Post by dawn on Aug 8, 2010 1:36:07 GMT -5
If what police say is true, William Dathan Holbert didn't kill with the viciousness of a Jeffrey Dahmer or the proficiency of a Ted Bundy.
But convictions in the slayings of five people in Panama would give the Henderson County native a place among killers driven by single purpose.
In Holbert's case, police say that purpose boiled down to money.
Whether that makes him a serial killer gets debate.
“When most people think of serial killers, they think of the hedonistic type of killers,” said Western Carolina University professor Cynthia Caravelis Hughes, who is teaching a summer course on serial killers.
“But we know a lot of serial
killers who operated throughout history had some motive of financial gain,” she said.
Panamanian law enforcement officers have charged the 30-year-old North Henderson High graduate with killing five fellow Americans since 2007. His girlfriend, Laura Michelle Reese, faces charges as well.
Holbert also is being investigated in the disappearances in Panama of two employees and three business associates.
A serial killer by definition is someone who murders three people with a 30-day “cooling off period” between each slaying, Caravelis Hughes said.
Hughes worked with law enforcement during the arrest of Gary Michael Hilton, who has been convicted of killing a Georgia hiker and is suspected in deaths of a Henderson County couple killed during a hike.
Law enforcement officials in Panama have said Holbert admitted to the slayings to take over his victims' businesses and other properties in the resort area where he lived.
Investigators said Holbert told them he fatally shot a U.S. citizen named Mike Brown, his wife and small son in 2007.
He also, according to police, admitted to killing Bo Icelar, a former owner of art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and St. Louis native Cheryl Lynn Hughes. Hughes, 53, had lived in Panama for 10 years and owned a convenience store and a hostel.
Panamanian Assistant Prosecutor Angel Calderon told The Associated Press that Holbert said he established friendships with Icelar and Hughes by posing as a potential investor. Then he shot each in the head, buried them and took over their money and other properties, Calderon said.
Holbert said he also had developed a friendship with Brown, describing him as a fugitive sought by American authorities on drug trafficking charges who was living under an assumed name, Calderon said. “Seeing that he had a lot of money and bank accounts, he shot him in the head,” the prosecutor said.
Those confessions would put Holbert into one of the four categories of serial killers, Caravelis Hughes said.
Devil in the White City
Those include Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, a.k.a. Herman Webster Mudgett, a murderer profiled in Erik Larson's 2003 nonfiction book, “Devil in the White City” about serial killings during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
In one instance, Holmes got a job at a drug store after endearing himself to a couple that ran it.
The husband was seriously ill and Holmes convinced the wife to let him buy the store, arranging for her to live upstairs after her husband died. The woman then disappeared.
In Holbert's case, he was living in the coastal Bocas del Toro province of Panama, where investigators found the five bodies buried on his property.
Police believe he would initiate business deals, lure people to his home under a pretense such as signing a contract, then kill them and take their property.
Generally, there are four types of serial killers, Caravelis Hughes said: visionary, hedonistic, missionary and those who are power- and control-oriented.
Visionary killers are understood to be psychotics who imagine voices telling them to commit the crimes.
Hedonistic killers derive pleasure from the act. Missionary killers target one or more groups, such as prostitutes or homosexuals.
Power and control killers are the ones like Holmes, who kill to get control, the professor said.
It could be control of people or assets, she said, as is what's alleged in Holbert's case.
While still living in the mountains, Holbert opened a white supremacist shop in Forest City that dealt in flags, bandanas and clothes and other items adorned with supremacist symbols.
Caravelis Hughes noted that Holbert did not seem to be targeting minorities or some other type of victim that would put him in the category of a “missionary” type killer.
Ted Bundy, who famously admitted to having more than 30 victims was also in this category, she said. His victims tended to look like an ex-girlfriend who broke off the relationship and the killings were a misguided attempt to get back control of her.
At least one criminal psychology expert though said the label of serial killer for Holbert might not be appropriate.
Maurice Godwin, whose Fayetteville-based Godwin Forensics has worked with police nationwide, said Holbert isn't a serial killer because he appears to have killed for profit.
“Individuals who murder for profit, although they might have the body count in numbers, are not classified as serial killers,” he said. “For serial killers the motive is often sexual or elusive and hard to determine.”
Godwin also said it's rare for a serial, spree killer, or mass murder to have a crime partner, especially a woman.
Serial killers are commonly seen as sociopaths, people who essentially lack emotions, including remorse or the ability to empathize with others.
“A sociopath could kill you or run over your dog or win the lottery and feel the same way about it,” Caravelis Hughes said.
At the same time, they tend to be very observant and know how to act in social situations and often can be very charming.
Both upbringing and something inborn likely play a role in making someone sociopathic.
Often the person experiences rejection and a broken home. Bundy, for example, was born out of wedlock and believed his mother to be his sister for many years. But other serial murderers, such as Wisconsin native Dahmer, came from well-adjusted homes with good parents, though Dahmer's father said his son always seemed strange, Caravelis Hughes said.
Serial killers also tend to share a “triad of behaviors” that are sometimes used in early psychological screenings. They are torturing small animals as children, wetting the bed more than usual and starting fires.
Another commonality is admiration of those who commit genocide such as the Nazis, said Caravelis Hughes, pointing to Holbert's interest in white supremacy.
