Prison pen pals VII

A few more prospective correspondents:



Frederick Baer (murder)

I've been a death row prisoner since June 2005. My precious baby girl of a cat, Lucky, it is next to me sleep, she's my heart, soul and world. We're looking for, wanting to meet some new people who'd be interested in getting to know us, on a steady, consistent basis, to keep us company, to let us know we're wanted and needed. No head/heart games please. Is this you??

Interests are-drawing, reading, poems, tattoos, nature, fishing, writing letters, getting mail, and all things naughty in nice. I'm a down to earth guy who's made mistakes in my past, and I'm paying for them all now-with my life. We all have and carry regrets and mistakes from our past we've done and that's happened,-were all human and are not perfect.

I'm just trying to enjoy what's left of my life, and the best ways I can and that's possible now, and desires/want/need to be needed, wanted and a part of- (??). To have and share some laughs, smiles and life together for a wild. Know what I mean?? So give Lucky and I chanced to share some laughs and smiles with you together. Thank you :-)

You don't end up on Death Row for an accidental killing. Sure enough, Fred's in for a double murder. He broke into a house and attempted to rape a young woman, then killed both her and her four year old daughter by slashing their necks. He almost decapitated the little girl.

Frederick's story is a depressingly familiar one. His mother was an alcoholic, a common theme among sociopaths. (Alcoholic mothers care more about their liquor than their babies.) By age 32 he was on his third marriage, abused a lot of drugs, including methamphetamine, and was constantly in and out of trouble with the law. Of course, all this is superfluous; the double murder alone more than proves his sociopathy.

But what are the clues in his ad that betray his sociopathy?

Sociopathic inmates often pose with an animal; they feel it shows what a "affectionate" person they are. They know that most pet lovers are nice people, so they pretend to be one themselves as they cuddle up with their "beloved" pet. Baer underscores this with the second sentence of his ad, referring to Lucky as his "precious baby girl." Aww, what a sweet guy. (How did he feel about the precious baby girl whose throat he slashed?)

Then Baer says the usual, "No head/heart games, please." Before his trial, he was recorded on the prison telephone telling his sister, in anticipation of preparing an insanity defense, "Oh yeah, and while we're at it to boot, here let's go ahead and say you're stupid and insane so it'd make it a little bit easier. I don't think so. . . . Matter of fact, I ain't got to worry about that cause I'm getting ready to go out here to the f***ing doctor and tell this stupid son of a b**** a bunch of stupid-a** lies."

It's usually the people who play "mind games" who say they prefer people who don't. (Straightforward types are more likely to be suckers.)

 Baer's second paragraph is classic sociopathy: "We all have and carry mistakes and regrets from our past we've done and that's happened. We're all human and are not perfect." What he's doing here is equating his "mistakes" with yours: remember that time you were unnecessarily cruel in your criticism? And the time you cheated on your girlfriend? Well, those sins are pretty much on the same level as his.

 Sociopaths always describe their monstrous deeds as "mistakes."

 Writing to Baer would certainly be one.

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I couldn't reproduce the photograph for Robert Baker, since he included a (non-copyable) revolving montage of them in his ad. He also had another original idea for his ad: instead of writing anything himself, he simply attached a newspaper article about his career as a master jewel thief in Beverly Hills. But his ad is definitely worth taking a look at.

A few of the things that give Baker away as a sociopath:

Baker had tremendous nerve, a specialty of sociopaths. Most people simply wouldn't have the gall to be able to easily mingle with the hotel guests without betraying any nervousness.

Baker is described as "a likable fellow who could charm his way out of sticky situations and managed to ingratiate himself with at least one of his victims." Glib charm is another sociopathic trait, and the willingness to "befriend" and then take advantage of someone is another.

Baker represented himself in court at his trial, another sociopathic hallmark. The only people I've ever heard who've done this -- like Ted Bundy, and Colin Ferguson, the LIRR Killer -- have all been sociopaths. (How incredibly arrogant do you have to be to think you'd be better at the job than someone who has a law degree and has passed the bar and does it full time?)

Once, when spotted by a security guard, Baker slipped into a guest room, jimmied open the window, slithered along a seventh floor ledge, and leapt from there onto a fire escape. This sort of fearlessness is also characteristic of sociopaths.

