Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 103
Canada financed by money demanded in notes left at the scenes of the shootings. Many of
Malvo‘s drawings from jail have anti-American themes and commentary. They included
sketches of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and one of sniper crosshairs imposed on
a sketch of the White House.
University of Virginia psychologist Dewey Cornell, who interviewed Malvo extensively,
testified Muhammad taught the younger man to hate whites. One method Muhammad
allegedly used to indoctrinate Malvo was to put the younger man to sleep listening to a
reggae tape that also contained a track with an anti-white speech by Malcolm X. Cornell
reports Muhammad took Malvo on cross-country trips to speak with blacks in slums and
homeless shelters. Malvo told Cornell he watched the film ―The Matrix‖ more than 100 times
and identified with the hero, who wants to free human beings so oppressed they are
unaware they are being dominated. Muhammad also reportedly put Malvo on a strict
vegetarian diet, with vitamin pills, and once tied him to a tree so Malvo could prove his
toughness.
Prosecutor Robert Horan argued throughout that the defense confused ―indoctrination‖ with
―insanity,‖ while the defense attempted to show that the indoctrination was so severe that
Malvo could not distinguish right from wrong, the major criterion for insanity.
Maine-based forensic psychiatrist Diane H. Schekty testified Malvo was mentally ill at the
time of the shootings and unable to tell right from wrong. She said Malvo had a pathological
loyalty to Muhammad and was ―like a puppet in his hands.‖ He suffers, she added, from
―dissociate disorder [sic].‖ Referring to Malvo sitting at the witness table, she said: ―This
does not look like somebody who is facing horrendous charges. He is sitting there doodling
like a child in preschool.‖ Sheckty said Malvo told her Muhammad dissuaded him from
believing that killing was absolutely wrong, taught him to suppress his conscience if he had
doubts, and that ―right and wrong‖ were artificial constructs without real meaning.
Clinical psychologist David Schretlen, from Johns Hopkins University, said that Malvo‘s low
score on certain tests given while he was in custody could stem from depression, anxiety, or
a ―dissociative disorder‖ in which one loses touch with reality. Cornell also concluded that
Malvo suffered from a dissociative disorder at the time of the attacks. Cornell believes Malvo
took responsibility for the actual shooting because he blamed himself ―for the failure of the
mission.‖ He says Malvo told him that whenever he, Malvo, had misgivings about what they
were doing, Muhammad was either there to allay his concerns or he would imagine
Muhammad‘s voice with the same message. Cornell thinks the sniper killing for which Malvo
was tried served as Malvo‘s first test in doing Muhammad‘s bidding. Malvo only began
breaking away from Muhammad‘s influence seven months after their arrest, according to
Cornell, who added that Malvo began to realize that the vision of creating utopia with money
extorted from the government did not make sense. Malvo finally asked himself, Cornell
reports: ―If Allah was [really] behind this, how could we [have] fail[ed]?‖
Two other mental health professionals testified Malvo was not mentally ill and knew right
from wrong at the time of the murders. ―This is a person who is fully conscious, cognizant,
deliberating, purposeful,‖ said psychologist Stanton E. Samenow for the prosecution. ―Mr.
Malvo knew exactly what he was doing.‖ Samenov noted that Malvo wrote, in a letter to a
fellow inmate after his arrest: ―I play the stupid fool. Everybody underestimates me.‖
Samenow said Malvo told him: ―I‘m willing to question. I don‘t take anything at face value.
I‘m not impressionable. I‘m not weak minded.‖ Prosecution psychologist Evan S. Nelson said
the relationship between Malvo and Muhammad was based on idol worship not
brainwashing, and was consensual. Nelson implied the defense reeducated Malvo just as, it
had earlier argued, Muhammad brainwashed Malvo.
