First - Some Facts About Sociopaths
1. 1 out of 100 people are sociopathic and they are rational people. They are not deluded.
2. They display a lack of conscience, an inability to feel remorse, and above average intelligence
3. It has been shown that if a normal amount of affection was not expressed by the parents, it could generate dysfunction for the child that would manifest itself in sociopathic tendencies.
4. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
5. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
6. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
7. Irritability and aggressiveness with those who disagree with them
8. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.
9. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
10. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another
Ok, so here is my sociopath story. I hired a builder once to build me a house just before leaving the WT. He was just starting out and wanted to make a good show out of it. He did lots of extra stuff for free or at cost. It was on two acres. Everything went well. He was exceptionally bright, somewhat charismatic and knew how to tell you what you wanted to hear. We kept in touch. I later went off to university and rented the house while I was gone. Afterwards I came back and rented an office from him along with an ex-cop turned attorney and a real estate broker/lending corporation.
He talked me into lending 50K to a guy who needed money who put up 288 acres for collateral.... far above 50 K in value.
AS the months rolled by, I kept asking why I never received payments from the loan. I kept getting one BS story after another. Finally, I called the borrower and he said that Gary had told him not to make the payments just yet. I did some checking and found out that the lenders lien had never been filed and there was only a few days to file it or Gary would be able to legally seize the property as the unpaid broker. I hurriedly prepared the document and drove 100 miles to the small town and dutifully filed the lien only 24 hrs. before the deadline.
The borrower got another loan from somewhere else and paid me off with interest so I dodged a bullet.
I later found out that he ripped off the attorney somehow. One vendor guy lost 10k in furniture he delivered and never got paid. He told me that his research indicated that Gary had been sued over 100 times and characterized him as a con artist.
A few years later Gary showed up in the newspaper in a real estate deal where he ripped off a multi-billion dollar tech company in a real estate deal for 3-4 million dollars. I was impressed. After years in the courts, he finally went to trial and beat it using politically connected lawyers that somehow felt ingratiated to him. He was the best schmoozer I ever met.
A few years after that, he finally got sent to prison along with a State Senator for a ponzi investment scheme that sold - GET THIS : (drum roll ) - SAND.
Yup, sand. Supposedly it was needed for fracking in south Texas. BTW, south Texas is full of sand. I kid you not. They are both still in prison. They took millions from poor rich old ladies and greedy suckers.
It has been strangely gratifying over the years to look him up on the internet and track his sociopathic rise and fall. There is a lot more to tell, but you get the gist. I feel lucky that out of everyone he ripped off in his career, I may be the only one that actually came out ahead!
Anyone else have a sociopath story?