The Puppet Master and the Psychopath, Pt 1

What's the Difference?

Disclaimer: Please note, I’m not a clinical psychologist and therefore not qualified to make psychological assessments of individuals. This article (and this entire substack) consists of my personal opinions on this and other topics based on my personal experiences and related research.

“Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.

Psychopaths often come across as arrogant, shameless braggarts—self-assured, opinionated, domineering, and cocky. They love to have power and control over others and seem unable to believe that other people have valid opinions different from theirs. What makes psychopaths different from all others is the remarkable ease with which they lie, the pervasiveness of their deception, and the callousness with which they carry it out.

The most debilitating characteristic of even the most well-behaved psychopath is the inability to form a workable team.

The majority of people and therefore workplaces are easy prey, because we still want to believe that people are inherently good. We don’t really want to believe that such people exist. Wherever you find money, prestige and power you will find them. We are far more likely to lose our life savings to an oily-tongued swindler than our lives to a steely-eyed killer.” – Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience

Types of Psychopaths

I think Dr. Hare, in the last sentence of the quote above, has hit on something, perhaps without realizing it.

My personal hypothesis is that psychopathy may, on its’ own, be a very narrow spectrum disorder. That said, I do believe ALL psychopaths are serial killers. In my opinion, serial killing is a trait of psychopathy as well as a type of psychopath.

While a great deal more study needs to be done, I think it’s safe to say there are psychopaths who, while having all of the same traits, do differ in their focus. This focus could be identified as a type.

I would break them down into the following types:

Don Juan, whose focus is to coercively control women. This often involves swindling a woman of everything she has, domestic violence, imprisonment, and/or psychological abuse: the “Love fraudsters” like Robert Freegard.

Black Widow is the female version of the Don Juan type like Blanche Taylor Moore who drugged (and in some cases murdered her husbands) to steal their money.

Con Artist whose focus is to coercively control and swindle groups: these include cult leaders like Jim Jones who take everything their supporters have, control their lives 24/7 effectively turning everyone into their slaves and then commit mass murder (the members of the cult go to their deaths willingly).

Serial Killer whose focus is to “experiment” (according to many of them, in their own words) and/or prey on the vulnerable. They usually target people society doesn’t care about: they are the more commonly known sadistic torturers, rapists and/or murderers like Colonel Russell Williams, who was in charge of Canada’s top secret military base in Dubai and later Canada’s largest Air Force base on Canadian soil. He was convicted of the rapes/murders of two women but is suspected of many more overseas. The top-secret nature of the Dubai base would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to track his activities there. “Experiments” include Leonard Lake’s “Miranda Project” and Jeffrey Dahmer’s attempts to create “Zombies”. In fact, America’s first known serial killer was a Doctor, H.H. Holmes who built a hotel to lure his victims so he could cannibalize them.

Last, but far from least, the Puppet Master whose focus is to establish wide-ranging power and coercive control in society: they are the ones who control other psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists, and exploit their varied “skills” or foci to build a power base like that of the Epstein-style cults around the world, including the one in Canada, which was initiated by John Kennett Starnes and Cyril Reitman and further built and developed by Joel Reitman.

In my opinion, the Pedophile Psychopath whose focus is the sexual exploitation and abuse of children can be broken down into the same types as above in addition to being a Pedophile.

A 2009 article in the Psychiatric Times indicates that all pedophiles have psychopathic traits:

“In sum, research shows highly consistent evidence for cognitive distortions and sexual abuse histories, fairly consistent evidence for psychopathic traits, and mixed evidence for avoidant personality traits, impulsivity, and neurobiological or neuropsychological impairment.” Psychopathology and Personality Traits of Pedophiles, Psychiatric Times

The Difference between Puppet Master Psychopaths and Garden Variety Psychopaths

While it can be argued that all psychopaths crave power, the question becomes power over whom.

Garden variety psychopaths are looking to establish it in a limited venue based on personal preference: power over an individual woman or a small group of women (man/men, in the case of the Black Widow), children, small social and community groups.

The Puppet Master psychopaths, on the other hand, are looking for a wider base of power and coercive control in society as a whole.

We see the garden variety psychopath more often in certain professions like Psychiatry, Psychology and Medicine or low to mid-level positions in Police, Intelligence and the Military as well as large corporations. These professions offer opportunities to feed the psychopaths’ need for coercive control, sadistic abuse and torture (physical, medical, and psychological), as well as medical and other types of murder, all done in the name of “helping people” or “helping” through “experimentation”.

