The Book Reporter #2 -- Psychopathy and Gender of Serial Killers
Ella Jeffe / Ella Diablo
Social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life
Good morning, peoples. It’s Book Report day again.
Here we give our report on books, articles and other publications -- that we totally read -- and that are interesting, really make you think, and are both informative and informational!
A Short Story with a Long Title
Today we will be covering differences between male and female psychopaths by reviewing a dissertation entitled Psychopathy and Gender of Serial Killers: A Comparison Using the PCL-R by Chasity S. Norris, dated August 2011. I will attach it at the end of this Episode. The PCL-R itself is excerpted in the dissertation.
PCL-R for the uninitiated is not an obscure test to get into an obscure grad program or generic Ozempic. It stands for “Psychopathy Check List - Revised”, developed by Dr. Robert Hare in some year. 1991 maybe?
Like the author, I think PCL-R is missing a few things when it comes to female psychopaths, so using this tool might under-report them.
Just Disserts
I know that covering a dissertation might sound like watching cheese grow, but it really is quite good in several parts. I read the entire thing -- except the references at the end -- as I get bored very quickly.
A quick and slightly exaggerated (are there two “g”s in exaggerate?) synopsis: female psychopaths exist. Like really. They are a million times worse than males. And they are better at getting away with it.
I came across this dissertation a few years ago when I was doing some heavy research into psychopaths, narcissists, cluster-F’ers, dark tetris people, borderline persons, and all the rest of them. I also sent it to my therapist and suggested she read it. A few months later she sent it to me and suggested I read it[1].
I think most of the above terms overlap with each other significantly and are just different ways of saying the same thing. And sometimes the terms aren’t too descriptive. For example, the term “narcissist”? It gives them way too much credit and makes it sound like they spend all day looking at themselves in the mirror -- which they just might. Also, what is a Dark Tetrad exactly, or Borderline Personality Disorder? Is there an Over the Border Personality Disorder?
That is why, here at the Handbook, we change the names around a little bit to make them more memorable and, we hope, funnier.
While we are on terminology, we prefer “psychopath” to “sociopath”. They are apparently interchangeable. However, to me, each one is somehow both too narrow and too broad. Plus, “sociopath” doesn’t sound like anything, or maybe it sounds like the path I would take to get to my sociology class in college. Oh man, was that ever a waste of time! OK. I’m not demeaning sociologist. I’m just saying I learned a lot more in geometry than I did in sociology. And I didn’t even take geometry. OK. Not entirely true. I did take geometry.
Half of One and Six Dozen of Another
I get asked a lot what is the difference between a psychopath and a narcissist. I’ve looked around for a clear distinction in the clinical stuff myself, and haven’t really found one that hits me.
My view is they are different flavors of the same thing and are spectrumy. Or that psychopaths are pure concentrated distilled evil, while narcissists are watered down diluted evil or maybe they are just failures at being evil. If you told a narcissist that they were just failures at being evil, I am sure they would take it well and not try to kill you. Don’t try this at home, I should add at this point.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. Bad is still bad. Abuse is still abusive. No matter what you call it.
So, what is my (non) answer to this question?
· A psychopath thinks everything that goes wrong is their fault, and are proud of it;
· A narcissist thinks that everything that goes wrong is your fault, and therefore are entitled to punish you for it.
The Blessing!
So, when I came across this dissertation, Psychopathy and Gender, what grabbed me was the acknowledgement section. She thanks her daughter, her father, her grandfather, her best friends, her committee members, et. al. Hmmm. Something is missing here. What could it be? What is totally conspicuous by its total absence?
Her mother. She did not thank, or even mention, her mother. I presume she had one.
So, this made me think she had a bad mom, and then I really wanted to read her observations.
Is There Anybody Out There?
This was back in 2020 and 2021. There seemed to be nothing, not even a non-profit (there are almost 2 million of those registered in the USA alone, no idea what any of them do), to help support adult children going through psychopathic or narcissistic abuse and recovery. I mean, with all the Lifetime movies out there featuring psychopath characters, you’d think there would be something!
