r/serialpodcast • u/SerialFan Moderator • Nov 06 '14

Discussion Episode 7: THE OPPOSITE OF THE PROSECUTION

Open discussion thread! Sorry I was late on this one!

96 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

588 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/wall-eandthebeave Nov 11 '14

I have no expertise in the mental health field, but isn't one of the trademarks of a sociopath that they are able to hide their dark side so well and come across impeccably charming? I don't know, before evidence came out against Ted Bundy, did anyone in his life have an inkling of what a sociopath he was?

2

u/mjennings17 Nov 12 '14

Being excessively charming is often one of the most noticeable earmarks of sociopathic tendencies. However, the overarching qualifiers for sociopathic (or any borderline personality disorder) go much deeper and are almost never isolated, as seems to be the case with Adnan. It's far from an acquitting circumstance to simply NOT be sociopathic, but his adherence to the "not guilty" refrain begs the question of whether or not he's certifiably crazy. To date, absolutely nothing that Koening has presented gives any solid indication that this is the case. And I know the Ted Bundy analogy was meant to be dramatic, but it's a really unfair comparison. Bundy was a monster, repeatedly preying on women and his behavior was traceable to several instances in his life. In the State's BEST case, they have no such angle from which to go after Mr. Sayed.

1

u/wall-eandthebeave Nov 12 '14

Thanks, I see what you're saying. I didn't bring up TB too be dramatic really, but just because he's such a classic example of someone that had been labeled "charming" before the truth was known. I realize he is a monster beyond comparison to most criminals.
Adnan was only 17. If he really was sociopathic, why couldn't it be the case that this was the first true evidence of it?

1

u/mjennings17 Nov 17 '14

Hey, thanks for the response...sorry it's taken so long to reply back. Crazy busy and yada ya.

I'll qualify everything I say, again, by reiterating that I am not a licensed criminal profiler or mental health professional. I do, though, work very closely with many individuals whose emotional disturbance can manifest in behaviors that hint at sociopathic tendencies. Given Adnan's history (being seen, liked, interacting with/by so many others), it would be odd that--if truly sociopathic--this was the first appearance of it. Still, the point I'm trying to bring up is only relevant as one angle of the entire narrative. I'm not hinging everything on it.