Speaking of Combat Vets and Criminals... - Page 1

http://www.kctv5.com/news/27967089/detail.html

LIBERTY, Mo. -- A judge has granted a delay in the trial of a Northland man who is accused of killing his wife.Shon Pernice, who is accused of killing his wife, Renee, will now wait until February 2012 for his trial. The trial had been scheduled to start next month.Shon Pernice remains in jail nearly two-and-a-half years after his wife disappeared. He was accused more than two years ago of murdering her.

Some background:

Police said Shon Pernice, who is a member of the National Guard and has served with the Army in Iraq, was scheduled to leave for a three-week military session and then was planning to move out of the home.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480425,00.html#ixzz1PDRdJUzI

The military population is a direct reflection of the civilian population, since that's who makes up our military- you will find all walks of life, good, bad ugly. Whether or not a vet or former military person, commits a crime, is in no way a reflection on my husband, who has served over 20 years and continues to serve now. I'm sure if anyone looks you can find countless cases of former military or vets, who've been convicted of crimes or charged with one. Hell there was even a serial killer who was a former military pilot....

Yep.  From my old unit, no less.
A few of my friends testified at his trial.  Yates was always "off". 
The Army decided to let him retire, for his wife's sake.

It's not uncommon for a serial killer to have a Military background, to the degree that military service is often part of forensic profiles made during investigations.

Some notable serial killers with Military Backgrounds:
Rodney Alcala- 7-100 victims.  US Army
David Berkowitz "Son of Sam"- 7 Victims.  US Army, Korean War Veteran
Lawrence Bittaker- 5 Victims, US Navy, Vietnam Veteran
William Bonin- 21-36 Victims, US Air Force, Vietnam Veteran
Harvey Carignan- 5+ Victims, US Army
Dean Corll- 29 Victims, US Army
Charles Cullen- 35-45 Victims, US Navy
Jeffrey Dahmer, 17 Victims, US Army
Paul Durousseau, 9+ Victims [German Authorities believe he may have killed while stationed there], US Army
Richard Evonitz, 3+ Victims, US Navy
William Hance, 4+ Victims, USMC and US Army
Robert Hansen, 17-21 Victims, US Army
Michael Hughes, 4+ Victims, US Navy
Phillip Jablonski, 5 Victims, US Army
Randy Steven Kraft, 16-67 Victims, US Air Force
Timothy Krajcir, 9 Victims, US Navy
Leonard Lake, 11-25 Victims, USMC, Vietnam Veteran
John Allen Muhammad "DC Sniper/Beltway Sniper", 24 Victims, US Army, Gulf War Veteran
Charles Ng, 25 Victims, USMC
Carl Panzram, 21 Victims, US Army
Dennis Rader "BTK or Bind Torture Kill", 10+ Victims, US Air Force
Gary Ridgway "The Green River Killer", 90+ Victims, US Navy, Vietnam Veteran
Arthur Shawcross "The Genesee River Killer", 14 Victims, US Army, Vietnam Veteran
Daniel Siebert, 4+ Victims, USMC
Morris Solomon Jr, 6 Victims, US Army, Vietnam Veteran
John Floyd Thomas Jr, 15+ Victims, US Air Force
Henry Louis Wallace, 10 Victims, US Navy
Robert Lee Yates, 16 Victims, US Army, Somalia Veteran

Is my point that the Miltary is somehow creating serial killers?

No.  However, Military service, for a variety of reasons, attracts criminals and psychopaths.  It is well known, to the extent that the Military for years has included questions about bed wetting [part of the triad of psychopathy signs] as part of the enlistment screening process.

There is ZERO doubt in my mind that by the time all is said and done with Shon Pernice, it will be revealed that he too was a sociopath or psychopath.  The signs are all there.

To say that a record of Military service is somehow evidence of innocence or a lack of propensity to commit a crime is absurd, especially when the evidence points in exactly the opposite direction.  The Department of Defense has known for years that gang members and other criminal elements enlist in the Military deliberately with an interest in learning combat skills and concealing their criminal activities.  People with Personality Disorders are often attracted to Military service, either through narcissism [I can be an admired hero], lack of personal identity [Borderlines], a desire for self-reform, or sadism [an attraction to combat and death].

Anyone with any experience in Military Law Enforcement [MPs, SP, CID, etc] has been briefed numerous times on the subject. 

I agree with what you're saying, no arguement whatsoever, I stand by my statement that the military is a direct reflection of the civilian population. I think any job that can have a hero/savior status attracts certain types of "crazies". I myself would never say that because someone served in the military that they must be innocent. I also believe there are a lot of good decent people who serve. I find the topic very interesting in general and very interesting specifically how it relates to the military and other hero/savior professions. You made it very clear to me that I watch too many forensic type shows because I was familiar with a large percentage of the names on your post, lol. I will have to follow the Pernice case to see how it turns out, although who knows how many more continuances and delays there will be. Are you in law enforcement or studying to be something related to that field? I am fascinated by the topic, I just can't handle blood and guts, ha!

What's SP? I only know SP to = standards pilot, lol

I think possibly once you kill another human being, it may not be as hard to do it a 2nd, 3rd or 4th time. Also some get hooked on the adrenaline rush and many may find this out doing what they do in the military.

Clee, I'm a former Military Police Soldier.

SP stands for "Security Police", which is the Air Force version of MPs.  It is my understanding that they've shifted to calling them "Security Forces" now, but the SP initialization is still in common use, because using SF would lead to confusion between Security Forces and Special Forces.  Add to that the fact that they both wear berets, lol.

4Pack, there's probably *some* truth to that, but note that the majority of these people did *not* have combat experience in the Military.
For the most part, they evidenced signs of psychopathy or sociopathy as children.  Fire setting, late bedwetting and cruely to animals, as well as antisocial behavior during late childhood/early puberty.  Their path was set before they joined the Military; their Military training may have made them more efficient killers, or given them additional skills in avoiding detection, but it was not the *reason* they became killers.

An exception to that general profile might be someone who sustained head trauma during Military service, as head trauma can cause changes to the personality that can potentially lead to psychopathy or sociopathy.

I've never been the best Army wife, there are so many acronyms, hell I still call it BAQ, lol. Seems like whatever job my poor husband has he gets stuck wearing a dang beret, except when he started out as a grunt at Fort Ord and a couple of months prior to him transitioning out of the Longbow to his current job. I meant to tell you, thank you for your service Mudwick :)