The Latest: Police: Teen laughed describing killing family

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

The Latest: Police: Teen laughed describing killing family

Updated 3:35 pm, Tuesday, February 23, 2016



. . .

3:35 p.m.

A detective says an Oklahoma teenager occasionally laughed while confessing that he and his brother repeatedly stabbed their parents and siblings, and planned to make videos of the scene before shooting other people.

Broken Arrow Police Detective Eric Bentz testified during a hearing Tuesday that Robert Bever seemed "mildly excited" to discuss the July attack at the family's home in the Tulsa suburb.

Bentz says Bever explained how he and his 17-year-old brother, Michael, planned to kill their family, stuff their bodies into bins, make a video showing the bodies and put the bins in the attic.

Bever told the detective they then planned to take the family vehicle, along with guns and ammunition, to randomly attack other locations and kill 10 people at each place.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/The-Latest-Police-Teen-laughed-describing-6849839.php

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. There's a twist.

So often these days, it seems to be the police laughing after killing someone.

[jtuck004]

2. I wonder what their history was...

" father was stabbed 28 times and their mother had at least 48 wounds"

28 is a lot, 48 is work. And they killed 3 siblings. That's a lot of rage, which could account for that. But being mission-oriented might keep them going as well. Or maybe they were mugging for a camera.

I can understand, though not agree with, the logic that would blame a single child. Went bad or something. 2 in the same house makes me wonder if there was a little house of horrors going on here before this popped up. Why are they so detached?

[sybylla]

3. I'm having a lot of the same thoughts.

Were they "excited" to discuss it, or were they laughing out of nervousness?

Not saying they weren't bad eggs. That's entirely possible, too. But these are kids. Their thoughts get twisted, especially in an abusive situation. And when it's time to confess, there might be some relief that they are no longer in abusive circumstances. It might make them oddly giddy to be free from the life they had no matter what they face. They might also think it odd to actually say they murdered their parents and to say the words, making them laugh at the oddity of it.

I'd like to think these officers had some psych training, but I'm guessing their training stopped before it got that far. They would be repulsed by what they saw rather than understand the source of the apparently odd emotions.

I expect we will hear more about the motivations and background in this case. And the police painting a picture of these children as monsters before we have all that is unfortunate.

[Rebubula]

5. They ARE Monsters

They stabbed (that takes work and dedication - unlike pointing a length of pipe at someone from across the room) their ENTIRE FAMILY. Mom, dad and 3 siblings. Stabbed to death...planned more. My definition - sociopathic monsters.

Fuck any motivations or past actions - these kids are monsters and deserve to be locked away forever.

[jtuck004]

6. That would be too easy, and let so many off the hook.

The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
Carl Jung


and


They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

This Be The Verse - Philip Larkin


Probably they didn't get there by themselves. And to dismiss this with the too-simple explanation leaves one with no answers for the next ones.

And that's the most important thing.

[sybylla]

14. These kids are just that. Kids

They deserve all the benefits of a judicial system that will hear all the evidence before convicting them. They deserve to have lawyers present before they speak to police. And we deserve to know how they were let down by the people around them to the point that this became an option for them.

As I've already said in a post below, I never said these children shouldn't face justice. The problem is that sociopathic monsters aren't born that way. Wouldn't it be nice if we could find away to prevent this kind of shit from happening again?

The unfortunate fact is that violent offenders locked up in prisons across the country have one thing almost entirely in common: abuse and/or neglect as children. Jackpine Radical, a vaunted DUer who passed away last year, spent the last decade or so working as a court psychologist, interviewing and analyzing people who committed violent crimes. He and I had many conversations about the awful worlds violent criminals grow up in. And we shared a regret that children's service agencies across the country either refuse to do more, don't have the funds to do more, or aren't empowered to do more to protect children in terrible circumstances.

[Conium]

8. Boys don't cry.

There was more going on in that house. I suspect these boys were abused. You won't likely hear it from the prosecutor side since they consider it their job to paint these boys as giggling murderers.

[crim son]

11. "Bad eggs"?

They killed their entire family. Were their siblings abusing them too?

[closeupready]

12. Maybe. We don't know anything for sure yet, unless you do...?

Sometimes, abuse comes from not just parents but siblings, too.

[sybylla]

13. First of all, we know very little.

What we have are early reports and they can be incredibly wrong. Statements/confessions by these boys may not fit all the evidence which has yet to be gathered. And, as they are now without parents, I'm betting all this took place without lawyers. We are getting only one side. I don't know about you, but I'm inclined to wait for a jury before I hang them.

Second, I never said the kids weren't fucked up. Seriously. I never said they should be let off the hook for anything they may be proved to have done.

Third, nearly all sociopathic monsters (as another poster called them) are not born that way but made - created by their life, circumstances, environment, occasional medical issues, and the lack of support they received to deal with any of it.

Sure, it's easier to just call them monsters, lock them in a cell, and throw away the key. But if, like me, you would like to know the bigger picture, you've raised children and know there are monsters for parents out there, and you'd like to see if there isn't something we can do better as a society to prevent the kind of circumstances in the future that cause sociopathic monsters to develop, then you try to put a little thought into what's going on in the minds of these very young human beings. Children.

[teknomanzer]

15. Depends on the family dynamic...

When a narcissist is the head of the household they have a tendency to setup some of their children as perpetual losers and others as flawless angels basically pitting siblings against one another. In an extremely abusive household that resentment can easily turn into dark hatred.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Like the Menendez brothers in California. 25 years ago

Killed their parents for the money. No regrets or compassion at all. It happens.

I wonder if the family was wealthy?

[closeupready]

7. For those who like to think, I think there was obviously some kind of abuse going on.

Recently, there was a story regarding the inmate serial killer whose life and crimes formed the basis for "American Psycho" (the Christian Bale film, NOT a remake of Hitchcock's "Psycho&quot . He is up for parole, and wanted to waive that hearing, and stay in prison.

I read the wiki on him, and apparently, he was abused as a child. Yes, we all probably know people who were abused or neglected as children and came out okay or even better, but don't we all know people who were abused as children and did NOT come out okay? That bad outcome doesn't mean you like them more, but it does help people understand why civil authorities MUST step in to abusive homes and stop the abuse of children.

[RobinA]

9. I'm Always

suspicious of what goes on in a family when kids kill parents. Even for the money. Except in cases of serious mental illness involving paranoia.

[closeupready]

10. Me, too. I generally try to refrain from being an internet Sigmund Freud, but

in extreme cases, it seems obvious. I guess I only expressed that opinion here because of the stupid, kooky "Fuck why! Fuck them! Fuck Fuck!" posts.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. Yet he will never be called a thug