That slaughter in Idaho

[seektravelinfo]

Since they’ve arrested a suspect I started reading about the case. I’m not much for figuring out “true crime” but the inaction of the two people in the house who were not murdered stymies me. They waited 8 hours before they called the police. One of them saw the killer walk right past her & she just locked herself in her room and took no action. What is up with that? Do people in the midst of horrible vicious unprovoked grind-house violence like that enter into some kind of fugue state where they simply can’t function with reason and purpose? It made me think of the Richard Speck murders when each victim cooperated with him to the point of their death, except for the one woman who wisely hid under a bed. In Idaho, the young woman who finally dialed 911 did so to say there were people in the house “unresponsive”, though their blood smattered on walls was a clue. My guess is that they were grossly traumatized into extreme passivity and denial. There’s some strange psychology behind this.

[Kurt]

Since they’ve arrested a suspect I started reading about the case. I’m not much for figuring out “true crime” but the inaction of the two people in the house who were not murdered stymies me. They waited 8 hours before they called the police. One of them saw the killer walk right past her & she just locked herself in her room and took no action. What is up with that? Do people in the midst of horrible vicious unprovoked grind-house violence like that enter into some kind of fugue state where they simply can’t function with reason and purpose? It made me think of the Richard Speck murders when each victim cooperated with him to the point of their death, except for the one woman who wisely hid under a bed. In Idaho, the young woman who finally dialed 911 did so to say there were people in the house “unresponsive”, though their blood smattered on walls was a clue. My guess is that they were grossly traumatized into extreme passivity and denial. There’s some strange psychology behind this.

I would say "College"

When I was in College years ago my friends had a house called "Hippie House" and there was a non stop stream of people no one except for a few people here and there knew just hanging out. It was harmless but if someone had gone all slash and kill to some people in the house no one would have noticed for a few hours because there was always someone in the house who didn't live there and they were always drunk and / or high. So something weird happens, you sleep it off and see if it is still weird when sober.

Oddly I found the randos in that house (since I sometimes was one) to be more of a feature than a bug. One time this guy came there from out of town with his girlfriend to visit a friend of his but when he arrived his friend was not there. It was someone we barely knew anyway but he directed them to the Hippie House and then went somewhere else for the weekend. Then the visitor bailed on his girlfriend without saying a word (no cell phones back then of course) so, being the nice guy that I am I drove his girlfriend to their own "Hippie House" in another college town to look for the boyfriend. No dice so I ended up sleeping with her off and on throughout the summer. So that was cool.

The original boyfriend met some people going off to Alaska to work the slime line and just hopped into the van with them because they had an extra spot.

Anyway, I suspect they had a house like the Hippie House. I also assumed the four who were murdered were all banging each other and the killer thought that it was unfair that 3 girls and 1 dude were all getting laid and he was not. Just my theory.

[vagabond]

Since they’ve arrested a suspect I started reading about the case. I’m not much for figuring out “true crime” but the inaction of the two people in the house who were not murdered stymies me. They waited 8 hours before they called the police. One of them saw the killer walk right past her & she just locked herself in her room and took no action. What is up with that? Do people in the midst of horrible vicious unprovoked grind-house violence like that enter into some kind of fugue state where they simply can’t function with reason and purpose? It made me think of the Richard Speck murders when each victim cooperated with him to the point of their death, except for the one woman who wisely hid under a bed. In Idaho, the young woman who finally dialed 911 did so to say there were people in the house “unresponsive”, though their blood smattered on walls was a clue. My guess is that they were grossly traumatized into extreme passivity and denial. There’s some strange psychology behind this.

Think about emergency situations in general. If you see someone collapse, you're told these days to order someone directly "You call 911" instead of saying "someone" call 911/doctor. Humans are mostly on autopilot and if something interrupts it, I think it's what you're describing as that fugue state. Overwhelmed with sensation or trauma and need to be 'snapped out of it', etc. Like those weird moments right before and directly after you're in a car accident. It's why people might describe the actual thing as dream-like or can only remember snippets if they're indirect observers or not actively harmed.

Kurt also has an interesting point about random visitors but you would think there was some noise. I haven't read too far into the new news beyond the almost tv show-like scenario of this being a criminology grad student.

Re: compliance during the Richard Speck murders - From what I've read, such as in the Golden State Killer murders, people will cooperate as long as they think they'll get out alive, even if something terrible is happening to them or a loved one. Talk or work with the murder to help 'bring them to their side'/negotiate to see if there's a way to break away from potential death.

[Kurt]

But if all four of them where fucking weird noises might be the norm.

[Devlin]

I was positive it was the ghost of Danny Rolling who did it.

[vagabond]

But if all four of them where fucking weird noises might be the norm.

I thought you were implying strange men in masks with knives as being the norm. I don't know, nor want to know, what it sounds like to hear people getting stabbed. I can only imagine what I laid or what seeks first brought up.

You've been in Haiti, Kurt. I'm sure you know that weird gut feeling when shit is off, when something might be about to go down. I could only think the people that lived through it had to have some sense of that and went to animal instincts or chose not to listen to their gut or disbelieve it as 'that can't be happening'.