By  Dr. Katherine Ramsland

October 5, 2006

advertisement

(Crime Library)

Guilt or Punishment?

Charles Carl Roberts IV had no intention of coming out alive.  Like many self-haters, he wanted his life to end. But like many self-haters who twist their anger toward others, he targeted people who had nothing to do with his pain — in his case, ten little girls.  Apparently he claimed that he molested two girls twenty years ago, although the girls who are now adults dispute it, and all of that guilt was coming to a head.  Or so he wanted people to believe.  But why not then just kill himself?

Because there's more at stake than guilt. 

Charles Carl Roberts IV

It seems that Roberts added an unusual element to the typical ambitions of a mass murderer: he appeared to prepare for one last fling before ending it all. His inclusion of a sexual lubricant on his list of supplies, along with an apparent truss board, suggests he expected to have time for some type of sexual activity.  Or, alternatively, perhaps his intention was to molest the girls to punish them for inspiring his uncomfortable fantasies.  Killers with a mission often have punishment in mind.

From what we know of similar cases, it's likely that Roberts, 32, had spun some eroticized mental violence for some time — what criminologists refer to as rehearsal fantasies.  As he indicated in his suicide notes, he'd not only molested two little girls years ago (not yet substantiated), he'd been thinking of repeating it.  No doubt he'd seen his very targets around the area where he lived, not far from the West Nickel Mines Amish School he invaded on October 2, and the sight of them may have aroused him.  Even in places as serene and seemingly nonviolent as the Amish countryside, undesirable impulses can grow inside someone and fester into action. 

Next Page

Dr. Katherine Ramsland

Community Stunned By Milkman's Savage Execution of Amish School Girls

Text of Roberts' Suicide Note

School Massacres in the Crime Library

See Crime Library Coverage of Kimveer Gill, Montreal School Shooter

See Coverage of Killer David Ludwig

Colorado Shooting

See Discussion Forum

For more daily crime news