The Puppet Master psychopath will be found in key positions in the top echelons of the same organizations, institutions and corporations.

Examples of Types of Psychopaths

The Freegard case (UK/Europe) is a good example of the Don Juan type of psychopath. While the documentary refers to him as a “Puppet Master”, in my opinion, he isn’t. His focus of coercive control was individual women:

"Freegards' lies are so completely off the grid that they're almost believable." - FBI Special Agent, Jaclyn Zappacosta (quote from Pt 3 of the documentary)

“In the 1990s and the early 2000s, the con artist ruined numerous lives while posing as an undercover MI5 agent in Europe. He spent 10 years emotionally manipulating his victims into giving him their money, their trust and eventually their freedom by running away with him, according to Netflix”. - Netflix's 'The Puppet Master' con artist arrested in Belgium

Another good example is the Robert Berchtold case covered by the nine-part documentary, A Friend of the Family (TV Mini Series 2022) - IMDb (US). He’s a Con Artist type of Pedophile psychopath who conned and exploited an entire community and family to gain access to one of the children.

“I was abducted twice and sexually abused by a very close family friend, a father of five whom we met at church. Over the three years before my kidnappings, he manipulated my parents, my siblings, and our community, and groomed me and my entire orbit into trusting him. He was charming and fun, tender-hearted, service-oriented, or so it seemed. He looked like everybody else in my safe, small, Idaho hometown.” -Jan Broberg: Why I Told My Story of Childhood Sexual Abuse in A Friend of the Family

One of the most infamous Black Widows was a Canadian woman from Nova Scotia, Melissa Ann Shepherd, who drugged and, in some cases, murdered her husbands to steal their money.”

“In her golden years, her crimes became increasingly steeped in violence and a pattern began to emerge. Shepard began targeting elderly men who had been recently widowed, gaining their trust and access to their life savings while allegations swirled of her slipping tranquilizers into their food.” Canada's Black Widow: the rosy-cheeked killer is back on the streets

The two most prolific Serial Killer types of psychopaths in Canada were RCMP informants who escaped capture for years. In both cases, the RCMP had received information from other informants that they were serial killers and chose not to act on it.

Clifford Olson (deceased) had been arrested four times for the rapes of children and was released every time. His fifth arrest led to a deal where his wife and son received $100,000 for his confession ($10,000 per child, the 11th was a “freebie”) and for providing the location of the bodies for the one’s who hadn’t been found. He was convicted of the rape and murder of these 11 children, ranging in age from 9 to 18, and suspected of more.

Clifford Olson:  The Investigation (TV Movie 2002) - YouTube

Other RCMP informants reported concerns about Robert “Willie” Pickton and were ignored despite first hand witness testimony of seeing him with a woman’s dead body on his farm. In the end, Pickton was caught by a rookie officer “who didn’t know better”. Pickton was eventually charged with the murders of 26 women, convicted of 6 murders but believed to be responsible for many more.

Pickton’s Piggy Palace bar was known as a cop hang out and, according to the Witness Testimony statements in the Memorandum… linked below, was also frequented by high profile public figures and intelligence agents. While the original bar was shut down after Pickton’s arrest, it was apparently reopened in another secret location.

Robert “Willie” Pickton: RCMP botched interview with Pickton: inquiry

Serial Killer: Robert Pickton (The Pig Farmer Killer) - Full Documentary

The reality was that the RCMP didn’t take either investigation seriously until community outrage and pressure was so strong that they could no longer ignore the situation. The RCMP never have trouble finding resources to support cases that matter to them. In my opinion, the alleged lack of resources is just a public relations spin when they want to justify their lack of action.

Combine the above information with the following first-hand witness testimonies, provided to Kevin Annett, and come to your own conclusions.

Memorandum on the organized disappearance, torture, exploitation, and murder of women and children on Canada’s West Coast – A Summary by Eye Witnesses

Witness 1.

“2. The alleged “hooker game” is a protected system run by Vancouver police and RCMP officers in which prostitutes are arrested, drugged, raped and sometimes filmed as part of violent pornographic and “snuff” movies, in which they are tortured and killed on film. The women killed in this manner are then disposed of at special body dumping sites monitored by the police.

