How stone-cold killers see the world

In the face of people committing extreme acts, like the murder of loved ones, people ask themselves, "Who are these people and what drives them to such behaviour?"

And yet when they are put under scrutiny in the public domain, you are left with more questions than answers. These are emotionally very superficial people who do not need deep reasons to commit extreme acts of violence against others.

They show a marked absence of grief, let alone post-traumatic trauma. These people sit stonyfaced and impassive when the forensic details of a crime are examined.

This behaviour falls in the extreme limits on the spectrum of narcissism that shows up as psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder. People on the far end of this spectrum show no concern or deep interest in the world of other people. They live in a world of self-interest.

Other people are seen by such an individual as merely sources of supply, whether that means a supply of emotional or sexual material, or any other form of gratification.

Such people perceive others as mere objects. The significance and importance of others is measured in how much they can serve the needs and interests of the psychopath. In the world of such individuals, anybody who has no value to oneself can be disposed of without qualms.

If others thwart their interests or present some obstacle to their gratification, or if exploiting, abusing or disposing of them will result in their having some gratification, then they do whatever they wish with that person.

They show no remorse because in their minds their actions were justified. They regard those who question or try to hold them accountable as gratuitously persecutory, and they feel unfairly victimised.

The further you go along this spectrum, the more emotional superficiality you encounter. Narcissists are image conscious and want to be perceived as extraordinary, and even be idolised or worshipped.

Exposure of their flaws fills them with overwhelming pain. They prevent this by being good performers and learn to constantly prop up and manage their image. They are good at showing the perfect emotion for the situation.

They live in an ad hoc world, doing whatever is best for themselves in any situation. They seem to have no consistent personal story that would provide context to their actions and help others to understand what led them to act the way they did.

What one does see is that they have in one way or another pushed the boundaries their whole lives and manipulated others, either through charm or by inducing fear to keep others from stopping or confronting them.

The more they get away with, the more omnipotent they feel - special and above the law, and even more entitled to get their own way in every situation.

It is not surprising, therefore, that they eventually come to believe that they will get away with murder, and if they have enough legal resources to back them, they often do.