Brandon Pettit: Asperger’s Complicates The Truth

/12 Comments/in /by

This past weekend, 48 Hours detailed the case of Scott and Janet Pettit, who were found shot dead in their home in 2013. Whoever shot them also set fire to the Pettit’s home.

Police became suspicious of the couple’s son, Brandon, who suffers from Asperger Syndrome (more recently name Autism Spectrum Disorder) and after two interviews arrested him for the murders along with his friend. There is no physical evidence that was linked back to Brandon.

If you have followed me over the years, you have heard me talk about this disorder. It is a disorder where people who suffer from it don’t have the normal social filters like you or I do. They can’t read people like the average person can. They don’t understand social cues nor can they read emotions. To the average person, these people are socially awkward and don’t fit in. They don’t often express normal emotions either. They are typically flat emotionally, and that is normal for them.

Hence, people with Asperger don’t realize when they say things how it can be perceived as “off” or “unusual” or even as a “lie” when they are being honest. It is not uncommon for an Asperger person to say things that make them look suspicious when they aren’t.

For example, you might say to an Asperger patient: Have you thought of killing someone? Most people have casually thought about it or said “Oh, I could just kill her (for doing that)!!”, but won’t admit to something like this in an interview because they didn’t do it seriously — it was a quick anger response that was fleeting. But to an Asperger person–the question is black and white. You either did or you didn’t — and they will confess. They don’t grasp the nuances of it.

If you ask an Asperger person if they went out running errands last night and they went to the Target for say a Starbucks, they may say no. And be totally honest in their mind. Target wasn’t for errands. To them getting a coffee wasn’t an errand. It was getting something to eat or drink. To get an accurate answer out of an Asperger patient, you would have to say did you go to Target? Or did you buy a drink last night? You have to be very clear or things will get confusing fast. You can’t jump to the conclusion they are lying like you would with a normal person.

Overall, people with Asperger syndrome are also very honest–honest to a flaw, however it appears that Brandon liked to make up stories and lie. So he is an extra ordinary case that would require intense study to get to the truth.

If you aren’t familiar with the mindset of this disorder, questioning a person with Asperger syndrome to get the truth is very difficult. You can’t apply the same rules as you do for normal people. I’ve assisted in these cases when I could see major misunderstandings.

My work kept an innocent person out of jail and perhaps prison for life. I believe without question this person would have been convicted if it weren’t able to assist in this case. Thankfully the investigators trusted me and dug much deeper into the case and exposed the real killer, who was convicted.

While there are definite red flags in Brandon’s behavior, until I could view the actual interviews, I am unable to tell you what I believe in this case. For me, it could go either way still. But I do not think Asperger patients should NOT be put into interviews without an expert who understands this disorder to bridge the gaps, or we risk serious harm to them, their families and others, if the wrong person is locked away and the real killer is free to roam!

48 Hours: Scott Peterson Revisited

/5 Comments/in /by

CBS 48 Hours revisited the Scott Peterson case this past weekend. Did you catch it? In 2004, Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in a largely circumstantial case. He was given the death penalty for the crime.

Peterson’s death penalty sentence was overturned in August 2020 by the California Supreme Court. The reason is Peterson’s trial judge dismissed jurors who opposed capital punishment without asking if they could put their views aside which shouldn’t have been done. Peterson, however, did not have his conviction overturned. His new sentencing is supposed to take place this summer.

Janey Peterson, Scott Peterson’s sister-in-law claims that Scott Peterson is innocent and explained how the family has created a war room to fight on his behalf to get his conviction overturned. Janey believes the burglars across the street from the Peterson home are involved in Laci’s death.

Unfortunately, nothing that Janey presented offered me something concrete to bite into. You could easily argue away her theories presented.

Janey really loses her credibility when she suggests that someone tried to frame Scott Peterson.

