Most Evil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Most Evil | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Documentary Film |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Starring | Michael Stone |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original channel | Discovery Channel |
| Original run | July 13, 2006–present |
| No. of episodes | 8 as of September 7, 2006 |
| Official website | |
Most Evil is an American forensics television program on the Discovery Channel starring forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone from Columbia University. On the show, Dr. Michael Stone rates murderers on a scale of evil that he developed.
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[edit] The show
The show features profiles on various murderers, serial killers, and sociopaths. Dr. Michael Stone researched hundreds of killers and their methods and motives to develop his hierachy 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. 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.
[edit] The topic of evil
Some critics, such as the psychologist Marshall Rosenberg, question whether evil is a useful term or not.
The show indirectly deals with the concepts of morality and ethics. Moral relativists may object to the term "most evil."
[edit] The scale of evil
The scale of evil used on the show is subjective, although many would agree that the killers featured on the show are, indeed, evil.
Dr. Michael Stone puts killers into different categories based on criteria he developed.
| 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 | Killed 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 (jealously 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-full 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 |
[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 | unknown |
| 4 | August 10, 2006 | Partners in Crime | Charles Ng and Leonard Lake, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka |
| 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 | Close Up | Nathaniel Bar-Jonah |
