Last week I was thinking of how I don't really see much of the "full-blown psychopath" as describes by Cleckley in his book The Mask of Sanity. We see a lot of what Hare's work and the PCL-R informs, which is the superficially charming (but scheming and dangerous) kind of psychopath that Hollywood ran with and glamorized/dramatized.
The psychopaths Cleckley described were rather different; in the 40s they'd end up in the psych wards because no one knew what else to do with them, or otherwise they were avoiding jail by going to the ward. Though they were capable of elaborate scheming and planning, Cleckley's psychopaths were all incapable of any long-term execution, and were more given to constant outrageous and sometimes bizarre folly & trouble. Calculated maliciousness where any tangible gain could be had never seemed like a focus, but rather a side-effect when it did happen. They would lie knowing their lies would be discovered, knowing they would be punished, making a spectacle of it, and not seeming to avoid any of it.
I think I stumbled on one of these people yesterday, a guy named Jeremy Dewitt.
https://reallifevillains.miraheze.org/wiki/Jeremy_Dewitte said:Dewitte was born in Pasco County, Florida to Ursula Dewitte-Vogt and Victor Dewitte. He briefly attended Valencia Community College but did not graduate. In 1998, while being part of a police explorer program, Dewitte was accused of stealing gasoline. He ("allegedly") flashed his explorer badge and informed the gas station worker that he was law enforcement and would be back to pay for the gas the next day. Soon after, he was charged and convicted of his first instance of police impersonation. In 2005, he was charged and convicted of Lewd and Lascivious Battery against a victim between 12 and 15 years old (the victim in question was 15 years old). He claims to this day to have met the victim in a bar, asserting that she possessed a fake ID when, in actuality, the victim was the child of a friend, whom Dewitte was trusted to supervise. As a result of his conviction, he is now required to register as a sex offender. He has received multiple additional charges for failure to register.
In 2010, Dewitte founded Metro-State Special Services, a business providing funeral escorts utilizing both cars and motorcycles. He immediately used this business as a means to impersonate law enforcement. He chose uniforms that were near exact replicas of law enforcement uniforms, outfitted his vehicles with lights and sirens, and referred to his "employees" (actually 1099 contractors) as "officers". He carried a pepperball gun, handcuffs, and a badge, as well as wearing a duty belt and a bulletproof vest. During funeral escorts, Dewitte was well known for pulling over motorists, blocking intersections, and directing traffic without authorization. He also frequently berated citizens, referring to them as "fuckboys", attempting to incite fights, and telling them to "get out of his funeral". He frequently drove his motorcycle upwards of 100mph on small roads, crossing double yellow lines and weaving in and out of traffic. Dewitte and his contractors once shut down all lanes of Interstate 95 near Daytona with no authorization.
Jeremy has apparently been known within the police YouTube sphere, where there are videos of him getting arrested, interrogated, videos from his bodycam when he's riding around, etc. He's been on Dr. Phil as well.
One of numerous videos of Dewitt getting arrested:
Dewitt riding around impersonating a police officer, taken by his own bodycam:
From a video titled, "Jeremy Dewitte Tries to Tamper With Evidence", the top comment is: "You know Jeremy is a real friend when he calls you from jail on a recorded line asking you to commit a felony for him."
That Jeremy knows what he's doing, gets in trouble for it time and time again, keeps doing it, somehow gets married and runs a company where he contracts people to illegally block roads, and does the whole time acts like he is doing nothing wrong with the utmost confidence is fucking hilarious. I don't believe he is delusional at all; I'm pretty sure he's just a full-blown psychopath right out The Mask of Sanity, and constant trouble and absurdity will be his life.
