Most Evil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Most Evil | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Documentary Film |
| Starring | Michael Stone |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 28 as of April 7, 2008 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Discovery Channel Investigation Discovery |
| Original run | July 13, 2006 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Most Evil is an American forensics television program on Investigation Discovery starring forensic psychiatrist Michael Stone from Columbia University. On the show, Stone rates murderers on a scale of evil that he has developed in order to help science understand and thus prevent this type of behavior.
The show features profiles on various murderers, serial killers, and sociopaths. Stone researched hundreds of killers and their methods and motives to develop his hierarchy of "evil." The scale ranges from Category 1, those who kill in self defense, to Category 9, psychopathic jealous lovers, to the "most evil" Category 22, serial torturers and killers (for example; Westley Allan Dodd was among those classed as Category 22). Neurologists, psychologists, and other forensic psychiatrists are interviewed on the show in an attempt to examine and profile the minds of notorious killers. Partial re-enactments are shown along with news footage, evidence, and reports from locals. Neurological, environmental, and genetic factors are examined to help determine what drives a person to kill. Background history and pre-meditation are considered when placing an individual on the scale of evil. The show indirectly deals with the concepts of morality and ethics.
Contents |
[edit] The scale of evil
| Category | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 01 | Those who kill in self-defense and do not show psychopathic tendencies |
| 02 | Jealous lovers who, though egocentric or immature, are not psychopathic |
| 03 | Willing companions of killers: aberrant personality — probably impulse-ridden, with antisocial traits |
| 04 | Kill in self-defense, but had been extremely provocative towards the victim |
| 05 | Traumatized, desperate people who kill abusive relatives and others (like to support a drug habit) but lack significant traits. Genuinely remorseful. |
| 06 | Impetuous, hotheaded murderers, yet without marked psychopathic features |
| 07 | Highly narcissistic, not distinctly psychopathic people with a psychotic core who kill people close to them (jealousy an underlying motive) |
| 08 | Non psychopathic people with smoldering rage who kill when rage is ignited |
| 09 | Jealous lovers with psychopathic features |
| 10 | Killers of people who were "in the way" or who killed, for example, witnesses (egocentric but not distinctly psychopathic) |
| 11 | Psychopathic killers of people "in the way" |
| 12 | Power-hungry psychopaths who killed when they were "cornered" |
| 13 | Killers with inadequate, rage-filled personalities who "snapped" |
| 14 | Ruthlessly self-centered psychopathic schemers |
| 15 | Psychopathic "cold-blooded" spree or multiple murders |
| 16 | Psychopaths committing multiple vicious acts |
| 17 | Sexually perverse serial murderers, torture-murderers (among the males, rape is the primary motive with murder to hide the evidence; Systematic torture is not a primary factor) |
| 18 | Torture-murderers with murder the primary motive |
| 19 | Psychopaths driven to terrorism, subjugation, intimidation and rape, (short of murder) |
| 20 | Torture murderers with torture as the primary motive but in psychotic personalities |
| 21 | Psychopaths preoccupied with torture in the extreme, but not known to have committed murder |
| 22 | Psychopathic torture-murderers, with torture their primary motive, sexual homicide |
Another similar attempt is Michael Welner's The Depravity Scale.
[edit] Season 1 (2006)
| # | Original Airdate | Episode Title | Killers profiled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 13, 2006 | Killer Lies | Susan Smith, John List, Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, Dennis Rader |
| 2 | July 20, 2006 | Cold-Blooded Killers | Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgway, Tommy Lynn Sells |
| 3 | July 27, 2006 | Murderous Women | Marybeth Tinning, Susan Smith, Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood, Aileen Wuornos, Theresa Knorr |
| 4 | August 10, 2006 | Partners in Crime | Charles Ng and Leonard Lake, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley |
| 5 | August 17, 2006 | Psychotic Killers | Ed Gein, Gary Heidnik, Arthur Shawcross |
| 6 | August 24, 2006 | Deadly Desires | Jerry Brudos, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Parker Ray, Westley Allan Dodd |
| 7 | August 31, 2006 | Science of Murder | Charles Whitman, Arthur Shawcross, Ed Gein, Gary Heidnik |
| 8 | September 7, 2006 | Up Close | Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, Cathy Wood, Cindy Hendy, David Parker Ray, Tommy Lynn Sells, Leonard Lake |
[edit] Season 2 (2007)
[edit] Season 3 (2008)
| # | Original Airdate | Episode Title | Killers profiled[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 31, 2008 | Manson | Charles Manson |
| 2 | February 7, 2008 | Super Delusional | Michael Owen Perry, Joseph Kallinger, Leonard Lake, Diana Dial, Colin Ferguson, Michael McDermott |
| 3 | February 14, 2008 | Schemers | Diane Downs, Michael Swango, John Edward Robinson, Martha Ann Johnson |
| 4 | February 21, 2008 | Vampires/Cannibals | Armin Meiwes, Richard Chase, Rod Ferrell, Jeffrey Dahmer |
| 5 | February 28, 2008 | Women | Dorothea Puente, Judy Neelley, Betty Broderick |
| 6 | March 6, 2008 | Redemption | Billy Wayne Sinclair, Archie McCafferty, Daniel Nieto |
| 7 | March 13, 2008 | Gangs | Richard Kuklinski, Philadelphia Poison Ring, Ervil LeBaron |
| 8 | March 20, 2008 | What Makes a Killer | The minds of criminals who are impulsive liars and serial predators. |
| 9 | March 27, 2008 | Face to Face | The motives, methods and minds of murderers. |
| 10 | April 7, 2008 | Tracking Killers | Keith Wayne Jesperson, The Black Dahlia |
[edit] Reviews
[edit] References
- ^ a b Most Evil : Episode Guide : Investigation Discovery. Investigation.Discovery.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
[edit] External links
- Upcoming Most Evil episodes on Discovery Times
- Personality Disorders Institute
- Most Evil on the Internet Movie Database
COSSOCO 22:19, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
