Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives by Marilee Strong Read Free Book Online Page A

rate
    of homicide just within families in this country is higher than the
    total homicide rates in most other Western industrialized nations.
    Eraser killers represent a small and highly pathological subset of
    the larger group of men who commit what is known as intimate
    femicide. Their means, methods, and motives are distinct in almost
    every way from those of the more ‘‘ordinary’’ spousal killer.
    One of the most important differences is that many of the men
    who commit a more typical domestic homicide never even leave the
    crime scene or attempt to deny their culpability. Some call police
    immediately afterwards to turn themselves in, and a significant
    percentage take their own life as well (whether this is motivated by
    any genuine sense of remorse or merely by the fear of punishment
    is debatable). A recent Canadian study found that half of men who
    had killed their intimate partners contemplated killing themselves
    afterward, and up to 40 percent of the men claim they tried to kill
    themselves. Although the exact numbers vary, the surprisingly high
    percentage of men who commit suicide after killing their intimate
    partner is validated by numerous studies both in the United States
    and Canada.
    Those who kill both their partner and their children, whom
    criminologists refer to as ‘‘family annihilators,’’ very often take their
    own lives as well.
    By contrast, true eraser killers hardly ever commit suicide. They
    feel no guilt for what they have done. In fact, they feel entitled to
    kill anyone who stands in the way of their happiness. And they do
    not fear punishment because they are thoroughly convinced they will
    never be held accountable. Only in the rarest of instances will they
    ever admit their crimes.

    C H A P T E R
    T W O
    The Dark Triad
    Q Eraserkillersoftenleaveanunwittingtrailofevi-dence that points to their secret motivations, a series of clues that
    can help us understand what really happened and why. The trail is
    fragmented and twisting, but the clues are intelligible once we find
    an appropriate key with which to decipher them.
    The most damning evidence against Scott Peterson at his trial was
    the complete lack of concern he displayed toward his missing wife,
    captured most vividly in unguarded moments with Amber Frey—the
    girlfriend who turned against him when she discovered Peterson had
    not only a wife but a missing one, and agreed to surreptitiously tape
    her telephone conversations with him. Listening to the tapes from
    the first crucial days of Laci’s disappearance, when Scott should have
    been consumed with worry but instead seemed to be a man without
    a care in the world, it is clear that Laci and Conner were dead to Scott
    long before he killed them.
    Eraser killers are not driven by bloodlust, like sadists who claim
    they only feel alive when they are inflicting pain and terror on their
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    The Dark Triad
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    victims. Nor are they clinically or legally insane, compelled by voices
    or visions that command them to hurt those around them. These men
    kill for sheer convenience. Their actions are dispassionate, almost
    businesslike, yet their crimes are unimaginably cruel. They know what
    they are doing is wrong, but they do it anyway because they believe that
    rules don’t apply to them— not when it is something they really want.
    Eraser killers like Scott Peterson feel no remorse either immediately
    after their crimes or during the protracted scrutiny of a police
    investigation, which can wear down criminals for whom toughness
    is only a front. They almost never show any emotion at trial, even
    when the most graphic evidence of their crimes is presented.
    At moments in the Scott Peterson trial so wrenching that they
    brought nearly everyone in the gallery to tears—even hardened
    detectives and reporters—I was taken aback by the placidity on the
    defendant’s face. Throughout the trial he listened with rapt, almost
    bemused attention to the evidence against