Janey Peterson: Her body wasn’t taken to the bay December 24th. The bay wasn’t sealed off as a crime scene. …There are multiple points of access directly to the water, 24 hours a day. I think they took Laci, had Laci, realized the national attention that this case was getting, realized they were in trouble. What better way to get outta trouble than go put the body where the husband was?

So if you believe Janey, you believe someone took, harmed and killed Laci, but oh decided to sit on the corpse not knowing what to do with it. You know, no worries. Then when the story broke and it was a big story, oh wow! They found their way to get out of the crime. They will “frame” Scott by placing the body in the bay.

I don’t think you can come up with something more outlandish than that. Add to the this that when authorities went to arrest Scott Peterson, he wasn’t at home or trying to solve her murder. No, he was down in San Diego golfing, with DYED blond hair with 15K in cash in his pocket. It seemed this grieving husband was about to possibly leave the country. Yeah, that’s what innocent victims do.

I don’t think so!

I can tell you nearly ever clip of Scott Peterson I see, he is leaking clues like a sieve. And he leaks them every time. If you attended my class, I showed you some of them! They are really hard to argue when you see them pointed out.

The reporter in the 48 Hours show picked up on one clue herself. Scott Peterson’s wife is missing during their interview. When his cell phone rings, he doesn’t even think to answer it? If your spouse was missing, would you ignore phone calls? A man who knew his wife was dead certainly would. And he’d also would not want anything to interrupt his “show time” on TV.

Men like Peterson lie so much they think they can fool anyone, until their arrogance and ignorance trips them up. He wanted TV time to convince people he was innocent. I think that backfired on him big time. People instinctively knew his behavior didn’t add up.

Even more so, when you watch that interview, listen to his demeanor. He play this low-key, monotone character. It’s his attempt to act concerned and sad, but he doesn’t show an ounce of sadness. True sadness activates muscles in the face that for Peterson are not moving!

And yes, Scott Peterson’s smiles during the trial did not bode well for him. He wasn’t a grieving victim in this case. Not at all. I believe all the circumstantial evidence built a strong rope as the prosecutor said that told the real story. I believe Scott Peterson is exactly where he should be.

Have you heard of the Dark Factor of Personality?

/5 Comments/in /by
Gothic, Dark, Fantasy, Evil, God, Duality, Woman 
Pixabay Images https://pixabay.com/photos/gothic-dark-fantasy-evil-god-3017747/ by darksouls1 

Three researchers from Germany and Denmark have come up with a theory of personality called the dark factor–that the elements of negative “dark” personality will correlate together and create a “dark core”, if you will. If you have strong dark personality traits, you will likely display many of them.

The researchers knew from past studies in human intelligence that people who are intelligent will score as intelligent across multiple intelligence tests, as there is a “core ability” to their intelligence that will be revealed across many tests. Hence, they suspected that there is a core to a dark personality. The darker the personality, the more traits they will ultimately have and research seems to be showing this to be true. You can read more about the study here from the researchers themselves.

In the study, they look at nine personality traits that they believe make up the dark factor:

  1. Egoism. The excessive concern with one’s own pleasure or advantage at the expense of community well-being.
  2. Machiavellianism. Manipulativeness, callous affect and strategic-calculating orientation.
  3. Moral Disengagement. A generalized cognitive orientation to the world that differentiates individuals’ thinking in a way that powerfully affects unethical behavior.
  4. Narcissism. An all-consuming motive for ego reinforcement.
  5. Psychological Entitlement. A stable and pervasive sense that one deserves more and is entitled to more than others.
  6. Psychopathy. Deficits in affect, callousness, self-control and impulsivity.
  7. Sadism. Intentionally inflicting physical, sexual or psychological pain or suffering on others in order to assert power and dominance or for pleasure and enjoyment.
  8. Self-Interest. The pursuit of gains in socially valued domains, including material goods, social status, recognition, academic or occupational achievement and happiness.
  9. Spitefulness. A preference that would harm another but that would also entail harm to oneself. This harm could be social, financial, physical or an inconvenience.

