D&D possible cause in Murder case again.

[WizarDru]

The quotes were adding context to the murder, explaining the proseuction theory of motivation and what investigation is being checked out. Yes more information would have been nice, but I think the reporter clearly did not do anything wrong.

Not to put to fine a point on it, but you might benefit from reading up on how Senator Joseph McCarthy used the wire services and manipulated lazy journalists to attack everyone from out-of-work writers to standing presidents of both parties.

"In conclusion it is seen that the media was in fact responsible for the birth and the death of McCarthyism. The negligence of the reporters early in McCarthy's career (notably Frank Desmond, who covered McCarthy's speech at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling) gave life to a man who should have been instantly exposed as a fake. The ensuing five years of mayhem taught the press about fact checking, and the need to ask responsible questions before a story should be printed.

McCarthy's propaganda techniques had forced newspapers and wire services to reexamine their practices and to make greater use of interpretive reporting. (Bayley, 1981, p.176)

"

It was eventually McCarthy's own misuse of the media and responsible journalism, in the form of Edward R. Murrow, that helped take him down. Saying something like that tars with little chance of getting clean. The accusation came across as a 'how long was he beating his wife?' statement. KYW-Radio is the only one to have even hinted at the D&D angle, from what I can tell. The prosecution has little say in the case, yet. The police haven't even finished the investigation. The DA certainly wouldn't have his prosecutorial strategy planned, yet; forensics and investigative interviews, let along leg and paper work, are still in progress. The DA was irresponsible for making that comment, and KYW-Radio was irresponsible for not digging any deeper than that statement. They're a news-radio station, and they selectivley choose what snippet of his comments to use: they chose a piece of dialogue that was problematic, when NO OTHER station, TV or Radio, did.

 

[caudor]

Here's a reply that someone at the Game Industry Network forum managed to get out of Bruce Castor: ... Thus, what concerns me is not the game itself, but his preoccupation with it. Clearly the game didn't cause the murders. What I want to explore is whether his fascination with it blurred his sense of reality because of his own emotional and personal problems.

Bruce L. Castor, Jr.
District Attorney[/i]

First, my heart goes out to the family of the victims. Let us not forget that real people lost their lives in this incident.

Mr. Castor is correct in stating that the game didn't cause the murders. However, an assumption is then made that in order for the accused to commit the murders, he must have first had a blurred sense of reality. People murder people for many reasons; not all killers need to be insane to commit murder. Could the scenerio be true...yes. But as an old Russian Folk tale teaches us: coorelation does not necessarily imply causation.

In other words: fascination with D&D is not equal to blurred sense of reality

 

[WizarDru]

Could the scenerio be true...yes. But as an old Russian Folk tale teaches us: coorelation does not necessarily imply causation.

In other words: fascination with D&D is not equal to blurred sense of reality

An important point, that. For example, last night in Philadelphia a 21 year-old boy demanded a 15 year-old girl kiss him. When she rebuffed him at the apartment they and some other friends were at, he pulled out a gun and put it to her head, and demanded again. When she again refused, he shot her in the eye and ran, she died shortly thereafter. One doesn't have to be delusional to be a sociopath, unfortunately.

 

[Voadam]

Not to put to fine a point on it, but you might benefit from reading up on how Senator Joseph McCarthy used the wire services and manipulated lazy journalists to attack everyone from out-of-work writers to standing presidents of both parties.



It was eventually McCarthy's own misuse of the media and responsible journalism, in the form of Edward R. Murrow, that helped take him down. Saying something like that tars with little chance of getting clean. The accusation came across as a 'how long was he beating his wife?' statement. KYW-Radio is the only one to have even hinted at the D&D angle, from what I can tell. The prosecution has little say in the case, yet. The police haven't even finished the investigation. The DA certainly wouldn't have his prosecutorial strategy planned, yet; forensics and investigative interviews, let along leg and paper work, are still in progress. The DA was irresponsible for making that comment, and KYW-Radio was irresponsible for not digging any deeper than that statement. They're a news-radio station, and they selectivley choose what snippet of his comments to use: they chose a piece of dialogue that was problematic, when NO OTHER station, TV or Radio, did.

