Tonight’s top story – after a month-long manhunt covering five southwestern states, alleged serial killer Shane Boswell was taken into custody early this morning at a convenience store outside Abilene, Texas. He gave himself up peacefully to two Texas State Police officers, and is now awaiting arraignment in San Antonio district court. Boswell is expected to be tried on at least nine separate counts of capital murder – cases extending from last December in Santa Fe to as recently as this month in Odessa. He is expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, and the San Antonio district attorney has ordered a preliminary psychiatric examination in hopes of countering this strategy.
* * *
“Shane, good morning. I’m Stan Terrence. Have a seat… We’ll be fine, officer. You can wait outside.”
“So doc, what would you like to talk about?”
“How do you mean?”
“What happens here exactly?”
“Well, it can work a lot of different ways actually. Just depends on how the conversation goes.”
“Doesn’t sound very scientific when you put it that way.”
“Let’s just say there’s no one prescribed method.”
“So how do you know when you have enough information?”
“What sort of information?”
“C’mon doc; we’re not going to get anywhere if you plan to be obtuse with me. We both know why we’re here. State wants to know whether I’m whacked or not.”
“That wouldn’t have been my first choice of words, but OK, if it works for you, whacked it is.”
“Do you want to know if I did it?”
“Well, from the facts I’ve seen, I think that’s already been established. Actually, even though it’s going to sound odd to say it, strictly speaking, your guilt or innocence is not really my concern.”
“Fair enough. We’ll just leave that to one side for the moment.”
“Do you know why we’re trying to determine sanity?”
“Sure. I may be nuts, but I’m not an idiot. Your conclusion will be part of the evidence that determines whether I get life or the chair.”
“And do you have a preference at this point?”
“Hmm…tough call. Let’s just say undecided for now and move on.”
“All right – we’ll come back to that as well. Shane, do you believe you have a perspective on right and wrong?”
“Fuzzy concepts at best, wouldn’t you say doc?”
“I guess I’d agree there’s a big gray area. But I think most people would say this case is pretty far out of bounds.”
“But at some point later on, a lawyer’s going to ask you whether you think I understand the difference, yes?”
“I would expect so…”
“What if they asked you whether you understand the difference?”
“I’m pretty sure I’d say yes to that one.”
“Then a logical follow-up question might be to ask you to actually describe that difference as you understand it…”
“I’m not sure we’re staying on track asking me to expound on right and wrong- ”
“…and yet later you’re going to be asked to express a professional opinion on my comprehension of that difference – an opinion that will help determine whether I live or die. Does that strike you as ironic?”
“You raise an interesting point.”
“While you’re noodling on that one, ask yourself this – what if I manage to convince you that I understand the difference between right and wrong, but that I simply don’t care? If I understand correctly how the system works, not knowing the difference makes me insane, but knowing and not giving a damn makes me guilty, or evil, or whatever.”
“I think that sums it up pretty succinctly actually.”
“So you’ve got to basically walk out of here checking off one of two boxes. Either Shane doesn’t know right from wrong, which makes him off his rocker, or he knows perfectly well, and just plain doesn’t give a rat’s ass, which makes him sane, and hence he’s off to ride the lightnin’. That about it, doc?”
“Distilled to its essence, that’s pretty much it.”
“No wiggle room at all huh?”
“How do you mean?”
“No chance I might be just a little insane?”
“Well, after five years of med school I’m not going to sit here and try to tell you that sanity is a purely black and white thing.”
“Ah, now we’re getting someplace. And what if I submitted to you the notion that fully understanding the difference between right and wrong, as well as the consequences of my actions, and choosing nonetheless to do the wrong thing makes me more insane than never knowing?”
“I think you’re treading on mighty thin philosophical ice there. What if we come down from the abstract for a moment? Tell me how the view you’re espousing applies to your specific situation.”
“Not espousing, doc, just exploring. We’ve only been here ten minutes so far. I don’t think either of us is in a position to espouse anything just yet.”
“Touché… Tell me a bit about your thinking at the time of the crimes.”
“You mean, did I consider the right versus wrong argument as I was planning or carrying out the crimes? You give me a lot of credit doc. If I answer yes, I could be remembered as the most introspective killer in history.”
“Let’s not get hung up on your posterity just yet. As you observed a moment ago, it’s still early days for that, eh?”
“There you go – first things first, yeah? I suppose your real question, if I may paraphrase, is something like ‘Did he know that what he was doing, or thinking about doing, was, in some absolute sense, wrong?”
“…to which you would say…”
“Well, not to make an already complex situation even more so, but we are talking about numerous instances here, not just one point in time.”
“How about if you focus way back at the beginning of it all for a moment. Do you recall your frame of mind at that time?”
“That would be about four months ago. I never did have all that great a long-term memory.”
“So no recollection at all on how or why it all started?”
“How it all started? You mean you want to hear about my horrible abusive upbringing? How society cast me out?”
“Not actually, no. Remember, you’re not here to be cured of anything. We are, as you put it, just trying to check off a box.”
“That’s good. Focus – I like that. So we’re back to what was going on in Shane’s head as he was carrying out these heinous crimes?”
