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Sniper on the Loose: Ready to Confess
Aired October 23, 2002 - 13:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So what do the cryptic communications between the police and the sniper mean? Some analysts believe the sniper is trying to create a situation in which he will be caught.
Dr. Bob Gordon is with the Wilmington Institute Network of Trial Science. He believe the sniper is in fact doing that.
Dr. Gordon, good to have you with us.
DR. BOB GORDON, NETWORK OF TRIAL SCIENCE: Thank you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Why would the sniper want to be caught?
GORDON: The sniper wants to be caught because he has a death wish. That death wish is expressed outwardly in homicidal activities to terrorize the community and to kill children, but he also wants to be caught and he wants to be brought to justice.
O'BRIEN: Well, that sounds like a bit of speculation. Do you have enough information to go with that conclusion?
GORDON: Miles, it is clinical speculation, and I don't have factual information about this case, obviously, to support it, but that is a profile of these types of persons based on experience.
O'BRIEN: All right. Clinical speculation then. That's an interesting term.
Let's talk about that in the abstract then for just a moment. This profile of a person, is it a subconscious desire to be caught, or is it something that is overt?
GORDON: It is unconscious in the sense that this person is isolated, alone, depressed and tormented. It's expressed overtly at a higher level because of his ability to clues and cues, despite the fact that he has a very high aptitude.
O'BRIEN: So, now, in these notes, what we've learned today, now two notes plus the tarot cards, you get a tremendous sense of narcissism, I guess, is probably the clinical term, is it not?
GORDON: Narcissism is the clinical term, but also delusional in the sense of grandeur where he sees himself more powerful than he is.
O'BRIEN: Could this person be actually mentally ill in a medically diagnosable way? GORDON: He is mentally ill in the sense that he is a psychopath, which means that he does not have a well developed sense of conscious, and he is able to methodically and systematically engage in a blood loss. He is not mentally ill in the sense that he has an illness with symptoms such as depression or anxiety that overwhelm the simple fact that he has a character disorder. He is a bad person.
O'BRIEN: How do you suppose this sort of information might help authorities? Is this something that would fit into the effort to profile such a person, and might ultimately help investigators and authorities get their person here?
GORDON: Yes, of course. It is helpful to them, and I know that they are receiving information from psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health workers of all kinds.
O'BRIEN: Now, there's a few things that are kind of interesting to me, the grammar in these letters, very stilted, perhaps almost deliberately to indicate this person is not who he or she portends to be. Is this person, in your estimation, a very smart person or a dumb one?
GORDON: He is an evil genius, and he is able, through his high aptitude to confuse, confound and taunt some of our brightest law enforcement officials.
O'BRIEN: An evil genius. All right, we'll leave it on that sobering note. Dr. Bob Gordon, joining us from Dallas. We appreciate your time here on CNN LIVE FROM.
GORDON: Thank you, Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 23, 2002 - 13:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So what do the cryptic communications between the police and the sniper mean? Some analysts believe the sniper is trying to create a situation in which he will be caught.
Dr. Bob Gordon is with the Wilmington Institute Network of Trial Science. He believe the sniper is in fact doing that.
Dr. Gordon, good to have you with us.
DR. BOB GORDON, NETWORK OF TRIAL SCIENCE: Thank you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Why would the sniper want to be caught?
GORDON: The sniper wants to be caught because he has a death wish. That death wish is expressed outwardly in homicidal activities to terrorize the community and to kill children, but he also wants to be caught and he wants to be brought to justice.
O'BRIEN: Well, that sounds like a bit of speculation. Do you have enough information to go with that conclusion?
GORDON: Miles, it is clinical speculation, and I don't have factual information about this case, obviously, to support it, but that is a profile of these types of persons based on experience.
O'BRIEN: All right. Clinical speculation then. That's an interesting term.
Let's talk about that in the abstract then for just a moment. This profile of a person, is it a subconscious desire to be caught, or is it something that is overt?
GORDON: It is unconscious in the sense that this person is isolated, alone, depressed and tormented. It's expressed overtly at a higher level because of his ability to clues and cues, despite the fact that he has a very high aptitude.
O'BRIEN: So, now, in these notes, what we've learned today, now two notes plus the tarot cards, you get a tremendous sense of narcissism, I guess, is probably the clinical term, is it not?
GORDON: Narcissism is the clinical term, but also delusional in the sense of grandeur where he sees himself more powerful than he is.
O'BRIEN: Could this person be actually mentally ill in a medically diagnosable way? GORDON: He is mentally ill in the sense that he is a psychopath, which means that he does not have a well developed sense of conscious, and he is able to methodically and systematically engage in a blood loss. He is not mentally ill in the sense that he has an illness with symptoms such as depression or anxiety that overwhelm the simple fact that he has a character disorder. He is a bad person.
O'BRIEN: How do you suppose this sort of information might help authorities? Is this something that would fit into the effort to profile such a person, and might ultimately help investigators and authorities get their person here?
GORDON: Yes, of course. It is helpful to them, and I know that they are receiving information from psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health workers of all kinds.
O'BRIEN: Now, there's a few things that are kind of interesting to me, the grammar in these letters, very stilted, perhaps almost deliberately to indicate this person is not who he or she portends to be. Is this person, in your estimation, a very smart person or a dumb one?
GORDON: He is an evil genius, and he is able, through his high aptitude to confuse, confound and taunt some of our brightest law enforcement officials.
O'BRIEN: An evil genius. All right, we'll leave it on that sobering note. Dr. Bob Gordon, joining us from Dallas. We appreciate your time here on CNN LIVE FROM.
GORDON: Thank you, Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
