BTK: Classic Neutral
Dateline NBC had a special last week where they showed an interview with BTK. It was chilling watching a man who calculatedly killed so many people for over 30 years without getting caught.
Hearing him talk about these people—and how he killed them—made my skin crawl! He had absolutely no remorse for what he did, or for the victims or their families. His victims were clearly conquests, not people.
How erie is that??!
There are no two doubts about it: BTK, aka Dennis Rader, was a smart man—exceptionally smart, yet obviously mentally off, way-off.
He made me sit and look at myself. Could *I*, Eyes for Lies, have picked up on this man? Could I have sensed something was up with him?
I sat and pondered it. Would I have fallen victim to this man and befriended him if he were my neighbor? That was my question for the day.
He certainly had the looks to make me “want” to trust him. He certainly had that going for him, — especially when he was young.
We naturally want to trust those who are good-looking.
Would my instincts have told me differently in the company of his good looks? Certainly, I’ll never know. I can only guess…
I am not psychic, so I couldn’t have known anything more then the average person, unless he told a lie to me or to someone else I knew. He may not have had the need to lie to me, so I certainly couldn’t count on that to tip me off.
However, BTK fits my classic description of a “neutral” person: He is a person who doesn’t get excited, doesn’t show highs and lows in emotions. He stays on a neutral playing field. He does not give others vibes of joy, sorrow, happiness or pain. He is always even-keel—which is a warning to anyone.
People who are genuine to themselves and others feel sorrow, happiness, joy and pain.
When you or I see someone who is not showing these emotions, while we can’t gleam they are lying, because not all neutral people lie, we can be sure of one thing: They are hiding something. That something could be anything: benign or cancerous. It could be fear, insecurities, emotional troubles, a bad relationship, a difficult past, etc. The possibilities are endless.
In the case of BTK, we now know what he was hiding. Murder—serial murder.
Neutral people are detached and for a reason. About that you can be certain.
The million-dollar question is: What are they hiding? What is the reason for the detachment??
I am pretty sure I would have noted that BTK, aka Dennis Rader, was a neutral person, and I would have been naturally curious about him to the extent that I would have watched what he said to see if it matched what he did. The more I would have seen him lack “normal” emotion, the more concerned I would have become — and likely withdrawn from him. That’s about all I can say about Dennis.
Then again, he was a master manipulator—a manipulator I hope to never, ever meet in my lifetime!