Finally, when he was caught, Baker tried to shoot the man who was holding on to him. But the jury deadlocked on that charge (Baker claimed the gun went off by accident) and Baker escaped the attempted murder rap. But as a sociopath, taking another's life would in fact not have bothered him.

Baker obviously saw himself as a character out of the movies, perhaps along the lines of John Robie the "cat thief" (the Cary Grant character) in To Catch a Thief. Or maybe the George Clooney character in Oceans 12. To a certain extent, he was. But what most people don't realize is that in order for someone to be as cool as those characters, he would almost certainly have to be a sociopath.

William Blanscet (kidnap of wife)

Am 42 years old, 6'6" and 220 lbs....I am single with 2 children. I have a son 18 and a daughter 11 which I am unable to see because of our situation. I have 1 brother, and a mom and dad. My family lives in California so it is hard for them to visit....I would describe myself as a mature/friendly guy who likes to have fun...

Blanscet looks bland enough, and there's nothing about his ad -- other than his crime -- which makes him sound unredeemable. But the following excerpt from the Oregon Court of Appeals shows that he is in fact the stuff of nightmares:

Unless noted otherwise, the relevant facts are undisputed. Defendant and the victim met in the fall of 1999. About a month after they met, he assaulted her, and she had to be hospitalized. Defendant and the victim married in 2000. She became pregnant, and defendant assaulted her again, resulting in a miscarriage. The victim became pregnant again and delivered a child, but defendant had to be removed from the hospital because of his poor conduct. Defendant and the victim separated after that incident.

In 2002, defendant broke into the home where the victim was staying. She attempted to call 9-1-1, but defendant prevented her from completing the call. He was convicted of burglary, menacing, and interfering with a 9-1-1 call for that incident and sentenced to probation on condition that he have no contact with the victim. Defendant nevertheless contacted her and again acted violently toward her. She reported his conduct to the police, his probation was revoked, and he served 19 months in prison. While in prison, defendant wrote letters to the victim. At first, the tone of his letters was threatening, but later it was apologetic. He pledged that he had reformed and expressed his desire to be part of their child's life.

Defendant was released from prison in April 2004. A condition of his post-prison supervision was that he have no contact with the victim. Over the course of the next few months, he violated that condition several times. In October 2004, defendant pounded on the victim's door late at night, and she called the police. For the violation of the no-contact condition of his post-prison supervision, defendant served 45 days in jail.

Defendant was released on December 8, 2004. Late the next night, he went to the victim's apartment and pushed his way inside. Over the course of the next several days, defendant brutally assaulted the victim. Throughout the ordeal, defendant repeatedly referred to the fact that she had previously "snitched" on him. At one point, the victim attempted to call 9-1-1, but defendant thwarted the attempt, stating that she would get him thrown back in jail. On the basis of those events, defendant was charged with multiple counts of rape and sodomy, as well as assault, kidnapping, and unlawful use of mace.

This account leaves one wondering why Blanscet's initial sentences for violating the restraining orders, especially that 45 day sentence, were so light. 

If you want to look at it from a different angle, you could view Blanscet's ad as a triumph of the human spirit. Despite his violent, temperamental history, he is still able to describe himself as "a mature/friendly guy."

Always good to have a positive self-image.

Cheyenne Brown (murder)

I'm mixed raced between Lakota, Cherokee Irish, German, French, Scottish.I'm 6 foot tall, I have long brown hair, and Hazel eyes.I like to rock climb, snowboard, and ice skate, skateboard, and rollerskate, work on old cars, and trucks, and raced them after I fixed them up.I like to go camping, and fishing and swimming in and around lakes a lot. I like to do woodworking, and beadwork and I'm in here and I like to read and write poetry, music. I do some artwork for my beading. I read a lot of books, and I like to look at the stars, and try to see the shapes in them.

That is Cheyenne's entire ad. There are eleven I's in his seven sentences. (Does he remind you of egotists you've known?) Not a word about what he might be looking for in a prospective pen pal, and not a word of regret about his past misdeeds. His crime proves his sociopathy, and his ad certainly shows his narcissism (which is part of every sociopath's personality). 

Cheyenne doesn't sound like a guy who thinks a whole lot about others. He certainly couldn't have been too concerned with others the night he and a buddy killed an elderly couple with a shotgun blast in order to rob them.

Nah, that night he was probably thinking about how he likes to ice skate. Or skateboard. Or work on old cars....

....all things he won't be able to do in prison.