People Who Were Friends With Someone Who Became A Murderer Describe What They Were Like Beforehand

Every one of us harbors evil and malicious intent. It is completely normal to have dark thoughts. The difference between the everyday person and a psycho is intent and lacking empathy. It's frightening to realize that someone you may have spent a significant amount of time with could take a life with cruelty, but it happens more often than we want to realize.
When I was 18 I used to play in a weekly game of pool, I was awful, still am. My friends would sneak me into this bar/club in Ft. Lauderdale that was 21 and up. We met an enormous amount of fascinating people.
One couple in particular (let's call them Jack and Dave) always stuck out. They were hilarious, great pool players and genuinely in love. One night "Dave" and I had a heart to heart about him and "Jack". He wanted to get more serious but wasn't sure "Jack" was on board. I forget the drunken advice I gave and the rest of the conversation, that's what stuck out. I remember them leaving together with grand smiles, hugs, and the $200 pot from their winnings. I also remember thinking... they're so good together, hope it works out.
It didn't; two days later Jack's body was found under a pile of unfolded laundry by his roommate. He had been stabbed over ten times and his eyes gauged out. And there was a manhunt on for Dave. Dave, the guy I had two days prior listened to about love, cheered with about relationships and admired in his pool game proficiency. You just never know.
***ADULTS ONLY. TRIGGER WARNING. RATED R MATERIAL***
Redditor u/dishnotaman wanted to hear from people who have known evil before it blossomed into tragedy by asking.... People who were friends with someone who later became a murderer, what where they like?
In the Room
Not friends but I worked at a charity with two hilarious guys. A year or so after I left, one killed the other with a car bomb. It feels so unreal, like it was complete fiction. Can't believe I was in a room with them both on multiple occasions. I live in Northern Ireland and it appears that the motive involved some lingering sectarian/paramilitary tensions. That stuff has been quiet for most of my lifetime but there are still wounds.
Normal
He was completely normal from as far as we could tell, just a regular high school kid. Played soccer, was in the advanced classes, kind of quiet but a nice kid.
Then one weekend he and another kid went and murdered a couple of professors with the intent of stealing their money and absconding to somewhere in South America I believe.
They got picked up at a truck stop a few states away a couple days later.
Anyway, we didn't see him anymore and he's in prison for a few more years. Complete waste because he could have had a productive, good life. Don't kill people, kids.
Rodman
I knew a girl that let her boyfriend into her family's home and he killed her sister and brother that were around 10 years old, her brother who was 15, her father, and stabbed the crap out of her mother.
She's in prison for life. She was quiet. I didn't know her as well as I did her other siblings. Her boyfriend didn't attack her older sisters. We had always thought that the sister who was a year older than her was going to be the psycho. Her sister had anger issues.
We used to call her Rodman because she would get kicked out of games all the time because she'd freaking lose it.
Anyway, she let her boyfriend into the house, he killed a bunch of her family, why? Because her dad didn't let them date. She was a senior in high school. They only had to wait a couple more months and she could have just left. Such a waste. So much stupidity.
A Normal Dude
A normal dude. Somebody tried to rob him during a drug deal and he did what he felt he needed to do. Got 10 years for it and was released not long ago. From what I can recall, he was set up. Some neutral guy acted as the buyer, and when he went to make the deal. A few guys he had fought with in the past showed up trying to rob him but had no weapons, they just outnumbered him.
He took offense and began shooting at them. Again, if I recall correctly, it wasn't self defense because he had a chance to leave the situation and shooting wasn't his only option. This was all about 12 to 13 years ago so I might be omitting or mis-remembering some details.
The Roommate
I was childhood friends with a guy who beat his roommate to death with a bat. He was a regular middle class kid who got good grades etc. The roommate's dog was not fixed and was having her period all over the house and the roommate wouldn't clean it up or go to the vet. He just snapped one day and started beating the guy as he slept on the couch.
Hostages
Not friends, but I grew up with a guy (neighbor) who held his dad hostage for hours and then killed both of them. he was a couple years older, so i didn't know him too well, but my brother was closer in age. Said he was quite nice, really quite funny, but obviously doesn't say much.
The Creeps
My boyfriend and his old roommate were friends with this guy who seriously gave me the creeps. He would always try to hit on me, even though it was my boyfriend's house, and was really awkward. One night after a party my boyfriend and I were asleep when I heard his door open. It was the creepy guy. I shook my boyfriend awake and he asked what the guy was doing.
He said, "Oh, uh, I just wanted to say goodbye." After that I refused to go over if I knew he would be there. They eventually lost touch, then a few years later we read in the news that he had shot and killed two police officers, then killed himself.
ISIS
I had a chem lab partner in college in the midwest, 2013 or 2014, he was a very nice guy, very smart too. We were both into the walking dead, so we talked about that frequently. Then one day I saw the news, as well as a campus wide email, and it turned out that he had just been arrested at the airport for trying to flee and join ISIS. So ya, he may not have been a murderer, but I think eventual terrorist fits here.
The Fisherman
Perfectly normal kid. We went fishing and hiking together, and attended the same church. Lost touch after high school. In his thirties he murdered the boyfriend of his ex-wife.
Augustus
So I was friends with Augustus. He was on the quiet side but was into MMA and UFC stuff and I remember driving him to a few amateur fights when he lived at my home. I've known people that I didn't like and even feared but knew they were the kind of people you would want on your side if crap hit the fan, Augustus was that but I never felt I had anything to fear from him. He was a 'gentle giant.' Well he moved away and I hadn't heard from him in several years when another mutual friend told me about the trouble he found himself in. You can read about it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/montana-man-pleads-guilty-double-murder-putting-bodies-acid-n948196
I do not know any of the other persons involved in the story whatsoever, but I strongly suspect that Augustus was likely manipulated into his involvement. He would not describe him as bright, and I absolutely could understand him acting in violence if someone convinced him. That part isn't elaborated on in the news story but as I know several of his family members and mutual friends its what I've been able to piece together over the years since this occurred.
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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