Serial killers are particularly interested in the gruesome pseudo-medical experiments the Nazi regime carried out on Jews and others, she said.
But convictions in the slayings of five people in Panama would give the Henderson County native a place among killers driven by single purpose.
In Holbert's case, police say that purpose boiled down to money.
Whether that makes him a serial killer gets debate.
“When most people think of serial killers, they think of the hedonistic type of killers,” said Western Carolina University professor Cynthia Caravelis Hughes, who is teaching a summer course on serial killers.
“But we know a lot of serial
killers who operated throughout history had some motive of financial gain,” she said.
Panamanian law enforcement officers have charged the 30-year-old North Henderson High graduate with killing five fellow Americans since 2007. His girlfriend, Laura Michelle Reese, faces charges as well.
Holbert also is being investigated in the disappearances in Panama of two employees and three business associates.
A serial killer by definition is someone who murders three people with a 30-day “cooling off period” between each slaying, Caravelis Hughes said.
Hughes worked with law enforcement during the arrest of Gary Michael Hilton, who has been convicted of killing a Georgia hiker and is suspected in deaths of a Henderson County couple killed during a hike.
Law enforcement officials in Panama have said Holbert admitted to the slayings to take over his victims' businesses and other properties in the resort area where he lived.
Investigators said Holbert told them he fatally shot a U.S. citizen named Mike Brown, his wife and small son in 2007.
He also, according to police, admitted to killing Bo Icelar, a former owner of art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and St. Louis native Cheryl Lynn Hughes. Hughes, 53, had lived in Panama for 10 years and owned a convenience store and a hostel.
Panamanian Assistant Prosecutor Angel Calderon told The Associated Press that Holbert said he established friendships with Icelar and Hughes by posing as a potential investor. Then he shot each in the head, buried them and took over their money and other properties, Calderon said.
Holbert said he also had developed a friendship with Brown, describing him as a fugitive sought by American authorities on drug trafficking charges who was living under an assumed name, Calderon said. “Seeing that he had a lot of money and bank accounts, he shot him in the head,” the prosecutor said.
Those confessions would put Holbert into one of the four categories of serial killers, Caravelis Hughes said.
Devil in the White City
Those include Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, a.k.a. Herman Webster Mudgett, a murderer profiled in Erik Larson's 2003 nonfiction book, “Devil in the White City” about serial killings during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
In one instance, Holmes got a job at a drug store after endearing himself to a couple that ran it.
The husband was seriously ill and Holmes convinced the wife to let him buy the store, arranging for her to live upstairs after her husband died. The woman then disappeared.
In Holbert's case, he was living in the coastal Bocas del Toro province of Panama, where investigators found the five bodies buried on his property.
Police believe he would initiate business deals, lure people to his home under a pretense such as signing a contract, then kill them and take their property.
Generally, there are four types of serial killers, Caravelis Hughes said: visionary, hedonistic, missionary and those who are power- and control-oriented.
Visionary killers are understood to be psychotics who imagine voices telling them to commit the crimes.
Hedonistic killers derive pleasure from the act. Missionary killers target one or more groups, such as prostitutes or homosexuals.
Power and control killers are the ones like Holmes, who kill to get control, the professor said.
It could be control of people or assets, she said, as is what's alleged in Holbert's case.
While still living in the mountains, Holbert opened a white supremacist shop in Forest City that dealt in flags, bandanas and clothes and other items adorned with supremacist symbols.
Caravelis Hughes noted that Holbert did not seem to be targeting minorities or some other type of victim that would put him in the category of a “missionary” type killer.
Ted Bundy, who famously admitted to having more than 30 victims was also in this category, she said. His victims tended to look like an ex-girlfriend who broke off the relationship and the killings were a misguided attempt to get back control of her.
At least one criminal psychology expert though said the label of serial killer for Holbert might not be appropriate.
Maurice Godwin, whose Fayetteville-based Godwin Forensics has worked with police nationwide, said Holbert isn't a serial killer because he appears to have killed for profit.
“Individuals who murder for profit, although they might have the body count in numbers, are not classified as serial killers,” he said. “For serial killers the motive is often sexual or elusive and hard to determine.”
Godwin also said it's rare for a serial, spree killer, or mass murder to have a crime partner, especially a woman.
Serial killers are commonly seen as sociopaths, people who essentially lack emotions, including remorse or the ability to empathize with others.
“A sociopath could kill you or run over your dog or win the lottery and feel the same way about it,” Caravelis Hughes said.
At the same time, they tend to be very observant and know how to act in social situations and often can be very charming.
Both upbringing and something inborn likely play a role in making someone sociopathic.
Often the person experiences rejection and a broken home. Bundy, for example, was born out of wedlock and believed his mother to be his sister for many years. But other serial murderers, such as Wisconsin native Dahmer, came from well-adjusted homes with good parents, though Dahmer's father said his son always seemed strange, Caravelis Hughes said.
Serial killers also tend to share a “triad of behaviors” that are sometimes used in early psychological screenings. They are torturing small animals as children, wetting the bed more than usual and starting fires.
Another commonality is admiration of those who commit genocide such as the Nazis, said Caravelis Hughes, pointing to Holbert's interest in white supremacy.
Serial killers are particularly interested in the gruesome pseudo-medical experiments the Nazi regime carried out on Jews and others, she said.
www.citizen-times.com/article/20100808/NEWS01/100807025/1009