VIDEO: The Killer’s Mind – Arthur Shawcross

Dr. Dorothy Lewis is a professor of Psychiatry at Yale University and New York’s Bellevue Hospital, known for her pioneering research on the cause of violence.

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Her theories are based on human stories and brain research that focuses on head injuries, brain damage and child abuse.

This video follows Dr. Lewis through the case of serial killer Arthur Shawcross.

According to Bio.com, Shawcross claims that his adolescence was turbulent, and cites a difficult relationship with both parents, particularly his domineering mother, for his later troubles. He says he also exhibited behavioral problems at an early age, including bed-wetting and bullying.

Shawcross made extreme reports about his early sexuality. He claimed his aunt sexually molested him when he was 9, and that he had sexual relations with his younger sister. He also admitted to his first homosexual encounter at the age of 11, which he says was followed by experimentation with bestiality.

Shawcross married first wife, Sarah, in September 1964. The couple produced a son in October 1965. But another probationary charge for unlawful entry in November 1965, proved the last straw for his marriage and he was divorced soon after.

His second marriage, following drafting into the Army in April 1967, was also tainted by violence and was equally short-lived. He served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War in October 1967, and he later claimed that he murdered and cannibalized two young Vietnamese girls and several children while there.

There is no corroborating evidence to support this, however. He also claimed a “combat kill” total of 39 which, when investigated later, was also discounted as fabrication; authorities claim he killed no one on his tour of duty.

On his return from military duty in 1968, he landed in trouble yet again when he was caught and convicted for an arson attack. Shawcross served two years of a five-year jail term. He was released in October 1971 and returned to Watertown again. A year later, on April 7, 1972, he claimed his first victim: 10-year-old neighbor Jack Blake.

Shawcross took him fishing just a few days before he disappeared, but denied any knowledge of the disappearance. Several weeks later on April 22, 1972, he married his third wife, Penny Sherbino, who was pregnant with his child.

Five months later, his victim’s body was finally located. He had been sexually assaulted and suffocated, but police had no leads to the identity of the killer. Jack Blake would be the first of many more victims.

In September 1972, the body of 8-year-old Karen Ann Hill was found under a bridge. She had been raped and murdered. Police found mud, leaves and other debris had been forced down her throat and inside her clothing.

Neighbors remembered that Shawcross had been seen with Karen in the vicinity of the bridge before her disappearance, and he had a history of minor run-ins with local children. Shawcross came under immediate suspicion.

He was arrested on October 3, 1972, and finally confessed to both killings, although he was only charged with Karen Hill’s killing, given the lack of evidence tying him to Jack Blake’s death. He received a 25-year jail sentence, and third wife Penny divorced him shortly thereafter.