"I'm not like anyone else," murderer says. (Or is he...?)

[mwb970]

"I'm not like anyone else," murderer says
(Columbus Dispatch, December 15, 2008)

When he was just a kid, Terry Shepherd gutted animals for fun. Groundhogs, rabbits, mangy dogs he found wandering the countryside. Growing up on a Hardin County farm, he hunted for food and sport, too. But this was different.

"I killed everything I could find," Shepherd said during a two-hour interview at the Multi-County Correctional Center in Marion last night, an exclusive for The Dispatch. "I've always known I was different, that I'm not like anybody else."

On Friday, a Hardin County judge sentenced Shepherd, 40, to two consecutive life terms in prison for the Oct. 12 murders of 57-year-old Judy Kearley and 52-year-old Deb England, two Kenton women who were strangers to him but who had agreed to give him a lift.

Shepherd faces another life sentence in a Wyandot County court, where he has pleaded guilty to the Sept. 28 murder of 78-year-old Claradell Keller.

"Not like anyone else?" Didn't young George W. Bush delight in blowing up frogs with firecrackers?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. It is a common trait amongst serial killers

to have a history or maiming/killing/torturing animals. That's one reason I support strict anti-cruelty laws--these folks need to be identified and given a sentence that includes psychiatric help.

[DCKit]

2. I don't believe you can fix what isn't there to begin with.

But I'm no psychiatrist either - just seen far more than my share of psychopaths.

On Edit:

If this guy is forty, I'd be looking for a whole lot more victims. Usually these guys are just beginning to wind down at that age.

[HillWilliam]

3. In my state, when cruelty to animals is reported

an investigator will usually go in and look for signs of spousal or child abuse. Sad to say, they rarely come up empty-handed.