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Profile Of Cat Killers – Sociopaths, Psychopaths Or Victims Of Trauma?

Profile Of Cat Killers – Sociopaths, Psychopaths Or Victims Of Trauma? Photo: Tyler Weinman, 18, was charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.
Profile Of Cat Killers – Sociopaths, Psychopaths Or Victims Of Trauma? Photo: Tyler Weinman, 18, was charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.
Profile Of Cat Killers – Sociopaths, Psychopaths Or Victims Of Trauma? Photo: Tyler Weinman, 18, was charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.

A teenager was arrested in a string of cat killings and mutilations in Miami, Florida. Tyler Weinman, 18, of Cutler Bay, Florida, was charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary. Police say that some of the cats were skinned or gutted and the corpses left on the lawns or driveways of their owners. What type of person kills and mutilates cats? And why cats?

Weinman’s parents are divorced. His father is a dentist, his mother is a life coach; he has a new step mother, and recently moved in with his father who has a number of cats. Weinman had spent time between homes belonging to his mother and father. Investigators said Weinman was expelled from Palmetto High School at least two years ago and was arrested on undisclosed charges as a juvenile. Could this be the profile of a cat killer – a teenage child, the son of divorced parents?

Celebrity Life Coach and Human Behavior Expert, Patrick Wanis PhD, says this cruel and sadistic behavior is often labeled as Sociopathic or Psychopathic. In some cases, the perpetrator may have witnessed similar acts of cruelty as a child and thus his behavior was learned and programmed: “Henry Lee Lucas was born in Blacksburg, Virginia. At 10 years of age he watched his mother’s live-in boyfriend stab a calf in the neck and have sex with it while it was dying. At age 13 he began catching small animals and skinning them alive for fun. After stabbing, mutilating, and murdering women for over 30 years, at age 47, Lucas is now serving a life sentence in prison.” [Haden & Scarpa (2005). Childhood animal cruelty: a review of research, assessment, and therapeutic issues, The Forensic Examiner 14.2 (Summer 2005): 23(10).]

In other cases, it is believed that the behavior may stem from more than just childhood trauma and may be the result of a neurological dysfunction whereby the person does not have the ability to perceive and feel the pain he is inflicting; he has no sense of guilt, remorse or conscience. This behavior can also extend to “white collar crime” where the victim suffers at the hand of a fraudster or con artist who has no remorse, empathy, conscience or guilt.

Dr. Wanis argues that in most cases, a cat killer or anyone that commits cruelty to animals is often doing so out of rage, anger and pain and he or she was probably the victim of cruelty, abuse or torture at a very young age. Research also suggests that children from extremely violent families commit more serious abuse than others, and there are cases where a violent and sadistic parent may torture the pet of his child as a way to inflict further pain, intimidation and control over a child. The resulting trauma may cause the child to repeat the parents behavior and/or may teach that the child to use cruelty to animals as a means to express or project pain, anger and rage. Research also reveals that there is a link between animal cruelty and subsequent serial crimes against humans.

Russ Morley, host of the morning show on News/Talk 850 WFTL interviews Human Behavior Expert Patrick Wanis PhD, for insights into the motivations, warning signs and characteristics of cat killers and people who commit cruelty and sadistic acts against animals. Patrick Wanis PhD, reveals various possible contributing factors that lead to a person becoming a cat killer and explains why these people often choose to torture cats over dogs. In outlining a cat killer’s profile, Dr. Wanis also reveals that the mutilation and killing of cats is not limited to any one culture and cites a case of a self-confessed serial cat killer inside the University of the Philippines. (Of note, cat-killing is not perceived as serious a crime in the Philippines as it is in other Western countries and thus few people choose to report it to the police.)

John Candare wrote on Multiply, a social media site in the Philippines, that he enjoyed smashing the little kitten’s body to the ground; it died coughing up blood. “On our way out of old np I saw the cat I almost killed last Tuesday. Now everyone knows I hate cats. It’s an unexplainable feeling towards them. Like some internal hatred. I don’t know why but whenever I try to stop myself, I really can’t because I get a kick out of doing these things to cats. I pulled it on its tail and threw it. Then like some pro wrestler I jumped on it and my feet landed on its torso. Slam! Felt good! But the cat didn’t die, well not yet – and I just ended its life. So there you go I’m sorry. And I won’t be striking another one for maybe about a month. It feels good when your beating it (a cat) up but you suddenly feel something strange when it turns off permanently. That’s how I feel right now. And maybe for the next days. Dang, am I a cat serial killer?”

Dr. Wanis reveals some of the common characteristics of Sociopathic and Psychopathic behavior (also known as Antisocial Disorder) including deep seated rage, impulsiveness, a lack of remorse, guilt or shame, incapacity to love, superficial charm, fake or shallow emotions, extreme narcissism, promiscuity, pathological lying, lack of empathy (inability to empathize with the pain of victims), blaming others, secretiveness, paranoia, and manipulative & swindling behavior and actions.

Click below to listen to the interview.

Update: Tyler Weinman, the Palmetto Bay man who was once accused of killing several pet cats, is now suing Miami-Dade County for negligence that led to his false arrest. The case was dropped in 2010 after an expert hired by the defense found that several of the carcasses of the cats had bites caused by a large animal.

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