3. The witness claims that there are two levels of the “hooker game”: the simplest level involves the arrest, drugging and raping of prostitutes, then releasing them. The witness estimates that at least one-quarter of all Vancouver policemen take part in this level of the “hooker game”, and that the rest of the police force as well as the Mayor and Chief of Police are aware of it. The higher level of the game involves the use of prostitutes in snuff and pornographic films, and in torturing and murdering them. While unaware of the details of the more extreme level of the game, most police know of its existence but do not betray it or its practitioners for fear that their involvement in the lower level of the game will be exposed.

10. Witness claims that a snuff film network in Vancouver involves MICHAELSON [RCMP], a CBC cameraman named Gerry DUNNE associated with Pogo Productions, a film maker named Dave COLLINS who owns Lions Gate Studios, an underworld enforcer named LARRY, a porn film star named Tom TASSE, and the PICTON brothers. TASSE worked in a snuff film studio in the basement of a North Vancouver home a few blocks from MICHAELSON’s RCMP office. Snuff films sell for up to $250,000 and have eager buyers in Asian countries and the USA.

23. All of the facts described herein by the witness were related by her in person to Linda Malcolm, a police woman with the VPD in January of 2006, as part of the Missing Women’s Task Force. No action has been forthcoming.”

Witness 6

“3. Witness confirms the statements of Witness #1, Annie PARKER, concerning the identity of Bruce MICHAELSON and other police connected to the disappearance, torture, rape and murder of women in Vancouver.

4. Witness claims that the disappearance of Vancouver aboriginal women as part of the aforementioned “Hooker Game” is directly connected to the murder of women in northern B.C. along the so-called “Highway of Tears”, and is being actively covered-up by government, judges and police in B.C.

5. Witness claims that she and her associates at the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre (DEWC) face continual harassment by the police and by former DEWC senior staff, some of whom actively resisted their efforts to expose the murderers of aboriginal women in Vancouver. Witness claims that these staff and others are aware of the identity of these murderers and are working with city police and others to conceal their identity.”

Witness 3

”5. Witness states that the activities of Willie and Dave PICTON on the Musqueam reserve were fully known and approved by all the band councillors at Musqueam, including Wendy SPARROW, aka Wendy GRANT-JOHN, federal Department of Indian Affairs official and wife of accused pedophile-drug dealer Chief Ed JOHN, who is domiciled at the Musqueam reserve and owns adjoining Celtic Shipyards.

2. Summary of allegations of witness: The Musqueam Reserve has operated as a mass grave and body dumping site since at least 1989. It is also a center of illegal drug and armaments importing through the adjoining Celtic Shipyards, and is connected to native-run pedophile rings that extend to northern B.C. and southern Alberta. The Musqueam band council leaders, especially the GUERIN, SPARROW and GRANT-JOHN families, are involved in these criminal activities in conjunction with officials of the RCMP, the First Nations Summit and the federal government of Canada….”

Witness 4

“1. Witness affirms all that witness #3 alleges in his statement, adding that he and his extended family are being targeted by the SPARROW clique for their opposition to the crimes described. In particular, witness claims that his grandchildren have been deliberately seized by Ministry of Children and Family (MCF) officials and sent into foster homes operated by known pedophiles in order to silence the witness and force him into conformity. (See Exhibit F) (Note: MCF was run by SPARROW relative and Musqueam enforcer Ed JOHN during 2000-2001 when he served in the provincial government).”

The garden variety psychopath inflicts some pretty serious evil, as you can see from the examples above, but it’s not enough to meet the Puppet Masters needs as the Pickton case would appear to demonstrate. There seems to be a lot more to that case than meets the eye and a likely Puppet Master behind the scenes as yet unidentified.

Continued in Part 2

Part 2 Preview

The Puppet Master is looking for real power in the wider society as a whole, or in a large corporation, institution or organization. They have a particular affinity for Executive positions as well as the upper-level echelons in Military, Intelligence, and Policing agencies. These are all positions where absolute power can be exercised internally and strong influence externally, in society at large, to varying degrees.

This is a currently incomplete SNA (Social Network Analysis) diagram overlaid with a very revealing VENN diagram. At this point the names don’t matter. However, they’ll all be visible when the SNA is complete. It’s the relationships revealed by the VENN diagram that are interesting here. I’ll explain it in my next article and leave you to come to your own conclusions.