Psycho children: 5 sad cases of underage murderers

A lots of psychologists and psychiatrists have questioned whether it is possible for children to be psychopaths. They can be naughty and, in some cases, very cruel to other children. But how can it be that they commit murder and show no repentance?

Since their brains are still developing and their personalities are still being forged, it is very difficult to detect the line between mischief and evil. Therefore, and in the face of cases of murder of underage children, health professionals have tried to develop detection tools psycho children.

The problem arises because the tests on the market are questionnaires that predict possible psychopathy in adult life, but not during childhood. An example is the scale of detection in children, aged 6-11 years, of the traits prone to psychopathy in adulthood, created by Paul Frick and Robert Hare, which is called "Scale for the screening of antisocial development".

Causes of psychopathy

As with questionnaires, much of the studies conducted to learn more about psychopaths have focused on the adult population. But to understand this

psychopathology, it is necessary to focus on children, because that age is key in the evolution of the disorder. No one doubts that the origin of psychopathy is found in childhood and adolescence.

From psychology it is understood that the emotional insensitivity trait is closely related to the presence of antisocial behavior and conduct disorders; so it can be a predictor of the development of psychopathy.

The neuroscience has also contributed information to answer questions that help to better understand the disorder, and from this field it is stated that there is a reduced response of the amygdala in young people with the presence of the emotional numbness trait and high scores in psychopathy. An unusual response has also been found in the area of ​​the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Problems in socialization

The forensic psychologist Alex Grandio, in an article by Psychology and Mind called "Psychopathy: what happens in the psychopath's mind?", Explain: "Psychopaths have not developed a conscience or habits of respect for the laws and norms that prevent other people from perpetuating antisocial acts". This is important to understand, since the dysfunctions that children and adults with psychopathic characteristics present make socialization very complicated.

The idea that a child is not inherently empathetic and is instead manipulative and dangerous to society can be difficult for many individuals to understand. But until the true story of the life of these murderers, in which there are often abuses, has not been heard, mistreatment, broken families, etc., it seems impossible to visualize the brutality of the crimes of many of the they. Therefore, the behavior of these little killers is, at least in part, a product of their environment, which must be taken into account in order to understand the behavior of many of these children killers.

Five chilling cases of psychopathic children

Below we reveal a list containing some of the most terrible murders committed by minors.

1. Amarjeet Sada (8 years)

It is hard to assimilate that a child is capable of killing a person, but when he commits multiple crimes, it is almost impossible to digest. This is what happened in the case of the little boy Amarjeet Silk. But the serious thing was not only the murder, but the parents of this little murderer, even knowing that his son had killed two people, covered up for him.

Amarjeet was only eight years old when he was arrested in India in June 2007. He was accused of having killed three babies, two of them from his family. The first of his victims was a cousin of his who was six months old. His second victim, also his cousin, less than a year old, received a beating that cost him his life. Both crimes were covered up by his parents, and surely they would not have arrested him if he had not committed the murder of a six-month-old neighbor.

2. Eric Smith (13 years old)

Eric smith he used to ride his bike around his town every day. When four-year-old Derrick Robie was found dead, no one suspected him. The brutality of his murder makes it one of the most chilling cases.

Derrick's body was found in a forest not far from his house and the park where he usually played. He was taken from there, where he was hanged and hit on the head with several rocks.

When Smith was questioned, Not only did the boy not care about the case, but he also enjoyed the attention of being questioned. He was charged with second degree murder and is still serving a prison sentence.

3. Jordan Brown (11 years old)

Although the motive behind his murder is not yet known, jealousy appears to have been the cause of the crime he committed. Jordan brown, who killed her father's partner in 2009, when she was pregnant.

The victim she was shot in the back while she was lying on the bed. When her four-year-old daughter saw the body, Jordan was at school acting like nothing had happened. Kenzie Houk, the victim, did not get along with Jordan, who warned him that she would kill him before the event occurred.

4. Carl Newton Mahan (6 years)

It seems impossible to imagine that a six-year-old is capable of killing. In May 1929 Carl Newton and his friend Cecil Van Hoose (8 years old) were looking for scrap metal to collect. Cecil stole the one he had gotten from Carl by hitting him over the head with it. After what happened, Carl decided to get revenge. Instead of fighting, he went to his house to get his father's gun. Then, He went back for Cecil and shot him point-blank after telling him: "I'm going to shoot you." Cecil died right there.

Carl is considered one of the youngest murderers in history. He was sentenced to 15 years in reformatory, but another judge deemed it inappropriate to try a boy of that age and he was acquitted.

5. Cayetano Santos "Petiso Orejudo" (9 years old)

Cayetano Santos (better known as Petiso Erejudo), an Argentine boy, committed his first murder in 1906 when he killed a three year old girl named Maria Rosa Face. He kidnapped her from a warehouse door and, after a botched strangulation, buried her alive in a vacant lot.

In September 1908, just 8 days apart, he attempted to murder two 2-year-old boys. The first, Severino González Caló, was saved from being drowned in a cellar sink. The second, Julio Botte, was rescued by his mother after the little serial killer burned his eyelids with a cigarette. After these events, he was sent to the Marcos Paz Juvenile Colony to reform, but over the years he came out with an even less promising psychological picture.

At the time of his freedom, in 1912 he began to carry out murders incessantly. On January 25, he suffocated Arturo Laurora, 13 years old. On March 7, he burned three-year-old Reyna Bonita Vanicoff alive after burning her clothes. During the month of November, he tried in less than 2 weeks to hang Roberto Russo and beat Carmen Ghittone and Catalina Naulener to death, but was unsuccessful. Within two weeks, he tied, beat, hanged, and drove a 4-inch nail into Gesualdo Giordano's temple.

In November 1914 a judge ordered his internment in the Hospicio de las Mercedes. There he attacked two patients. One of them was disabled and the other ended up in a wheelchair. Following these crimes, he was imprisoned until he died in the same prison.