Are you suggesting the quoted statements are the equivalent of mccarthyism?

Castor (below right) says the motive appears to be jealousy, but they are also looking into some sort of connection with the fantasy role-playing game ”Dungeons and Dragons”:

"I mean, you have many, many stab wounds and those 'Dungeons and Dragons' fantasy games involve swords and knives and daggers and things of that nature. There may be a connection but I can’t say for sure."

You suggest more fact checking to expose the types of falsehoods that should have been exposed in the McCarthy era. Are you suggesting that the prosecutor is throwing out RPGs to attack a stigmatized group to propel his own agenda? Making up stuff to slander his opponents?

From the prosecutor's follow up comment quoted later it sounds like he genuinely believes the defendant was obsessed with the game and that the obsession might have been relevant. He also uses qualifiers saying there may be a connection but that he cannot say for sure.

This does not look like a case of poor reporter fact checking or a prosecutor manipulating the media by lashing out at a stigmatized whipping boy and using fear of such attacks to batter enemies and achieve political ends as was done in the McCarthy era.

 

[William Ronald]

First, my heart goes out to the family of the victims. Let us not forget that real people lost their lives in this incident.

Mr. Castor is correct in stating that the game didn't cause the murders. However, an assumption is then made that in order for the accused to commit the murders, he must have first had a blurred sense of reality. People murder people for many reasons; not all killers need to be insane to commit murder. Could the scenerio be true...yes. But as an old Russian Folk tale teaches us: coorelation does not necessarily imply causation.

In other words: fascination with D&D is not equal to blurred sense of reality

I agree that we must NOT forget the family of the victims and the loss of innocent lives.

Caudor, I believe you do make a crucial point in that the assumption that the alleged killer must have had a blurred sense of reality is not necessarily correct. When I was a reporter, there were MANY different reasons behind some of the murders I covered.

As for the reporter, I am curious why the radio reporter did not ask one of the most important but often overlooked questins in responce to Mr. Castor's remark: Why? I argue that sometimes reporters do forget to ask the critical question of why as opposed to just reporting what people say. It is hard to understand why the reporter did not ask a follow up question. Also, I was shocked to learn that the suspect allegedly has dozens of bladed weapons. This may or may not indicate an obsession with sharp objects.

Does anyone want the mailing address for DA Castor? (I mentioned that I received this in an e-mail.)

Dr. Awkward: Thanks for the check!! Seriously, thanks for posting Castor's remarks. I think you raised some important issues that has to be considered about this tragic case. Perhaps Castor does have a reason to suspect obsession with a game or with knives.

Voadam: Good points. Perhaps we should be a little hesitant to render judgements in this case. However, I think it is appropriate to ask questions about why the DA believes there may be a connection to gaming and why the radio reporter did not ask a follow up question as to why the DA thought there might be a connection.

 

[Voadam]

However, I think it is appropriate to ask questions about why the DA believes there may be a connection to gaming and why the radio reporter did not ask a follow up question as to why the DA thought there might be a connection.

My guess is that investigators were freaked out when they did the search and found lots of RPG stuff and lots of fantasy style blades after seeing multiple victims who had been killed by the guy with multiple stab wounds each.

My guess on the reporter is that he asked about possible motives or what the police thought caused it and the DA said looked like jealousy but that they were also checking out the RPG stuff even though they had no current conclusion that it was definitely related. I'm guessing the reporter thought that sounded interesting enough to include and that he had enough for this short report on the murder. It is also possible he asked why the investigation on rpg stuff and that's when he got that second quote about there being stabbing stuff in rpgs.

 

[Dr Awkward]

My opinion, for any who might be interested, is that it has become common practice over the years to accept "D&D COULD BE A CONNECTION" as a statement that doesn't need further explanation - just as "(DOOM, QUAKE, GTA, etc.) MADE HIM DO IT" has become an accepted statement in recent years. It's sort of assumed that the suspect was involved, and accepted that such activity begets crime, so not much more needs to be said.

It's a cliche, a soundbite, and when most people hear it, they just nod their heads knowingly, because that's what they've ALWAYS heard.

