'We're dealing with mass murderer': Psychologists and FBI profiler discuss personality traits of Idaho killer
IDAHO, MOSCOW: Moscow police continue investigating the quadruple murder in Idaho with no possible leads, suspect, or murder weapon. On November 13, four University of Idaho students - Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were found stabbed to death in their three-story off-campus rental home. The panel, hosted by Chris McDonough, dwelled into a conversation with researcher and professor Dr Ann Burgess, forensic psychologist Dr Gary Brucato and retired FBI Profiler Greg Cooper discussing the personality possibilities of the killer or killers of the University of Idaho students. Also on the panel is Dean Jackson, deputy director of the Cold Case Foundation.
Dr Burgess began dissecting the case and called the attack a 'blitz style', explaining that there's no prior interaction between the victim and the offender. Reflecting on the murderer's personality perspective, Burgess believes that the offender is someone who is "not an extrovert," ruling out the MO of the famed serial killer Ted Bundy. Pertaining to the nature of the crime, she believes that the suspect is a "he" and is not good at interacting with others. Dr Brucato formed his opinion from the lack of evidence and claimed, "We're dealing with a mass murderer here." Dr Brucato believes that the choice of weapon used for this attack reflects the suspect's personality. The forensic psychologist further believes that whosoever carried out the attack has "psychopathic characteristics."
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Using his previous studies and experience, Brucato also thinks that the perpetrator is a male and is somebody who did not "operate with another person." He said, "because I think by definition this is an odd person who would have difficulty establishing relationships. I imagine this to be a person who would live a very restricted mechanical existence with a temper, a little bit of a paranoid quality." He also believes that this is a person "who could really hold a grudge for a long time." Brucato thinks that if the person snapped emotionally, then a knife is a considerable choice for the murder weapon. He says citing another reason why a knife could be chosen is because of the intimacy it provides to the suspect with the victims and "because of the enormous amount of pain that it would give." It would also provide the feeling of being a hunter to the perpetrator, as per Brucato.
Specialists examine Idaho murderer's personality
Retired FBI Profiler Greg Cooper thinks that it is a highly personal crime because of the selection of the weapon. Cooper said, "What you have here is a communication process that's occurring between the offender to those victims. Those victims represent something to them very personal, and the nature of those wounds become a reflection of the level of thought and emotion and feelings that being experienced by the offender and they are being transmitted into the victims for whatever their reason is." He went on to emphasize the group of people he chose to be his victims represented either something personal or symbolic.
Cooper continued to say that it was not a random opportunistic crime. He said, "It's not just walking through a neighborhood and committing a burglary and coming across these victims. I think it's much more personal than that, that they've been pre-selected, maybe not all of them, at least one." He believes that the perpetrator was fixated on the victims.