We Dissect the Dissert
This dissertation -- let’s give it a name “Psychopathy and Gender” -- is structured in three main parts (the table of contents lists 4 chapters, but chapter 3 and 4 are related). Part 1 - Introduction - lays out test subjects from history, three males and four females, like Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos. Part 2 -- Literature -- explore the cases in some detail.
Part 3 then lays out the hypothesis -- that “despite the numerous similarities between the type of crime committed, level of violence displayed during commission of the crime, and evidence of sadistic Paraphilia involvement “ . . . i.e., sick perverted sexual fetish stuff) . . . “the females will receive lower overall scores using the PCL-R. The rest then lays out the evaluations of the male and female test subjects using PCL-R.
Interestingly, of all the serial killers seem to fit the psychopathy profile, “only Ted Bundy scored high enough to be diagnosed as such”. I did not know that.
The author notes that, when evaluating subjects using PCL-R, three items are omitted, most importantly number 11 -- sexual promiscuity. Sexual promiscuity is common among female psychopaths, so excluding it may tend to make female subjects score lower than they otherwise would.
Or female psychos are just better at getting away with it. That’s my view.
The author concludes by suggesting the checklist might need some “improvement” when evaluating females. We concur.
Doesn’t that sound fun?
Well, that isn’t the reason Psychopathy and Gender resonated with us.
A Fist Full of Hollers
When I began reading the dissertation, several passages “literally” screamed out at me. Or, I think that was me screaming at myself in joy that I am not alone.
I couldn’t be the only one, the lone escapegoat in the world. That’s when the afore-mentioned research began.
By this point, the realization that my mom, Hannibal Anne, had waged war on me -- probably my whole life -- had fallen on me, like a bucket of water tossed out a second story bathroom, and had since been fully absorbed. I began to remember all the sadistic, nasty and malicious things she had done. Like making me go to dance class all the way up in Guymon OK and dressing me in things like bear suits. Then attempting to sabatage the bear outfit right before I went on stage for the recital. Thankfully my aunt fixed the yellow straps or the costume would have dropped during the performance.
Here’s me as a little bear. The back of the picture says I was 5 years old. Aren’t I an adorable little bear? Even thought it looks like I am wearing oven gloves.
So, now that I began to remember, what to do?
Anyone Seen my Bookclub?
There was not one book titled something like Bad Moms or Ella Jeffe / Ella Diablo or The Mommy is in the Details or What To Do When Your Parents Are Stealing From You, Abusing You, Don’t Want To Be Found Out, and Therefore Might Try to Kill You, an Illustrated Children’s book.
Then there is also them snooping into people’s wills and trying to understand, yet misinterpreting, what “per stirpes”, “lawful”, and “bloodline” mean. I will get to that in a future Episode entitled “Where There’s A Will There’s a Pay“.
So, as I was working my way through Psychopathy and Gender, I found myself relating to large chunks of her writing. I agreed with many of her observations. In some parts, I could also see Hannibal Anne and / or my own darn self in there.
I definitely share in her view point that female psychopaths are under studied. On this point, she says,
“[t]he majority of documented serial killers throughout history have been men. This has led to the false assumption that there are no female serial killers.”
My view is that -- nature being nature -- there are equal numbers of male vs. female psychopaths out there; it’s just that the females are better at hiding. I also believe they are worse than the males.
Sacks and Violins
Next quote:
Females will more often use a more “hands off” approach to killing, often using poison or suffocation to kill without direct or violent contact (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 1993; Hickey, 1991). These muted and indirect methods allowed female murderesses to go undetected for a vast period of time. These differences are key to understanding the perpetuation of the myth that female serial killers do not exist.
The poison reference also hit me. I have a bunch of theories on Hannibal Anne and poisons, which I will roll out slowly over time. I don’t have any proof. Not yet, anyway.
Here are a few more examples:
Take a Drink from my Special Cup
Image Courtesy of PFFK#7
“Most psychopaths react oppositely to inebriation than do most typical drinkers. Where most people who partake in alcohol find themselves more boisterous, joyful, and excitable . . ., psychopaths often become quiet and sullen. . . . What does often emerge is shocking and unexplainable behaviors in the psychopaths. With just a few drinks, they indulge in vastly antisocial behaviors.”
