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Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Sociopath talk

The Sun ran an article yesterday about Bruno Fernandes de Souza which delivers a great lesson on how sociopaths talk (and think): Goalie who had ex fed to dogs: Get over my 'one mistake.'

When you tell people to "get over" something, you're of course implying that if anyone has a problem with your behavior, the fault lies with them, not with you.

The relevant excerpts from the article, in italics:

The Brazilian goalkeeper who ordered the murder of his girlfriend before feeding her to his Rottweilers has incredibly claimed he’s “not a bad guy.”

De Souza must have a pretty extreme definition of "bad guy." He's probably thinking, well, it's not as if I'm a serial killer, since I'm only responsible for one killing. (Just one -- what's the big fuss?)

Bruno Fernandes de Souza was let out of jail in February on a legal technicality after spending just six years behind bars for his horrendous crime.

The goalie had former model girlfriend Eliza Samudio tortured and beaten before being strangled, chopped into pieces and fed to a pack of Rottweilers, following a dispute over child support.


(Simply being strangled and chopped into pieces was evidently not enough punishment for the crime of getting impregnated by him.)

But in his first interview since leaving jail and controversially signing with Boa Esporte, de Souza is quoted as saying: “Dude, what happened, happened.

(Exactly what intelligence is being conveyed in that statement? It's just another way of saying, hey, no big deal. The utter lack of any shame or guilt is apparent.)

De Souza's use of the word "dude" seems calculated to make him sound like a regular guy.

“I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happens in life — I’m not a bad guy.

De Souza refers to Samudio's torture, beating, and strangulation as a "mistake" -- the same way you or I might refer to taking the wrong exit on the freeway.

And note the passive voice: "mistakes happen." You know, pretty much the same way the weather happens.

“People tried to bury my dream because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I’m carrying on with my career, dude.

What kind of horrible people would try to bury a guy's dream? Let's face it, he's the real victim here. (De Souza might have made a wiser choice of word than "bury" though.)

The implication here is that since the Almighty has forgiven him, you should too. And now he's just "carrying on" -- brave soul that he is.

“I’m starting over.”

In other words, he now has a clean slate. 

De Souza is a good-looking guy --



-- which must help when it comes to getting a girl to sleep with him and then convincing his younger, impressionable cousins to murder her for him. In some pictures de Souza even looks wholesome --


-- which just goes to show that you can't judge a book, or a soccer star, by their covers.

You can, however, judge both by their words. 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, he's one for the ladies to avoid (at all costs).

-birdie

Anonymous said...

A sociopath's thinking is totally disordered. I have heard the lame excuses that they have for their bad behavior. Never are they truly sorry, nor do they display any heartfelt remorse (which continues to be mind boggling, despite knowing that the person is a sociopath). It's helpful to read your posts because you state what I've experienced.

- birdie

John Craig said...

Birdie --
Thank you, and yes, all true.

Smallberries Worldwide said...

Isn't it possible that this guy is well beyond sociopathy? He demonstrates malignant narcissism and sadism. Isn't that more psychopathy?

John Craig said...

Smallberries Worldwide --
I've always thought that "malignant narcissism" was basically jut another name for sociopathy. And sadism, at least sadism that is acted upon, is just another distinguishing feature of sociopathy.

Also, I've never distinguished between sociopathy and psychopathy, if that's the point you're making. Some say that psychopathy is more organic in nature, whereas sociopathy is a condition resulting from the environment. But the behavior for both is exactly the same, so I've never bothered to draw a distinction.

I like your name, by the way.

Smallberries Worldwide said...

I guess there are a spectrum of behavioral attributes that one could say are sociopathy. I don't really know. It just seems like this monster is a speacial case.

I wonder what his IQ measures.

John Craig said...

Smallberries --
All sociopaths are monsters, but some hide it better, because they're smart. This guy is unable to because, as you imply, he's pretty stupid.

(Sociopaths, like the rest of us, come in a full range of IQ's.)

Unknown said...

Is it sociopathological to become pregnant without marriage? What were the girlfriends motives getting pregnant by a psychopath? Was it to get child support and alimony from a rich and famous footballer?

John Craig said...

Michael --
I don't know anything about Eliza Samudio other than that she was a model who was impregnated and then killed by de Souza, so I have no sense of her personality. But no, getting pregnant outside marriage is not a sign of sociopathy. Lots of people do it, and it could well have been an accident. If she did do it for the reason you suggest -- and that's definitely a possibility -- then, yes, that's sort of sleazy, if not necessarily sociopathic. And evidently there are women who have sex with NBA players in this country precisely for that reason to cadge child support money off them.

Unknown said...

Thanks John for your thoughtful response. A woman who gets pregnant to shake down a basketball player, a wealthy banker, a married lover etc. How is that you consider that behavior sleazy and not sociopathy? I think this shows utter indifference to the unborn, and male partner. Maybe it breaks up a family? Maybe the male lives in shame with his family and community? All I see with this type of behavior is using others for one's perceived convenience.

Unknown said...

One other thing, I'm not condoning the goalies behavior. You nailed him to the cross, he's a socio/psychopath. Brazil's legal system is a revolving door. The technicality that freed him was probably about 10 or a 15 thousand dollar bribe to some jackass in a robe.

John Craig said...

Michael --
Anybody who does those things is sleazy, and could well be a sociopath. But sociopathy is a very specific set of traits (and behaviors), and there are various red flags which tend to give it away. Just knowing a person has done one sleazy thing is not enough to convict them in the court of sociopathy. (And we don't even know that Samudio was doing it for that reason.) We've all done bad things in our lives, and most of us aren't sociopaths. (By "bad things," I'm not referring to torturing an killing someone and feeding her body to the dogs, but just things we're not proud of.)

One of the red flags I refer to, btw, is speech patterns, and that was really what this post was about, not just his original crime. And sociopathy in general might be described not so much as having done a bad thing, but the complete and utter absence of any redeeming qualities.

If I had a more complete picture of what Samudio was like, I could give you a better answer.