Ridgeway,Bundy,Lucas,Williams or Rader.Not that killing three people is good,that's horrible,however the few ASD serial killers known only killed a few people,which is horrible but none of the famous serial killers that killed in the range of 15 150 people were ASD.

So there have been a couple but there is no link between ASD and serial killers,the few were coincidence and in relative proportion to the general population.

Middle to lower income white males are the most common demographic.
Aileen Wuornos was female but killed men she met prostituting,at her arrest and trial said they all tried to rape her.But later on Florida's death row found religion and to make peace with her maker,three weeks before her execution,she said she had simply killed for robbery.

Wayne Williams;The Atlanta child murderer:Like most other and few black serial killers killed only black people,in Williams case inner city black teenagers.Serial killer's rarely if ever at all cross race lines.Williams was suburban and middle class and it's believed he was angry at inner city black youths for making him look bad.But that's just theory,Williams has never admitted guilt never mind giving his motive.

One of the best portrayals of a fictional serial killer was played by an autistic actor (Anthony Hopkins ‘Silence of the Lambs’).

That was a good movie,I remember that when it came out,I guess that makes me old.

Jodie Foster getting the "cream" LOL to the face as she walked down the cell block.

"And I will be having an old friend for dinner" LOL and famous "people covet what they see" wisdom.An interesting movie.

The Unabomber was the only serial killer I am aware of who had autistic personality traits. And he was a "serial killer" only in the semantic sense of being "a person who killed a large number of people over a long length of time". He was not into a sexual sadistic thing of hacking victims in person like Jack the Ripper or John Wayne Gayce et al. He would just assassinate you at long distance via letter bombs.

There was a drifter from Nevada,don't remember the name who was the first ASD serial killer I'm aware of.Yea I can see Ted K as ASD

Various factors make it easier for autistic defendants to appear (wrongfully) guilty :


Insufficient character witness

Trembling

Peculiar word phrasing

Eye contact

Stuttering

Nervous,, anxiety, depression

Unusual behavior

From what I understand about the police, if accused of a crime, you are "guilty" no matter what. That is why everyone says "do not talk to the police" and even a police officer once released a youtube video of his speech and even he said "do not talk to the police" and he talked about all their tactics they use and how they use words against you. This is why we have Miranda Rights.

The wiki page for this site mentions two members here were murderers

"In 2006, Alex Plank was sued by the victims of a 19-year-old member of the site, William Freund, who had shot two people (and himself), in Aliso Viejo, California, after openly telling others on the site, that he planned to do so."

"In 2007, a man, who was accused of murdering his dermatologist, posted on the site, while eluding the police. Wrong Planet was covered in a Dateline NBC report on the incident."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrong_Planet


In general I think autistics are less likely to commit crimes or at least are no more likely than NTs but there are some crimes that we may be more likely to commit than our NT peers. Some things posted in this section before mentioned autistics may be more likely to view child porn. Most of us would very likely never intentionally harm a kid but we may not think we're harming kids if we just DL pix & vids to use ourselves that we find on the net for free. We may also be more likely to commit sexual harassment due to our directness & poor social skills. There's also a chance we may be more likely to use non-prescribed drugs as a way to help us cope with our various issues.

Some mass shooters have supposedly been victims of bullying like the two Columbine teens & us Aspies tend to be very easy targets for bullies. There was a time when I fantasized about doing something like a mass shooting because I was very frustrated by bulling I had gone through in elementary & middle school. I also felt that the medical industry majorly screwed me over by not correctly diagnosing my various physical disabilities till after I became an adult. It also did not help that my parents were on my back a ot about how I wasn't trying to get a job & be independent even thou I did not know how to do anymore to find a job than what I was already doing. I daydreamed aLOT my whole life & the killing & violence fantasies were just daydreams. I fell into a psychotic depression when my 1st relationship fell apart when I was 20. She was the 1st person I ever really connected with & felt close to. I seriously considered the bad stuff more but I ended up getting psych help after I flipped out & slashed my arm 9x & needed to go to the ER cuz doc offices were closed. I saw my ex bragging online about how she drank so much she had to go to the hospital & get her stomach pumped & I watched my body lose control. I started working on myself in various ways after. The person I was in my teens & at 20 is not the person I am now at 37 & a half, at least NOT the person I want to be. I've been living with my current girlfriend the last 7 & a half years & for some reason she still wants me around so I'm highly motivated not to flip out & go crazy. I'm currently taking 4 psych meds to help keep myself in check & those dangerous fantasies are things I never think about now. In general I want to be a good person & do rite by others & I think most Aspies are or they want to go their own ways with life & want to be left alone & avoid conflict. Yes getting screwed over by life & having problems with others & not receiving the rite help & supports can push some over the edge, but I think in general Aspies are much more likely to harm themselves than intentionally majorly harm others. There are some Aspies who do have violent meltdowns but I think lots of the Aspies who do feel horrible about that. Lots of NTs can get violent as well when they are angry &/or drunk or on illegal drugs & there can be lots of variation with them feeling guilty over it. Look at the various wars throughout history. I agree with shortfatbalduglyman that lots of factors related to autism can cause us to be thought guilty of things we are not guilty of or if we are guilty, we are more likely to be in serious trouble. Lots of NTs commit crimes but NTs are less likely to be thought guilty than Aspies. Look at the way some politicians can get away with various crimes & still win reelection or get elected to an even more powerful position despite the fact that most of the public has heard a lot about their crimes. I'm reminded of the 47th Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition that goes, "Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own". NTs are the 1s much more likely to be successful & wearing suits & others trust them or want to because of how successful they already are.

There’s a whole scientific paper devoted to this they say approx 20% of serial killers show some signs of ASD.

The movie Silence of the Lambs was a good movie, but was heavily criticized by those who have worked in criminal justice with these types of people.

They say the movie portrays them as clever geniuses with a magnetic personality. The opposite is actually true. Another person to say this about the movie was UK killer Dennis Neilson.


https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/p ... A8BC581CB3

I would believe that. Lots of potential autism signs can occur with various other disorders but I think there is a big difference between them & people who actually are on the spectrum or people who have a bit of autism specific traits(like people on the border of having autism)

Other earlier posts were good, too, but I suspect nick007's comments suggest a very plausible indirect relation to AS. An incomplete list of things you might find more of in a life with AS could be: frustration, aggravation, disappointment, unfairness, and difficulty. Might a lifetime of that sometimes fan anger and violence? If so (clearly self-serving here) could we see a better outcome with better accommodation of autism?

And would it be unfair to better accommodate autism? Here comes possible fuel for heated discussion and I freely admit the following statements ignore obvious differences, but here, have fun: We're not the only group that doesn't exactly fit in who needs accommodations. "Vertically-challenged" people might use a stool or ask someone else to reach something on the top shelf. "Vertically-blessed" (?) people have a separate category of clothing (Extra Tall). If someone says they had a problem with something because they are color-blind you would probably help them. If someone tells you they are tone-deaf you set your expectations accordingly. And those poor left-handed folk have trouble with tools, weapons, handwriting--heck, they even have trouble with scissors!

Oh. On a different note, Nick007's more recent post also makes a good point.

But he was playing a psychopath...

It’s funny how movies influence people’s career choices.

There was a flood of Uni applications for criminal psychology shortly after that movie. I’m sure the reality didn’t live up to expectations.

Just like listening to directors comments on the Top Gun movie there was huge numbers joining the navy after that movie where many found themselves 7 floors down peeling potatoes.

I wrote “best portrayal of a serial killer“ not “best portrayal of an autistic person” “Best” was intended as a positive as it is referring to Anthony Hopkins acting work in that film.