Hannibal Anne is very careful. She tries not to drink around other people. When she does, that is when her true self comes out. Same thing with anesthetics. When she was recovering from her “fake knees” operation back in 2018, and coming back into consciousness, a deep, gravelly, throaty type voice started to come out through her jutting jawed pie hole. She was talking about girls from high school she wanted revenge on, and stuff like that.
My oldest Niece thought it was funny. I found it creepy, but also real.
Lesson: psychopaths never forget a grudge, not even when they die.
Things Are Really Florida Universitied
It is nearly an accepted standard that the psychopath’s sex life shows some type of peculiarities. . . . They do not seem to be encumbered by the normal complex emotional experiences that encompass most loving adult sexual relations (Cleckley, 1976) . . . . The typical promiscuity that is observed for both male and female psychopaths is most likely due to their immense lack of restraint and not to an abnormally excitable libido. Because they relish in high risk behaviors, they will often seek to have sex with high risk persons and in very squalid surroundings (Cleckley, 1976).
The reference to “Cleckley” is to Mask of Sanity, first published in 1941, by Hervey M. Cleckley. He is considered by many to be the grandfather or godfather, not sure, of the study of psychopathy. I read that book also. He provides flowery case studies of psychopaths he has come across over his many years of practice. Virtually all of them had we he described as some kind of sexual perversion or deviancy.
I will try, in a future Episode, to stoke up the courage to tell you about a dream I had when I was very young -- involving sexual deviancy and Hannibal. I didn’t know those concepts back then, of course. Well, at least I think it was a dream.
How to Beat a Lie Detector Test in One Easy Lesson
In a 1970 study by Hare,
“[i]t was established that in psychopaths, a small skin conductance reaction in anticipation of negative stimuli followed by a hefty increase in heart rate. The opposite was observed in nonpsychopathic patients. The nonpsychopaths had a large galvanic skin response followed by a decrease in heart rate (Hare, 1970).
Heart rate and skin galvanic response are two key parts of a polygraph test. Just sayin’
That’s all the quotes for now.
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Flounder
So, like I have my own Devil Mommy, and what to do with her? For now, it’s to stay away.
Since the February 2021 Hannibal voicemail -- wherein Hannibal Anne instructs me in her devil baby voice to not “come to our house in Amarillo . . . [country music pause] . . . Period” -- I have only spoken to Hannibal once. That phone call was in October of 2024.
In August that year, she started texting me asking if I wanted to meet up in Dallas or Santa Fe. Seeing as how I like not actually being killed when I travel, I didn’t reply.
So, anyway, my dad, Fredo called me one day and put Hannibal on the phone. Thanks Fredo!
The call went something like this (after her fumbling for a few minutes to sync with Bluetooth in brand her new evidence-free Hannibal truck)
HANNIBAL
“How are you?”
ME
“I guess I am fine. What’s going on?”
HANNIBAL
“I am ready to move on. Let’s forget everything that has happened.”
ME
“Do you realize how painful the last few years have been?”
HANNIBAL
“See, I knew it. You are still so full of rage. I don’t really remember what all happened, it’s all just a fog. I miss you.”
[Leaving open the question how one can forget everything that happened that they don’t remember -- ed.]
ME
“What do you miss?”
HANNIBAL
“You are beautiful, kind and caring” (true that!) “Why don’t you think about it? We can start talking again. I’ll think about it and you think about it.” (I wasn’t going to think about it. She can just go think herself)
The call ended and my nervous system was reacting. I wasn’t going to sign up again to abused emotionally and financially. My life was much more peaceful without Hannibal Anne.
However, for good measure, not too long after that I did send them some Limburger cheese. They did not get the joke.
The “rage” thing is also funny. A few years earlier, I think in 2020, she texted me something about me and some rage issues she was projecting me of. So I texted her this video of Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School. I never got a reply.
Lesson: An effective way to deal with psychopaths is to ridicule and laugh at (not with) them -- the more people joining in, the better
A Devil with Some Quicksand
So I wondered how the author, C.S. Norris would score Ted Bundy (you may remember that Hannibal had me reading about him when I was 13 . . . for some reason) compared to Aileen Wuornos (good movie Monster with Charlize Theron).
