A Psychopath Is A Psychopath : Choices and Consequences

"There is no question he has a very highly developed concept of the rule-nature of the wrongfulness of this. The problem is his comprehension of the real, horrific impact that something like this would have on other people."

"Which I really, honestly, like, whatever I say in this evidence, I don't think he understands that."

"He is stuck at an early developmental stage of the development of moral judgement. He understands the rules, he can articulate the rules, he has a very sophisticated understanding of the rules."

"It was in that environment [shadowy corners of the Internet] that he conceived of what he ultimately did. He was saturated in horrible material ... it became for him one of his areas of real focus and so it was something he spent a lot of time looking at and thinking about and ruminating on and, I don't doubt, that in the absence of this sort of thing, this would not have happened."

"He doesn't have any emotional connection -- he doesn't experience remorse, he doesn't experience regret, but he also doesn't experience sadism. It doesn't feel to him like he is great now, it is just nothing."

"I hate to bring this up, but it really has the dissociative quality of someone who is playing a video game. That really is the flavour of how he completely and dispassionately talked about all of this. It is as abstract as killing people in a video game, which is a horrific thing for me."

Dr.Alexander Westphal, psychiatrist, autism specialist, Yale School of Medicine

"[If Minassian has a clear understanding of the physical consequences of his actions], what is it he doesn't get?" 

"I don't think that's the measure of it, though [that Minassian appears incapable of fully appreciating the impact of his actions]. If he kills a person who is alone in the world with no friends and no relatives and nobody to mourn his loss, it is nevertheless a murder."

"I don't know that to understand that you've committed murder and what its consequences are you have to envision how many people will be upset about it."

Justice Anne Molloy, Ontario Superior Court

 

At the ongoing trial for Alek Minassian, 28, diagnosed as a child with autism, considered to be high-functioning,  and never known to exhibit violent tendencies, but who was charged with ten counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder for having deliberately driven a rented van through a busy sidewalk in Toronto in 2018 for the express purpose of hitting as many people as he possibly could, the mental state attributed to him at the time of the atrocity is front and centre. 

The man freely agrees that his intention was to kill people, but  he has pleaded not guilty, insisting that his autism had been in the way of his complete understanding of the outcome of his actions and their seriousness. He is asking to be found not criminally responsible for having planned the carnage by renting a van and setting out to drive it onto a busy intersection on a beautiful day in Toronto when people were out enjoying the sun, doing their shopping, and generally appreciating life.

Dr. Westphal is a forensic psychiatrist who specializes in autism, a professor at Yale University. He was hired by Minassian's legal team for an expert opinion on the man's mental state which propelled him to attack defenceless people and target them for death. He holds that the autistic man had a distorted view of reality, to the degree that he suffered delusions, generally recognized as the basis for legal defence of not criminally responsible for reasons of mental disorder, similar to psychosis, while at the same time attesting that people with autism are by and large not violent.

Excerpts of video interviews that Dr.Westphal undertook with Minassian were shown to the court, where Minassian recounted his attack in detail, speaking matter-of-factly, referring to the initial group of those he hit with the vehicle at speed as "the first batch". Of another group of victims, he said "I hit them all in a line", referring further to some of his victims recalled as "an old lady", a "man crossing the road", seemingly detached, merely describing something he had witnessed, as though it was not he who was the cause of the destruction and bloodshed.

 

Alek Minassian, screengrab of the booking video. Photo by Toronto Police Service

Minassian expressed personal outrage only when it was suggested that he might be viewed as a "bully" for choosing to inflict such deadly violence on vulnerable people. A suggestion that caused him to erupt loudly with a heated disclaimer: "I'm not a bully. I hate bullies, how could anyone think that!" A statement that seems consistent with Dr. Westphal's assertion that though 28 years of age and a high-function person with autism, Minassian labours with a childlike conception of morality.

What appears not in dispute is that Alek Minassian immersed himself in the dark areas of the Internet where he became obsessed with school shooters and mass murderers, fringe sub-culture and black humour and death. Where delivering death is lightly regarded as an assault on humanity, and the deliverance of death seems to be a venerated topic. He was absorbed with online forums dedicated to the ideology of 'incel'; the 'involuntarily celibate', a marginal subculture of angry men furious about their incapacity to attract women's sexual interest.

"My personal opinion is that, I accept that autism spectrum disorder, including high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, is a significant mental disorder. I don’t believe it reaches the impact that psychosis does." 

"To get to the type of impact on the operating mind that I’m used to, you need to be psychotic. So I can’t get my head around how this would impact on a person’s operating mind to the person that would get them into Section 16 [the section of the Criminal Code that lays out the criteria for being found not criminally responsible]."

"[Based on the assessment done by himself and his team, Minassian is not a psychopath, which would include being manipulative and showing a] callous lack of empathy, [and does not have narcissistic personality disorder or depression]." 

Dr.John Bradford, professor of forensic psychiatry, (retired), head, Division of Forensic Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa.

"I would have probably still gone ahead with it and made sure I would have died instead of being arrested [on another attempt, and be more selective in targeting, seeking out female victims between the ages of 18 and 30, for] sensationalism [to add to his killing spree] narrative [making it more interesting and memorable]."

"[Female victims would be more] consistent [with his incel story, something he would get a] pat on the back [for from people on the Internet]."

"I’m not sure if I would or not [attempt an another act of mass murder if  he were to be released]. I would certainly think about it. I’m not sure if I would actually go through with it or not." 

"I would be hoping to achieve maybe just like another recognition of it or the fact that there is another kill count." 

"[A website tracks] score cards [for mass killers noting their] kill count versus their survivor count."

"Let’s say they kill 20 people and then there was 100 percent all 20 people he intended to kill died, that would be a very high score, especially because of the number of killings." 

"Now that would basically be the purpose of the kill count."

Alek MInassian, post-carnage interview with Toronto Police Service