“Exactly.”
“Being a skilled professional, you’ve of course already considered the possibility that I will intentionally mislead you with answers designed to make me appear deranged.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t try.”
“Have you also considered the possibility that a sane man might in fact prefer execution rather than life in a cage? I’m still a young guy you know. There’s an interesting twist, eh? The insane man fights to live, and the sane one prefers to die.”
“Yet you’ve said so far that you don’t think you have a preference.”
“The way I see it, I’ve got plenty of time to decide. Which is not to say, by the way, that I expect the state of Texas to take my preferences into consideration when they make their determination.”
“No, I don’t expect they will.”
“By the way, doc, as long as we’re clarifying things, we are, unless I’m mistaken here, talking about my mental state at the time of the murders – which is to say, not now.”
“That is correct.”
“Meaning the court believes that it’s possible for a man’s mental state to flip between sanity and insanity like, if you’ll forgive the analogy, an electrical switch. What’s your opinion on that one, doc?”
“I certainly don’t believe mental state is a static thing.”
“Sure, at some level – happy versus unhappy maybe – but insanity? That’s a mighty strong word… Seems like pretty serious business to be switching on and off, wouldn’t you think?”
“Hard to disagree with you on that one, Shane. Still, there are legally accepted notions of temporary or momentary insanity. Concluding that you’re perfectly sane right now would not necessarily cause me, or a jury, to conclude that you were mentally fine at the time of the crimes.”
“OK doc, but wouldn’t the fact that we’re talking about multiple crimes spanning a period of weeks make the temporary insanity story a pretty hard sell? ‘Your honor, it is my professional opinion that Mr. Boswell here went berserk for a moment or two, perpetrated the gruesome murder shown in those photos there, and then promptly pulled himself back together for a few days before going nuts again in time for the next murder.’ Shit, doc, they’ll fall out of their jury seats over that one.”
“So you were either sane or insane through the entire three-month period?”
“From which fact any reasonable person would then conclude that I ought to continue to be either sane or insane now.”
“Are you arguing that your current mental state ought to be strongly indicative of your mental state at the time of the murders?”
“I ain’t arguing anything at the moment. I’m just trying to make sure we consider every angle on this thing. I’ve got quite a lot riding on the outcome, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yeah I would, Shane…”
“Tell me something, doc…”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve done this before…had this sort of conversation I mean?”
“Of course – many times…”
“So what was the tip-off? The big give-away? That they were with it or not, I mean?”
“Well, like I said earlier, it’s not a black or white issue. Could be lots of things.”
“You saying it’s always something different?”
“Not always, but there are certainly a lot of possible clues – lots of different brands of insanity for that matter.”
“And are you always sure when you’re done? I mean, no matter how much gray area there is along the way, in the end it still comes down to a thumbs up or down, right? That’s what they’re paying you for.”
“Yes it is…”
“Would you typically tell them?”
“Tell them?”
“In the session – would you tell the subject at the end what you’ve concluded about them, or wait and spring it on them in court?”
“Pretty much always in court. It’s not as though the answer to a question like this is immediately apparent at the conclusion of our conversation. I’ve got to think through it all, compare this session to others that have taken place. It’s actually a lengthy process. As you observed a few minutes ago, there’s quite a lot riding on it.”
“So…which way you leaning with me so far? Or isn’t that an appropriate question for the subject to ask?”
“Shane, you seem like a bright guy to me, so I’m not going to bullshit you. By every definition of sanity that the court cares about, you seem as together right now as anyone I’ve ever met. Either that, or you are one hell of a good faker.”
“The operative words being ‘right now’, yes?”
“Which takes us back to the business about mental state at the time of the murders.”
“So since we’re there, what do you say we chat about the murders. Would you prefer we discuss them in the collective or one at a time?”
“Why don’t we start with a few overall questions. According to the case records, all of the victims were killed in exactly the same way.”
“I guess I’m a creature of habit…”
“Not only all in the same way, but in a quite elaborate and, shall we say, creative way.”
“Which to you suggests a very methodological approach – not the sort of thing a madman could pull off, eh?”
“Shane, you have a way of sometimes almost making me feel superfluous to the conversation.”
“Just trying to be helpful, doc.”
“So, as you say, a very methodological approach…”
“And don’t forget the dates.”
“Ah yes, every one killed on their birthdays. Nice touch.”
“Doc! That almost sounded cynical. Let’s try to maintain our objectivity, shall we.”
“Sorry about that…Still, the details of your…procedure…strongly suggest you were leaving a trail that would ensure you eventually got caught. Would you say you were trying to expedite being captured – maybe toying with the police – that sort of thing?”
“That would indicate a level of arrogance that just doesn’t feel like me, doc. Tough to say exactly what it was I was striving for. Maybe I just like killing total strangers.”
“Do you? Like it, I mean.”
“Well, nine people’s kind of a lot, yeah? I mean, it’s not as though I had a goal or anything – you know – get an even dozen and call it quits. Nothing like that. So yeah, I guess you could say I liked it.”
“Any thoughts on what specifically you liked…or maybe didn’t like so much?”
