DEFINITION OF SERIAL MURDER
For the purpose of this paper: incidents in which an individual (or individuals) kills a number of individuals (usually a minimum of three) over time. ... Henry Lee Lucas is a classic example of this as he confessed to hundreds of murders, then recanted all of the confessions except one — the murder of his mother. ...
THE EARLY YEARS
Henry Lee Lucas was born on August 23, 1936, as the youngest of nine children. ... Everyone in the house shared a single bedroom, and young Henry often witnessed his mother’s sex acts with her “customers”. She would sometimes insist that Henry and his brother watch her having sex, and would punish them if they tried to leave or look away. ...
Henry’s mother further tormented him by curling his hair and sending him to school in a dress. ... The same teacher would later recall Henry as being “a seriously disturbed child who was constantly filthy and malnourished with distinct learning difficulties. ... Henry was gripped by seizures and often complained of noises and “voices” in his head. ...
One of Henry’s jobs was to guard the “still”. His father would let him taste the “moonshine”, and soon Henry was drinking it daily. ... Henry’s father was the only person in the family that ever showed any sign of tenderness toward him, and when he died from pneumonia after getting drunk and lying in the snow, Henry became very bitter and increasingly angry. ...
CHILDHOOD PSYCHOPATH
Examples of childhoods such as Henry Lee Lucas’s have made it clear that psychopathy is not exclusive to adults. ...
Henry’s character was formed by experiencing violence, instability and brutalization in his family life. ... In Henry Lee Lucas’s life, no one paid attention even though all the warning signs were present He never had a parent in his life to notice his problems and help him deal with them.
THE TEENAGE YEARS
By age thirteen, Henry was almost completely obsessed by sex. ... Henry bragged that he murdered for the first time in 1952, at age fourteen, abducting a girl and beating her into unconsciousness, then trying to rape her. When she awoke and tried to scream, Henry strangled her. ... )
Henry was arrested for breaking and entering and was sentenced to the Beaumont Training School for Boys in Virginia. Institution records indicate that Henry was disruptive, and made numerous escape attempts. ... Henry seemed to adapt well to prison life. ... His mother came to visit and tried to persuade Henry to leave Stella and come back to live with her, as she was getting older and needed someone to look after her. Henry refused and a violent brawl erupted. ... Henry’s mother broke a broom over his head. ... Thinking he had killed his mother, Lucas panicked and left Michigan. ...
THE VOICES
From the onset of his sentence, Henry complained of hearing “voices” in his head that taunted him day and night. When the prison psychologists interviewed him, Lucas talked openly about the voices inside his head — one of which was his mother’s. ...
Regardless of his threats to kill again, a prison psychologist conducted an examination of Lucas and reported to the parole board that: “Henry Lee Lucas is grossly lacking in self-confidence, self-reliance, will power and general stamina. ... ” Four years later, in 1970, Henry was given early release because of severely overcrowded conditions in the prison. Lucas’s freedom didn’t last; one year later he was back in Michigan State Penitentiary, charged with attempted kidnapping and parole violation for being in possession of a handgun. ... Henry Lee Lucas began to drift around the country. ...
THE REAL KILLING BEGINS
In 1975, Lucas went to Maryland where he met a woman and got married. Eventually, she would accuse Lucas of molesting her daughters, which resulted in Lucas leaving and the marriage ending.
While waiting for food in a mission, Lucas met Ottis Toole. Henry went home with Ottis, and he eventually moved in with Ottis and his niece, Becky. ...
Henry began to display behaviour characteristics common to a subject who has experienced operant conditioning, as developed by B. ... Positive reinforcers are rewards that strengthen a conditioned response after it has occurred, such as Henry feeling a thrill and sexual gratification after committing a murder. ... They continued killing and began travelling with Becky, who was just twelve years old, and by that time had become Henry’s lover. Ottis went to Texas, and Henry and Becky began travelling around as husband and wife. Lucas continued doing small robberies, raping, killing, and stealing cars. ... In exchange for the work he performed, Henry was not only given food and a bed, but also the old woman’s trust. ... In exchange, Henry worked in his small roofing business and they both attended Sunday church services. Henry worked while Becky helped with the domestic chores. ... Henry became violent and abusive when she suggested they go back. ... Henry became angry and demanded to know if she had said anything about the things he and Ottis had done. ...
The next morning Henry and Becky left the ranch. ... Becky hit Henry on the side of the head.
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