Craig's List Murders

The last few weeks, the American public has been shocked by the news of first, a Sunday School teacher and mother being arrested for the vicious sexual slaughter of her own 8 year old daughter's best friend. Even the most jaundiced amongst us feel deep sadness and disbelief when we watch that innocent beautiful little girl skipping down the street to her death that day.

And now, the arrest of a young, handsome, supposedly likeable and intelligent 22 year old medical student, Phillip Markoff, for the brutal robberies and murder of several women via the popular Craig's lists, shocks us again. We ask ourselves the how could this happen? What turns ordinary men and women with good parents, middle class homes, good families into psychopathic murderers?

As Christians we're told how important it is to raise our children in the church with a belief in God and rules and order. Religious conservatives preach this mantra and point a shaming finger at parents who choose other methods. Political conservatives demand stiffer death penalties and point their angry fingers at liberal progressives who they blame for the increase in prison populations and for the downfall of American society and moral living.

I'm sure there is a blogger somewhere claiming today that it's the liberal college the young man attended that caused him to search out and murder those women. For me, I'm no fan of crime psychology scenarios. I hated Silence of the Lambs and the last crime book I read was In Cold Blood in college. It was required. It gave me nightmares and solidified my thinking on how much disliked the genre, even while I recognized the brilliance of the writing.

I have no interest in knowing why these two committed their crimes, aside from sympathy for their victims. But yet, there's a lingering curiosity. I look at my handsome young sons and beautiful daughters...and I see them as perfect creations, full of hope, idealism, intellect and talent.

I wonder what this young man's mother saw in him? I wonder what the father of Ms. Hucklebee saw in her. But most of all I wonder about the human mind, soul and evil? How do they intertwine to create what I cannot help labeling, murderous monsters like these two?

The simple fact is that the face of psycopathy has always been a charming likeable one. We're fooled, we're hoodwinked and victimized by their smiling faces, their charming manners and their complete craziness. Today's modern world of internet friendliness and instant friendships contribute to the ease with which we accept other's and even trust them. We would all be wise to use caution in these "instant" acquaintances and police our own interactions with the strangers amongst us. Because the face of evil is not easily discerned.