November 7, 2018

"He’s probably one of the top three sociopaths I’ve ever come across... He wanted to tell everyone how smart he was for what he did to his mom."

Said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, quoted in "Teen accused of killing his mother over bad grades is ‘very proud of his work,’ police say" (WaPo).
[The unnamed 15-year-old boy] showed excitement about his perceived intellect, Chitwood said. He bragged to detectives about what he called the “Grammy-winning” phone call he made to 911 and was “bouncing on his toes” with enthusiasm when detectives brought him back to his mother’s burial site.

“There was no emotion. Nothing," Chitwood said. "He was very proud of his work and wanted to show it off.”...  He told police he had used the techniques he learned in criminal-justice classes to try to throw off detectives, such as pouring bleach into the hole where he buried his mother to cover up the smell, Chitwood said.... He bragged to detectives about what he called the “Grammy-winning” phone call he made to 911...

“It’s just unbelievable,” Chitwood said. “The woman brings you into the world, does everything humanly possible for you, and your reward is to strangle her for 30 minutes and bury her.”

28 comments:

tim maguire said...

If he did such a great job, then how did he get caught? And sociopath though he may be, does he really not care about going to jail until he's an old man?

Wince said...

“The case we worked tonight was one of the most disturbing and saddest I’ve seen in my career,” Chitwood wrote in a statement Saturday morning. “I have a feeling this is a case we’ll be hearing about for years to come.”

I get the impression Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood will do his darnedest to make sure of that.


In a single 41-minute radio interview, Sheriff Mike Chitwood called his predecessor an “ass” and accused Volusia County government of being corrupt while denigrating the performance of the three men on the County Council.

But it was a “salacious” remark about Councilwoman Deb Denys that’s drawn a strong backlash and has even Chitwood conceding he “probably crossed the line.”

In responding this week to a comment attributed to Denys about low staffing levels at the sheriff’s office, Chitwood told local radio host Marc Bernier, “The only thing she (Denys) knows about policing is where the fur-lined handcuffs are on her headboard.”

Bob Boyd said...

Listen kid, if you're getting bad grades and strangling your mother, you're doing it wrong.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Teen accused of killing his mother over bad grades...

Just how bad were the mother's grades?

BarrySanders20 said...

I've gradually become anti-death penalty over the years. But there should be exceptions for purely deranged killers, and this is one.

donald said...

A Marc Bernier reference!

Fernandinande said...

[The unnamed 15-year-old boy]

Gregory Ramos. I associate his style of pudgy face with neoteny "intended" to mask high-functioning psychopathy, the banker/lawyer type, not the kind where they murder people and then get caught.

Dave Begley said...

tim maguire is correct.

What kind of society produces such a person? And I don't blame the mother!

Dave Begley said...

And the kid never should have talked to the cops. He's probably angling for an insanity defense. Have fun in prison, pal.

Fernandinande said...

“bouncing on his toes” with enthusiasm ...

“There was no emotion. Nothing," Chitwood said. "He was very proud of his work and wanted to show it off.”


Note to self: Pride and enthusiasm are not emotions.

chickelit said...

Juvenile criminal? He'll be out and voting in FLA in no time.

AZ Bob said...

What kind of society produces such a person?

I'm surprised that he went to a school that gives bad grades.

Leland said...

What chickenlittle said. Them Floridians are proud of their criminals.

joshbraid said...

I am not sure what he owed to his mother.
Did she raise him or the daycare workers (including government school)?
Did she work with him on his homework and encourage him in his schooling?
Did she spend "quality time" with him?
Did she work to feed him wholesome food or just use whatever crap was cheap and easy?

Who knows? Assuming an answer to these questions is problematical. Assuming such behavior is genetically predetermined is problematical. Perhaps he was getting revenge? Lots of possibilities that don't seem to occur to the Sheriff.

The Crack Emcee said...

“It’s just unbelievable, the woman brings you into the world, does everything humanly possible for you, and your reward is to strangle her for 30 minutes and bury her.”

No - that's HER reward - Jesus, keep right-on ripping her off, why don't you...

dreams said...

Yeah, expect even more like him.

Wince said...

Cleavenger was upset that her son received a D in one of his classes, and she called his stepfather, who was away on business, to notify him before she went to bed.

"Have you seen junior's grades?"

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Sometimes humor covers for anxiety or distress. This could be one of those times.

gahrie said...

What kind of society produces such a person?

Sadly, all of them.

And I don't blame the mother!

I'd need to know more first. But sometimes people are just born that way.

This kid needs to be executed, you cannot reform such monsters. You execute him not as punishment or as a deterrent, but simply to prevent him from victimizing more people.

Roughcoat said...

What's the difference between a sociopath and psychopath? This confuses me. I recall reading somewhere that Charles Manson was a sociopath but Tex Watson, his murderous henchman, was a psychopath. I don't understand. Probably Manson was crazy but that's not the same as being a sociopath/psychopath. Crazy (insanity) is a mental illness but I don't think sociopathy and pscyhopathy are mental illnesses. But what do I know.

Roughcoat said...

But there should be exceptions for purely deranged killers, and this is one.

But was he deranged? Or just plain evil?

Bill Peschel said...

"Have you seen junior's grades?"

Wow. I had forgotten how gay David Lee Roth looked back then.

n.n said...

She was a burden, and he's Pro-Choice. Equality.

Larry J said...

He may have earned bad grades but he has very high self-esteem. We all know how vitally important it is that kids feel good about themselves.

Tinderbox said...

Sounds more like a hardcore psychopath.

MD Greene said...

There are two other, equally scary people in the same county?

stevew said...

Someone was born with faulty wiring: the one that had bad grades, killed his mother, and then was caught, rather easily, by the authorities. He appears to have seriously over-estimated his skills, other than the killing part, which of course is the easiest of all.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sounds like someone on track to follow the same Republican trajectory as Ted Bundy.