Ms. Norris writes
“Social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feeling for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret (Hare, 1993, xi).”
This is Hannibal Anne spot on, dead to rights, a bullseye, a fair cop if ever there was one. I continued reading.
“Primary psychopaths suffer from what McCord and McCord (1982) termed ‘lovelessness and guiltlessness’. These patients are the true predators of society. Primary psychopaths present low anxiety, little stress response, and no fear. . . . (Yep)
Primary psychopaths also appear to be devoid of any genuine emotions, although they are very adept at mimicking them (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 1993). This group is considered to be the “core” or “true” psychopath. This term is applicable to those whose psychopathy is innate and unchanging throughout the lifespan (Hare, 1993). (Core Yep)
Again, dead on. You know what they say, beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes to the core.
She is emotionally detached in my view. I have only seen Hannibal cry twice. Both times involved one of her gravy trains being messed with and derailed. The only emotion I have seen her display is anger. And that really isn’t an emotion. It’s more of a response.
Nevermind the Furthermore
In last part of her dissertation, Ms. Norris runs through the PCL-R checklist used to evaluate psychopathy, although 3 of the 20 factors are excluding for evaluation.
I won’t go through all the points, as I get bored very easily.
Here are just a few relevant examples.
3. Need for stimulation and Proneness to boredom
Hannibal Anne is constantly running over orange roadworks cones. It’s one of her favorite past-times. She also enjoys charging her evidence-free Hannibal truck into the large orange roadworks barrels. She used to do this and yell out “to Wanda” (from Fried Green Tomatoes, which don’t sound too appetizing if you ask me).
4. Pathological Lying
November 2020 I was at #6 Accosted, I was in the garage and I saw it. A large treat box that I had shipped to #6 Accosted for my Nieces birthdays several months earlier. Hannibal Anne had been texting how much my Nieces had loved everything and their reactions to the different treats. Obviously, a complete lie. The box was sitting there unopened. I walked it into the living room. I said “hey Hannibal, this box hasn’t even been opened.” She just shrugged her shoulders and said “sorry.”
5. Conning and Manipulative
See the Episode entitled Hotlips Hooligans, in which we see a classic con job starring Hannibal Anne.
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
Recall the first Episode She Threw Me Out of a Moving Car When I Was 5. Now I’m Driving. Give it a read or listen. She had no guilt or remorse for trying to off me.
8. Callous and lack of empathy
Hannibal was at one of Myron’s basketball games. There was a team playing from Oklahoma City. The OKC bombing had just happened in April of 1995. I looked across the gym and Hannibal was smiling with her eyes locked in on a lady I had never seen before. A few minutes later I see Hannibal seated next to the lady. I couldn’t imagine what Hannibal Anne’s interest was because she looked so excited. Next I see Hannibal put her on hand on the lady’s leg. Hannibal said something and the lady recoiled and turned her face away from Hannibal. I was confused as I watched Hannibal walk away still smiling. It was like she had breathed something in. I made my way to Hannibal and asked her who she had been speaking to. Hannibal went on to explain the lady was from OKC and Hannibal had said to her “I’m so sorry about the bombing in your city.” I bet she said something else.
This was nuts. How had Hannibal sensed the grief from across a busy basketball court gym. It was like she was magnetized to the grief and wanted to breathe it in. I just shook my head thinking why re-victimize someone while they are focused on their kid’s game. Complete lack of empathy and completely sadistic.
Hannibal loves sadism and the breathing in of other people’s misery.
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior
I believe this to have been the case. Just can’t prove it. Not yet, anyway.
14. Impulsivity
For less than a week, in the early 2000s, Hannibal Anne worked at Bank of America. To wrap up her first work week she said to her manager “I am going to lunch and I’m not coming back.” I believe she took this job for some other purpose. Maybe to get access to someone’s financial records.
18. Juvenile delinquency
OG delinquent.
Full dissertation by Ms. Norris, click here
[1] I also began looking into therapists for myself around the same time. The one I settled on is great. She’s suffered through some very famous Martin Scorsese level abuse herself, and so understands what it is like. She is also portrayed in a major motion picture. She’s also a Duchess or something.