The Clifford Robert Olson Jr. & William George Bonin Project
Bonin
Assessment History
Olson
Assessment History
Olson: Childhood Assessments
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Outside of observations of his behaviour made while in elementary school, there are no known childhood psychological assessments.
Adult Assessments:
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Nothing formal found online. However, according to Kerr from Crimelibrary: Olson himself doesn’t seem to know why he killed.
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In "Profile of a Serial Killer The Clifford Robert Olson Story" unpblished manuscript written by Olson (1989, February 5). Retrieved from http://www.mindytran.com/Olsontells.htm
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In the manuscript written Olson, explain his behaviour, taking third person perspective.
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On occasion Olson has stated the children were murdered so they would not report the assault to the police, and on others he has blamed his use of alcohol and pills.
Bonin: Childhood assessments
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Connecticut medical records notes sexual abuse due to incidents at the reformatory where he was abused by older boys.
Adult Assessments:
Crimelibrary detils the following:
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After abusing two boys in Los Angeles, Bonin was deemed a "mentally disordered sex offender" and rather than being sent to prison, was remanded to the Atascadaro State Hospital.
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Doctors found a variety of other physical and psychological anomalies:
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brain damage in the area that is thought to restrain violent impulses; manic-depressive illness,
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Psychiatrists at his Los Angeles trial said Bonin was likely in a manic state when he killed. His violent sexual urges would finally be irresistible. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/bonin/addict_5.html
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several unexplained scars on his head backside.
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At this point, Bonin said he was unable to recall being or sexually, although the information is on record about his time in reform school in Connecticut.
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Bonin eventually returned to his home, from the reform school "where he began fondling his brother and other children in the area." (Gribben)
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Bonin was released from prison in 1978 due to a clerical error. (Gribben)
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As a result, 36 individuals were killed.
Adult Assessments
Dr. Foster opined that Bonin had, as a result of repeated abandonment, not received the nurturing, protection, and behavioral feedback as a child necessary for proper psychological development; such abuse and that it had led "to confusion about the differences between violence and love" as well as "detachment and the use of fantasy and denial and more primitive defenses to protect himself." (Blanco (nd) Murderpedia)
Dr. Dietz disagreed with Dr. Pincus's opinion that Bonin suffered from frontal lobe damage.
- there was no evidence that Bonin suffered from seizures.
- Bonin's medical records showed that he exhibited no
Babinski reflex when examined in 1969 after he had already
been incarcerated for kidnapping and forced oral copulation.
- Dietz concluded that Bonin's present Babinski reflex and
its source could not be the source of his desire to sexually
assault young men.
- Dr. Mark Nuwer (neurologist): refute Bonin's assertion
that he suffered from frontal lobe damage. Bonin's
magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and electroen
cephalog
ram (EEG) tests were normal. Without corroboration, a
snout reflex in combination with a Babinski reflex "doesn't
tell you anything about a diagnoses." (Blanco (nd),
Murderpedia). http://murderpedia.org/male
Adult Assessments
"Repeated psychological assessments in a series of prisons ranging from Oakalla in B.C., Kingston Pen, Saskatchewan's Prince Albert and Ste-Anne-des- Plaines in Quebec (where he contracted colon cancer) determined he was a homicidal psychopath with narcissistic delusions, sexual obsession, a pedophile and possibly a necrophiliac.Olson knew right from wrong, but didn't care. He had no inhibiting mechanism that prevented him from doing wrong. He did what he thought he could get away with — a psychopath's psychopath. When his trial for murdering 11 young people began in Vancouver in 1982 — before he changed his plea to guilty — " (Worthington, 2011)
"Olson's lawyer, Robert Shantz, had three psychiatrists examine him independently: Dr. Tony Marcus, head of Forensic Psychiatry at the University of B.C.; Dr. Basil Orchard of Toronto's Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Dr. J. Aboleda- Florez, professor of psychiatry at the University of Calgary and director of forensic services at Calgary General Hospital.Aboleda concluded that Olson's "anti-social personality disorder and psychopathic personality" did not suffice to explain his rampage. He was a "pathological liar" with an "unquenchable thirst for recognition and grandeur," but was not psychotic or mentally impaired; he "chose to preserve his identity through his badness."Orchard found no evidence of anxiety, stress, remorse or guilt. On the contrary, Olson enjoyed recollecting his cons, crimes and manipulations. He saw himself as a leader, did not have delusions, and had the ability to use abstract thought.Despite frequent misuse of words." (Worthington, 2011)
Olson had an excellent memory, a pleasing manner, and surprisingly good judgment on immediate matters.To Marcus, Olson showed few neurotic traits: "There were no illusions, delusions, hallucinations," Marcus reported. He added that Olson personified "the quintessence of the incorrigible, amoral, anti-social psychopath who does indeed know that he has done wrong and does appreciate the nature and quality of the act, though he cannot respond to these acts with the feelings that a normal individual would show." His professed concern for his victims, his declared sympathy for the grieving families, and his sometimes tearful regard for his wife and child "are without depth."Marcus succinctly summed up Olson: " ...
"The perpetration of such horror, of such dimension, in such a macabre and horrendous way, is so alien that even people who have met individuals who are called psychopathic or anti-social, cannot bring themselves to believe that there may be individuals of this gross nature. It is too impossible to accept ... "When asked his opinion about psychiatrists who examined him, albeit superficially, Olson was scathing: "They're all goofs — they're the ones who need treatment, not me. They only know what I tell them."
(Kerr (nd); Worthington 2011)
Bonin: Expert Diagnosis Controversy
