Comparing Daniel Sorenson's Death with Other High-Profile Crimes

According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, the two teens accused of the killing and beheading of Daniel Sorenson on November 7, carefully planned the attack for no apparent reason. Worthy calls the attack a "bone-chilling thrill kill". The two teenagers identified as Canton High School Student Jean Peirre Orlewicz, 17, of Plymouth Township; and Alexander Letkemann, 18, of Westland are now being held without bail in the Wayne County Jail. They are both being charged with murder and one count of mutilation of a corpse. Worthy says her office is looking at other "persons of interest" in the case. www.clickondetroit.com

The concept of killing for thrill, though very unnerving, is not new music to our ears. Killing for no specific reason has been the defense in many murder cases.

Last week, as reported at www.cbcnews.com, a handyman who worked the grounds in Yosemite National Park confessed to killing four women. One, a park naturalist and three sightseers. Cary Stayner gave a numbing account of how he killed these women in an off-camera interview from jail, to a San Francisco TV station. His only defense: He was acting out fantasies about killing women he had dreamed about for 30 years. As of now, Stayner has only been charged with one of the murders, sources say that he'll officially face more charges after his confession to law enforcement concerning the other murders.

" Psychologically, the thrill motivated killer tends to be a sociopath, someone with a disorder of character rather than mind. He lacks a conscience, feels no remorse, and cares exclusively for his own pleasures in life... It has been estimated that 3% of all males in our society could be considered sociopathic" (Fox & Levin, 1994, pg.18)

There is no way to predict whether or not a person will be capable of murdering someone. What part of the human brain is responsible for uncontrolled urges such as killing for sport?

Also, last week, an 18 year old boy from Finland opened fire at his high school, killing eight people before fatally turning the gun on himself. The 18 year old gunman, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, was labeled as a lonely, antisocial teen who acted alone in the crime. He left a suicide note to his family saying good-bye. He had no clear motive for committing these heinous crimes. The victims were apparently picked at random. Six of whom were students, one was the 61 year old Principal, and one was the 42 year old school nurse.

Prior to the murders, Auvinen had left a "video journal" on the very popular site You-tube, including 80 uploaded video clips with Auvinen claiming to be "a cynical existentialist, anti-human humanist, anti-social social-Darwin, realist idealist and a god-like atheist".www.cnn.com, www.yahoonews.com

Senseless killings like the above mentioned have been reported in our news repeatedly over the years with no end in sight. As long as there are avenues in which one can freely express violence and potential harm to others, who knows when this will all come to an end.