Psychologist and cult expert Paul Martin [who heads an Ohio rehabilitation facility for former
cult members] noted the cases of Korean War prisoner brainwashing, the Branch Davidian
Canada financed by money demanded in notes left at the scenes of the shootings. Many of
Malvo‘s drawings from jail have anti-American themes and commentary. They included
sketches of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and one of sniper crosshairs imposed on
a sketch of the White House.
University of Virginia psychologist Dewey Cornell, who interviewed Malvo extensively,
testified Muhammad taught the younger man to hate whites. One method Muhammad
allegedly used to indoctrinate Malvo was to put the younger man to sleep listening to a
reggae tape that also contained a track with an anti-white speech by Malcolm X. Cornell
reports Muhammad took Malvo on cross-country trips to speak with blacks in slums and
homeless shelters. Malvo told Cornell he watched the film ―The Matrix‖ more than 100 times
and identified with the hero, who wants to free human beings so oppressed they are
unaware they are being dominated. Muhammad also reportedly put Malvo on a strict
vegetarian diet, with vitamin pills, and once tied him to a tree so Malvo could prove his
toughness.
Prosecutor Robert Horan argued throughout that the defense confused ―indoctrination‖ with
―insanity,‖ while the defense attempted to show that the indoctrination was so severe that
Malvo could not distinguish right from wrong, the major criterion for insanity.
Maine-based forensic psychiatrist Diane H. Schekty testified Malvo was mentally ill at the
time of the shootings and unable to tell right from wrong. She said Malvo had a pathological
loyalty to Muhammad and was ―like a puppet in his hands.‖ He suffers, she added, from
―dissociate disorder [sic].‖ Referring to Malvo sitting at the witness table, she said: ―This
does not look like somebody who is facing horrendous charges. He is sitting there doodling
like a child in preschool.‖ Sheckty said Malvo told her Muhammad dissuaded him from
believing that killing was absolutely wrong, taught him to suppress his conscience if he had
doubts, and that ―right and wrong‖ were artificial constructs without real meaning.
Clinical psychologist David Schretlen, from Johns Hopkins University, said that Malvo‘s low
score on certain tests given while he was in custody could stem from depression, anxiety, or
a ―dissociative disorder‖ in which one loses touch with reality. Cornell also concluded that
Malvo suffered from a dissociative disorder at the time of the attacks. Cornell believes Malvo
took responsibility for the actual shooting because he blamed himself ―for the failure of the
mission.‖ He says Malvo told him that whenever he, Malvo, had misgivings about what they
were doing, Muhammad was either there to allay his concerns or he would imagine
Muhammad‘s voice with the same message. Cornell thinks the sniper killing for which Malvo
was tried served as Malvo‘s first test in doing Muhammad‘s bidding. Malvo only began
breaking away from Muhammad‘s influence seven months after their arrest, according to
Cornell, who added that Malvo began to realize that the vision of creating utopia with money
extorted from the government did not make sense. Malvo finally asked himself, Cornell
reports: ―If Allah was [really] behind this, how could we [have] fail[ed]?‖
Two other mental health professionals testified Malvo was not mentally ill and knew right
from wrong at the time of the murders. ―This is a person who is fully conscious, cognizant,
deliberating, purposeful,‖ said psychologist Stanton E. Samenow for the prosecution. ―Mr.
Malvo knew exactly what he was doing.‖ Samenov noted that Malvo wrote, in a letter to a
fellow inmate after his arrest: ―I play the stupid fool. Everybody underestimates me.‖
Samenow said Malvo told him: ―I‘m willing to question. I don‘t take anything at face value.
I‘m not impressionable. I‘m not weak minded.‖ Prosecution psychologist Evan S. Nelson said
the relationship between Malvo and Muhammad was based on idol worship not
brainwashing, and was consensual. Nelson implied the defense reeducated Malvo just as, it
had earlier argued, Muhammad brainwashed Malvo.
Psychologist and cult expert Paul Martin [who heads an Ohio rehabilitation facility for former
cult members] noted the cases of Korean War prisoner brainwashing, the Branch Davidian
