George Sodini proves, in a case of mass murder, that we cannot predict how destructive an alcoholic may become, or when
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Systems analyst and loner George Sodini, 48, who walked into a Pittsburgh gym, shooting and killing 3 women, wounding 9 women, terrifying dozens of others and then killing himself. In his personal blog, he recounted years of loneliness and rejection, along with his plans for committing mass murder, which he delayed twice. He knew that liquid courage was required for him to pull it off. He wrote on May 5: “To pull the exit plan [i.e., murder-suicide] off, it popped into my mind to just use some booze….I stopped at Shop N Save and got a fifth of vodka and a small bottle of Jack Daniels. I haven’t had a drink since September 1, 1988, just over 20 years….I need to use it to take the edge off of carrying out the exit plan. I will be taking some every now and then to get used to it and see if the alcohol effects will embolden me. Weed would be fun to try again.” On July 23 he wrote: “I had 20+ years of sobriety….”
As I’ve written elsewhere (especially in “Drunks, Drugs & Debits”), the healthy neo-cortex, the seat of reason and logic, restrains us from acting out on the vile thoughts many of us have from time to time. A damaged neo-cortex allows the lower brain centers, responsible for impulsive behaviors and base survival, free reign. Alcohol in the alcoholic damages the higher brain center. This is the reason the number of mass and serial murders committed by non-alcoholics is almost zero.
But not every alcoholic kills. It probably requires a tweaking in early life, usually involving an alcoholic parent, as well as a particularly virulent form of the disease. A hint of the combination of alcoholism and abusive past life can be gleaned from Sodini’s blog. He writes: “My dad never (not once) talked to me or asked about my life’s details and tell me what he knew. He was just a useless sperm doner….Brother was a…useless bully.” (sic) While this doesn’t usually impel even an alcoholic to commit murder of any kind, much less mass murder, it once again reminds us of the admonition on page 163 of “Drunks, Drugs & Debits” that we cannot predict how destructive a practicing alcoholic may become, or when.