Very sad. Imagine what it’s like to be the parents of a little monster like that. Clearly these people are doing their best with a kid whose brain is wired up wrong.
Not all kids who have this wiring problem give you a warning by (for instance) barbecuing kittens. I had friends who were nearly beggared by a girl they adopted in infancy. They adopted three other children, another girl and two boys, and the kids grew up to be terrific people, just like the parents. But the girl was a terror. She never raised her voice, never misbehaved in school, always acted perfectly, but she was sweetly, politely evil. And she had the acting skills of the greatest actress on the stage. You would believe anything she said. She had cops, doctors, psychiatrists, and judges—hardened, experienced people—wrapped around her little finger.
I’ve known a couple of other people like that. One was a real bad seed, a beautiful girl who as a teen enjoyed accusing innocent men of child abuse and wrecking their lives.
A lot of psychopaths start behaving better when they get into their thirties. Some don’t.
Yes, there’s evil in the world. There is a devil in hell. Often he uses sickness to cause suffering, whether it’s through cancer or through a person whose brain hasn’t been wired up properly and then goes on to cause misery. But we can’t put a bad nine-year-old child down as we would a dog whose brain was faulty. We have to try to do something to fix these kids.
I just got rid of a roommate who was exactly the way you described. She was creepy -- everyone tensed up when she walked in -- yet outwardly she was pretty, articulate, & put together. But very childlike. And mean -- she had rages & engaged in spiteful behavior if she couldn't get her way. She absolutely terrorized me & the other person living with us. Told out-and-out lies to the community (i.e. other girl pinched her all over). If not psychopathic, she might be borderline.
Apparently she had been abused by a schizophrenic mother (who later died in an institution) & raised by her father, who was somewhat otherworldly himself. He remarried (& divorced) someone who was also slightly off. Lethal combination: crazy mom, passive dad.
I strongly see the biogenetic base in these children. Just yesterday I had Sabbath dinner with some friends whose precocious five-year-old exhibited disturbingly hostile behavior. Kept attacking his baby brother. The parents, though very nice, were a bit off & probably unaware. The home was very messy & chaotic.
I have a by-marriage family member who fits that description to the letter. The Master Thespian performances are most sickenly displayed in the presence of People With Money.
She is a saleperson for a nationwide corporation, and is consistantly ranked #1 in sales out of everyone from all the affiliates.