“Well there’s a reciprocal fear element to it that’s kind of satisfying. They’re terrified for their lives of course – particularly since I always made a point of telling them who I was and all. But at the same time I’m scared out of my wits that something’s going to go wrong, or someone’s going to show up at the wrong moment or whatever.”
“Did any of them ever ask you why? You know, ‘why me?’ – that sort of thing?”
“Oh yeah, nearly everyone at some point. You know, now that you mention it, I never had a very good answer for that though. But I always told them it was nothing personal. I mean, I didn’t know any of them from Adam. Just luck of the draw you know – fate, kismet, just their lucky day.”
“And did you talk to them a lot before you…well…you know?”
“I gotta’ say doc, you seem a little hung up on this whole murder and death thing. It’s really no big deal you know – happens to the best of us.”
“Maybe so, Shane, but not usually in a violent way on our seventeenth birthday.”
“There you go, being judgmental again. You said before that the acts themselves were not your concern.”
“True enough, but it’s tough for a normal reasonable person not to find the whole affair pretty disturbing.”
“I suppose. I guess you’ll just have to work around your feelings and be as professional as you can.”
“Let’s press on, eh? Tell me a little more about your discussions with the victims. Were they actual conversations or just you talking while they were gagged or something? Were you able to look them in the eye?”
“Yeah. Pretty much every case as I recall we had a real good heart-to-heart talk about what was going on. As far as looking them in the eye – I’ve never had a problem with that. If you’re trying to get at whether I felt guilt or remorse, I gotta’ say ‘no’. I mean, I don’t feel any now. Why would I have back then?”
“What sorts of things did you talk about during these conversations?”
“Well mainly just how they fit into the bigger picture, you know. I’d tell them about the others that had come before them – what I’d done to them…oh, and how I was getting better and better at the process with each new person. Maybe I figured they’d feel a little better if they knew I was improving myself as I went along.”
“And what did they say to you?”
“Well besides all the bawling and groveling and what-not – once I got ‘em calmed down to where we could have an actual conversation – it was usually just them telling me how they’d give me whatever I wanted, how their relatives had money, maybe something or other about their kids or their family – you know, the usual stuff I guess.”
“And how long did you keep them alive before you, you know, didn’t need them anymore?”
“Oh never more than a day or two. I mean, it took a few days to get settled in each town. Then I had to get hold of the tools and whatnot. I had to re-buy everything each time – you don’t want to get stopped with that kind of stuff in the car you know? But once I had the person, it was pretty much just a question of picking all the spots where I was going to leave…well, you get the idea. No reason to drag it out any longer than necessary.”
“Let me ask you a different question. Were the victims already dead before you…did…you know…”
“All that other stuff? Oh yeah, doc, for sure. I may be whacked, but I’m no sadist.”
“Suppose the police hadn’t found you at the convenience store. Suppose you’d never been caught. What do you suppose would have happened?”
“Oh, I’d still be at it for sure. I was managing about one a week there pretty steady over the past couple of months. No reason to let up on the momentum you know. Keeps the paper’s selling.”
“Were you reading about yourself pretty regularly?”
“Nah, just once in a while if I happened to come across an article here or there. I’m not really the narcissistic type, if that’s what you’re getting at. It was never about recognition or anything like that”
“So what do you think it was about then, Shane? You said it wasn’t the upbringing or society. I mean, people don’t just wake up one morning and say to themselves ‘I guess I’ll start killing one person a week from now until they catch me.’ What do you attribute the whole thing to?”
“I’ll tell you, I’ve asked myself that same question plenty of times the past few weeks, but I gotta’ tell you I haven’t come up with a good answer yet. It’s not like I was getting money for it or anything. Do you think doing all this with no decent reason tilts me more toward the sane or the insane category, doc?”
“Tough to say. Most serial killers who did give reasons – well, they were pretty, as you would say, whacked reasons.”
“In your estimation, that is…”
“Yeah, I suppose. Shane, do you think about any of them now?”
“Them?… Oh, the dead people. Nah, not really. I’m not one for dwelling on the past.”
“Well there’s certainly not much of a future out there for you either.”
“Fair enough. I’ll give you that. I guess that leaves me with one day at a time, eh?”
“Yeah, I suppose in a way that’s all any of us has.”
“Aw, doc, now you’re getting all philosophical on me again.”
“Shane, I think I’ve got pretty much all I need. Is there anything else you’d like to add to the discussion before we call it a day?”
“Naw, not really. I think we both know where this thing is headed. Why waste more of your valuable time eh?”
“Well, for whatever it’s worth, I appreciate your candor and your cooperation.”
“So how’d I do, doc?”
“You did fine, Shane.”
“No, I mean how’d I…nah, never mind. You can surprise me in court. I always liked surprises.”
“Officer… I think we’re done here. Shane – good luck with everything.”
“Thanks for the conversation, doc….Oh, one last thing before I go. When you sit down to think through our little discussion, you may also want to consider that about half of that stuff I told you was just made-up bullshit. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which half.”
“Thanks, Shane. That’s good to know.”
“No problem, doc. See you on the other side, huh?”