The Deccan Herald newspaper in Bangalore, India reports on the arrest of a female serial killer, 43 year old Mallika. The story can be read here and here.

Serial killers are actually very rare creatures, and the female of the species is truly unusual. Perhaps that is good reason not to make a big deal about something so rare. One thing, though, caught my eye and made me think lovefraud readers may be interested too. I’ll summarise the story and you tell me what you think.

Here’s what raised my eyebrow

She allegedly committed all the murders single-handedly and for gain. She is no psychopath, the commissioner said.

Lovefraud recently received the following e-mail from a reader:

My psychologist referred me to this web site. It’s terrific save one section: How can running away from these people be the only solution? Granted, it’s a stop-gap solution to protect yourself from future abuses; however, it’s not a solution for full/final resolution.

Allowing [them] to perpetuate their endeavors and perpetrate them on others only permits proliferation. Please tell me that there is some constructive, legal way to be proactive and preventative in a more communal fashion. I have visions of: 20 years from now they rule the world. It won’t be survival of the fittest. It will have become survival of the sickest.

To have to swallow this reality would be a further devastating blow to my slowly recovering resiliency.

Editor’s note: Lovefraud recently received the following e-mail from a reader.

I went on a date last night with a man I met on MillionaireMatch.com.

Looked great on paper. His photograph was so-so and I didn’t expect much.

We met at a restaurant and when he walked in I thought to myself, “Oh that’s not him; he’s too good looking.” Well it turned out to be him. We introduced, started talking and he teased me, and asked if I was buying dinner. That was my first red flag. Why would a proclaimed millionaire ask me to pay? I thought perhaps he was screening out gold diggers. We never left the bar nor had dinner, although he paid for an appetizer and drink.

Lovefraud.com has posted a new case study: Pilot romances his co-worker, gets her to buy him a plane. Yes, it’s true. Lance Larabee, who lives near Seattle, Washington, convinced Debbie White, who lives near Chicago, Illinois, to go into business with him. He had the idea; she had the money—her recent divorce settlement. All he needed was a plane, a boat, a conversion van and money to clear up some debts.

The business never got off the ground. Five and a half years later, White learned that she had essentially bought Larabee toys—big, expensive toys that he apparently used to impress other women. Her money was gone, and she had nothing to show for it.

In fact, she was more than $100,000 in debt.

Protecting her interests

Editor’s note: The following letter was sent by a reader to Lovefraud. It is published with the permission of the author.

I was foolish enough to work as a commission salesperson for a psychopath business owner.

One difficult lesson I learned was that once a psychopath has your pay watch out! Especially for commission sales. Since they just might just want to keep your money for themselves. Or milk out the deal. Then show you who’s boss.

This particular psychopath hooked me by holding onto my pay. Claiming cash-flow problems. Then he said I had to keep working for him. Or else he would keep my back-pay for himself. Then finally… he paid me and said he was reformed. Didn’t really believe him. But was grateful anyway. Since I needed the money.

Editor’s note: Even former fraud investigators can be fooled by a sociopath. Here’s what a Lovefraud reader says about his experience.

I am a banking attorney, now in the private sector, but formerly conducting criminal bank fraud investigations when I worked for the government. A friend of mine who is a psychiatrist says I am one of the few people he’s ever met who can size up a person accurately within 10 seconds.

However, I am here to tell you from an experience I’ve been going through the last week or so that no matter how intuitive or streetsmart a person is, sociopaths are a breed unto themselves.

Lovefraud has just posted a new case study about Patrick M. Giblin of New Jersey. This guy swindled 132 women, whom he met through telephone dating services, out of $320,241—and those are just the crimes that the authorities know about. Giblin blew the money on casino gambling.

Giblin’s sentencing took place in the federal courthouse in Camden, New Jersey, on April 17, 2006. Giblin told the court his version of “the devil made me do it” story—that he took all that money from all those women because he was addicted to gambling.

Giblin’s apology

Oh, he put on quite a show, reading a letter of apology to his victims. Here it is:

Editor’s note: The following article, written by Laura Johnson, is reproduced from SmartDivorce.com. It offers tips that may help people who are divorcing a sociopath.

Even though your state may be a no-fault divorce state, it doesn’t mean that you or your spouse won’t have to answer in some way for any misbehavior during the marriage. It’s what divorce lawyers and courts refer to as marital misconduct and, in certain states, can affect the outcome of the division of property, an award of spousal support, or an award of attorney’s fees for the victim-spouse.

The legal definition of marital misconduct is any conduct that undermines the marital relationship. It becomes a factor in a divorce when the offender-spouse’s behavior forces the victim-spouse to assume extra burdens in the marriage. It isn’t meant to punish the offender-spouse or award him or her an inadequate amount of property or income, but to fairly compensate the victim-spouse.

Antisocial behavior in childhood is a major predictor of how much an individual will cost society.

That’s the conclusion of a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2001. It found that by age 28, individuals who as children had conduct disorder—kiddie sociopaths—cost public agencies 10 times more in services than children who did not have behavior problems.

The study, Financial cost of social exclusion: follow up study of antisocial children into adulthood, by Stephen Scott, Martin Knapp, Juliet Henderson and Barbara Maughan (2001), measured the costs of crime, special education services, foster and residential care, state benefits and health care. It was based on a previous study that followed 2,281 children from London. The children were divided into those with no behavior problems, those with behavior problems who were not diagnosed as having conduct disorder, and those with conduct disorder.

Lovefraud readers continue to contribute their insights about spotting sociopaths. Last week a reader contributed her list of red flags to watch for when dating.

Of course, sociopaths do not limit their victimizations to romantic relationships. They often create havoc in the workplace. So inspired by last week’s post, Adrian Melia of Humane Resources Ltd, a UK company that helps employers recognize and prevent workplace bullying, adapted the red flags to help you spot a sociopathic boss or coworker. Here’s what he wrote:

Workplace habits of a career sociopath

• Chooses and sucks up to allies (not “friends”) who are more powerful, or who he can use to further his aims, or who have something he can gain—especially money.
• Constantly criticises others, and often criticises allies behind their back.
• Says things that make no sense, gives people the feeling of walking on eggshells.