A surgeon has revealed the ‘haunting’ details he took note of when he analysed the brain scan of a mass-murderer.
I mean, let’s be honest, when we hear about the truly horrific things someone has done (or even just when someone we know p**ses us off), we’ll often think: “What the f**k is going on in their brain?”
And American celebrity doctor Daniel Amen might have finally just given us a bit of an answer.
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The psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist previously appeared on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast – because at this point, who hasn’t been on it?
Caught up in his own advertising scandal problems right now, the Dragons Den star asked Dr Amen about the most ‘unhealthy’ brain he’s ever seen.
And turns out, it belonged to a 15-year-old – Kip Kinkel.
Full name Kipland Kinkel, he’s currently serving an over 111-year prison sentence without parole after his crimes in 1998.
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Dr Amen explained: “He's a 15-year-old boy in Springfield, Oregon, who brought weapons to school, got arrested, his parents picked him up from jail and sometime between 6:00pm that night and 8:00am the next morning he murdered his mum and dad and then he went to Thurston High School in Springfield Oregon and shot 25 people.”
Amen explained that Kinkle’s brain was scanned for his infamous trial.
“His brain was so awful, I'd never seen a 15-year-old that had a brain so damaged and his life reflected it,” he added.
The doctor went on to describe how ‘shrivelled’ the killer’s brain appeared, despite him being so young. He also added that he couldn’t get a good history to help explain why this was a case due to the teen murdering his parents.
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But he reckons Kinkel ‘either had anoxia at birth (lack of oxygen), a severe infection or something was poisoning his brain - it could've been lead, it could've been infection'.
“It's a major cause of psychiatric problems nobody knows about,” he added.
In the year before the tragic shooting, Kinkel displayed an increasing fascination with weapons and deaths, so his parents ended up taking him to see a psychologist.
The teen was then diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
He was charged with four counts of aggravated murder and 26 counts of aggravated attempted murder but as he plead guilty to the lesser counts in the days before jury selection, there was no possibility for his lawyers to get him acquitted by reason of insanity.
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It’s said Kinkel hadn’t told anyone about having heard voices urging him to take actions of violence since he was 12 as he was scared of being ostracised or institutionalised.
Now 41-years-old and in prison, he was also diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Jess Battison