You can test your D-Factor on their website. They have three versions of the test–the longest one, they say, is the most accurate. By taking the test, you are participating in their research–so you know!

All people have the ability to be both good and bad. You know the old images of the devil and angel on a person’s shoulders? Don’t be shocked if you take the test and find that you have some dark “traits”. Most humans have some. Few of us are saints. It’s all about the degree and where you fall on the spectrum compared to others.

Once you take the test, you can save your score. You can copy the link given, if you don’t have time to review the results at that time or if you want to share it with people. You can also see where you rank compared to the other people who have taken the test to date.

Were you surprised by your results?

If you find this study interesting, there are a lot of articles out there on this topic.

What was Chauvin’s face saying when the verdicts were read?

/8 Comments/in /by

Many people are wondering what Chauvin is feeling or expressing in this video when the three guilty verdicts are read and confirmed by the judge. We don’t see much because of the mask on Chauvin’s face, and he isn’t making a universal expression, but we can glean some information from his eyebrows and his darting eyes.

His eyebrows are down and pulled together in what appears to be a bewilderment expression. I think if he were to tell us what he is feeling he would tell us in that moment, waiting for and hearing the verdict, he felt it was surreal–almost hard to process.

One of those moments of “Am I really here? Is this really happening?” type feelings.

I suspect that he may have witnessed something before the verdict was read that indicated things were not going to go his way.

His gut may have known instinctively what was coming. Perhaps the jurors didn’t make any eye contact. Something flagged him if you ask me and it wasn’t a good indicator

His eyes dart back and forth in disbelief indicating he can’t believe this is happening. He is trying to digest and process what seems unreal.

If you notice, his expression doesn’t change before, during and after the verdict is read.

He is literally frozen in disbelief.

To sit and witness your entire future be decided in front of you like this must be overwhelming. No one considers themselves a killer or a murderer–even the coldest killers don’t see themselves that way. They always feel some form of justification–even when their isn’t one, or they wouldn’t have killed.

Derek Chauvin Trail

/7 Comments/in /by

Are you following the George Floyd trial? If you have, you know that the jury is out and we are on verdict watch. I honestly haven’t been able to watch the trial, but I have heard bits and pieces.

In the video above, an with regards to the defense I hear above, I am not convinced by Dr. Fowler’s reasoning that other elements contributed to his death. Are you?

Dr. Fowler tries to argue that Floyd’s heart was in the 95% percentile, so it was enlarged. I would argue that at 6 feet 6 inches tall and 230 pounds, he was larger than most men. Actually, do the calculation here! According to this website, Floyd was actually larger than 99% of the population by height, so perhaps for his size, his heart was slightly smaller than average for this size. So Fowler’s point is mute, if you ask me.

He also tries to call George Floyd “ROBUST”, but at the same time tells us he had a 90% cardiac blockage, coronary heart disease, hypertension, etc. He paints him as an unhealthy man yet calls him robust?

A coronary blockage that large is serious because it limits oxygen and blood flow to the body. That doesn’t make Floyd, while large in size, ROBUST. It actually would make him less strong and weaker than normal. Dr. Fowler is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He can’t be both here, which discredits Dr. Fowler some, if you ask me.

Fowler is also trying to throw in that Floyd died by carbon monoxide poisoning, which I find jaw dropping, frankly. Who put him in the position to have to breath that in? Who was negligent in this area? It wasn’t Floyd.

While I haven’t watched the case in its entirety, if this is the crux of the defense, I would not find it convincing as a cause of death. Floyd was walking around, functioning just fine prior to have his neck stood on for an unreasonable amount of time.

If we set prescient with this case that underlying medical conditions can be an excuse for a cause of death in cases such as this, I find that very dangerous territory!

What do you think? If you were a juror, how would you vote? Vote below!

If you haven’t seen the autopsy report, you can see it here.

All comments must be respectful. Anyone who is rude or disrespectful will be deleted and banned.