So, I'm not sure I can blame the reporter for doing his/her job as it has always been done. Sometimes it could qualify as "bad" reporting, but I think in most cases, it's just "lazy" reporting.

- DocAwk

 

[WizarDru]

Are you suggesting the quoted statements are the equivalent of mccarthyism?

No, I'm suggesting that you're on a slippery-slope when you take the District Attorney at his word, simply becuase of who he is. McCarthy often would say something patently false, but everyone took him at his word, and it took four years for such behavior to catch up with him. I don't believe that the DA (who may or may not eventually be the prosecutor) has an agenda against D&D...I think he has an agenda to keep in the public eye, because as an elected official he needs to, and this has the potential for good publicity for his office. So yes, he IS using it for political ends, IMHO. McCarthy was an extreme example to illustrate a point of where such things can eventually lead.

Citing his comments after the fact is irrelevant. If he had offered them at the time, we wouldn't be having this discussion. KYW didn't put those clarifications in a report and broadcast them. As theescapist.com says, the sound bite is what will be remembered. No paper in the area has seen them, just some folks on a little messageboard on the 'net. an 8.2 share of the Phila area listening audience has heard that quote, though. And most importantly, the reported didn't think to ask them, as far as we know.

 

[Dr Awkward]

My opinion, for any who might be interested, is that it has become common practice over the years to accept "D&D COULD BE A CONNECTION" as a statement that doesn't need further explanation - just as "(DOOM, QUAKE, GTA, etc.) MADE HIM DO IT" has become an accepted statement in recent years. It's sort of assumed that the suspect was involved, and accepted that such activity begets crime, so not much more needs to be said.

It's a cliche, a soundbite, and when most people hear it, they just nod their heads knowingly, because that's what they've ALWAYS heard.

So, I'm not sure I can blame the reporter for doing his/her job as it has always been done. Sometimes it could qualify as "bad" reporting, but I think in most cases, it's just "lazy" reporting.

- DocAwk

EDIT: Forgot to add - many people think that running around with knives and swords is "playing D&D", also - so making this statement just follows right along with their faulty 'common knowledge.'

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Here's a reply that someone at the Game Industry Network forum managed to get out of Bruce Castor:

Thank you for your thoughtful e-mail. The three adult victims and the defendant were all devotees of fantasy role playing games. In fact, the defendant was obsessed with them. When we searched his room, we found cards, figurines, posters, clothing and other things related to killing by stabbing in the context of role playing littered everywhere. We also recovered several dozen swords, knives and daggers which would have been at home in Lord of the Rings. The day of the most recent killings, he told his mother that he was going out to play dungeons and dragons. Thus, what concerns me is not the game itself, but his preoccupation with it. Clearly the game didn't cause the murders. What I want to explore is whether his fascination with it blurred his sense of reality because of his own emotional and personal problems.

Bruce L. Castor, Jr.
District Attorney

I still haven't quite figured out why it's being blamed on his preoccupation with D&D and not, say, a preoccupation with sharp objects, since they found 'several dozen' blades in his home. (How many is 'several dozen'? If 'several' is anything more than a couple, then that would make a minimum of 36 swords, knives, and daggers in his home.) And what is "killing by stabbing in the context of roleplaying?" Did they actually find cards, figurines, posters, clothing, and 'other things' that each portrayed some sort of stabbing death on them, 'in the context of roleplaying'?

I wonder if I have enough gaming stuff in my house to label me as "obsessed?" (Actually, I'm pretty sure I have enough in my house to get put on a 'watch' list. )

- DocAwk

I think I'd be more worried about the sheer number of blades than his gaming hobby. But then I have a friend who has him beat in the sheer number of swords he has at his house.... But I think it's more of a mental thing than just because he has D&D as a hobby.... I betcha something "snapped" in his mental psyche and so far, people aren't (according to what we have) willing to approach that aspect, settling for the easier "explanations" of his hobby plus his blade collection. There's always "More than meets the eye" (to steal the Transformers line) to any case. It's just a matter of time for them to figure it out. Right now they just go for the easy scapegoat.