By David Lohr
(Continued)
According to Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, an expert criminal profiler who has over 20 years experience in profiling everything from serial murders to aberrant sex crimes, it was a mixture of fear and anger that drove Beecroft to kill her newborn daughter.
"Many times, a girl is in denial about the pregnancy," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said in an interview with Crime Library yesterday evening. "After the initial shock wears off, she does everything she can to avoid even thinking about the baby. Often, she fears that her life will be ruined if she acknowledges what has happened."
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Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin |
It is this fear, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said, that causes young girls to hide their pregnancy and detach themselves from the situation.
"The baby becomes a 'thing' that she must cover up. As time goes on and it becomes more difficult to hide her condition, her anger escalates. This 'thing' is causing her tremendous trouble. If she could only be rid of 'it,' her life would be fine. And the cycle of detachment, fear and anger continue until she gives birth."
According to Dr. Schurman-Kauflin, the girl is so detached and terrified by the time she gives birth, that she does not think beyond that moment and that is when she kills her child.
"Desperate to be free and have her old life back again, she murders the baby. Panic usually sets in, and that leads to a hasty body disposal. It is typically then that she is discovered. The realization is overwhelming. She comes to realize that she really did have a baby, and she murdered a human being. These facts are thrust before her face, coupled with contempt by those around her. Then she falls apart, but it is too late to fix what she has done. She is a killer, and her life is now truly ruined. Her denial, fear, and anger have led her down a path from which she can never retreat."
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