Posted on 10/21/2005 7:34:48 AM PDT by smartin
MARTINEZ, California (CNN) -- The teenage suspect in the beating death of a prominent lawyer's wife was described by classmates as a "gothic" loner who followed the occult and dressed in black from the polish on his fingernails to his trench coat.
The young man is being held as a juvenile in the slaying of Pamela Vitale, wife of lawyer and television pundit Daniel Horowitz. Police say he apparently acted alone.
Horowitz found Vitale's body when he returned to a trailer the couple shared while they built a dream estate on a hilltop in affluent Lafayette, east of Oakland.
Authorities said Vitale, 52, was bludgeoned by a strip of crown molding and fought with her killer. (See video about the arrest -- 4:35)
A gothic cross was carved into her back. That symbol may be a key link to the suspect.
"He was just really a gothic kid, and everyone knew who he was just because of his apparel. When you heard the name, you were just like, 'Oh, that kid,' " a classmate told CNN.
"He just definitely stood out in front of anybody in the school," the classmate added. "When he walked by, everybody talked about him -- like, he definitely didn't blend in."
Authorities would not identify the 16-year-old, and CNN is not naming him because of his age. But news outlets in the San Francisco Bay area widely publicized his name after his arrest late Wednesday.
Former classmates told The Associated Press that the teenager drew a pentagram on the ground at school, telling other students he was reading from the book of Satan.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yes, so sayeth the town hippie.
Yes it is -- when my grandaughter told me about the new name for cutters I was speechless... something's wrong with the support of lack of support our kids are getting.
Jeez,,,,those pics of the boy make me sad. He really was such a sweet, happy looking kid a few years ago.
Everyone around there sounds like a real mess.
I had a friend who cut herself. It is a reflection of very deep pain.
Emo's are usually young BPD'ers....and usually (not always, but often) there is a history of abuse, either sexual or physical in their backgrounds.
Your emotions aren't validated when you're abused, so they get lost, or mislabled.
Cutting is a way to feel, or sometimes destroy the self that you've come to hate so much.
Yep,
Usually (again, not always) they are either BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) OR DESNOS (Disorders of Extreme Stress...Not otherwise specified).
In one support forum I'm on, there are lots of cutters.....and yes, they are in hell.
And get this, my friend from middle school who cut herself? Converted to Islam and supposedly moved to Algeria.
Cutters were big in my kids Texas high school. Seems girls were into it more than boys. All kinds of kids do it...not just the Goths and loser kids. My kids think that SOME kids do it to be "cool". I know.........disgusting.
I've known different Goth kids/adults in my life. Most of them were just morbidly depressed. Some were just bored and ignored and it was a way to get attention.
Funny, but most of them would faint at the sight of real blood ;)
Thanks for the info, najida. Lines up with what I know of these kids.
It's all about attention. They love to say they aren't following the crowd and are unique.......except that they are just following a different crowd.
My theory is the same as yours: they are ignored and screaming for attention.....mostly from thier parents.
The one relatively close Goth friend I had was the survivor of a horrible childhood...abandoned by her Mom, unbalanced father who would leave her in the care of a stepmom who wouldn't feed her. She became so malnourished she started having seizures. Toss in a rape at 14 where she was almost killed...
ANYHOW, she's very into death, darkness, pain etc. Lots of tats and piercings. Major issues with trust, real emotions are hard for her to reference.......and recently diagnosed as Schizoaffective...well, no surprise there!
Your emotions aren't validated when you're abused, so they get lost, or mislabled.
Cutting is a way to feel, or sometimes destroy the self that you've come to hate so much.
I feel sad when I read what you've written. We've done a great injustice to our children...
I'm sad grown-ups have let the children down so much that this would happen. The next time a nutty feminist tells me it doesn't matter if you put a young child in an impersonal day care center, or that coming home to an empty house doesn't matter, I'm going to turn my back on the person and walk away. I'm am sickened by what's happening to our young and defenseless children.
Sometimes it's just a fashion affectation. One of my good friends from college has been "Goth style" on and off ... but she had a good childhood with loving parents, has a college degree, a husband and a sweet little toddler, and survived breast cancer treatment like a champ.
I agree that lots of them its just "I like black and look good in red lipstick".
Granted, the only ones I've known were this one particular woman and her circle of friends, who were all just as damaged as her. Interestingly enough, her husband was a real fundementalist Christian (how the two of them got together I'll never know). :)
This girl's mom was stay at home, they are very religious. I still see the mom when I go home at church. Mom and Dad still married. The other daughter is a doctor who went to some of the best schools in the country. Go figure.
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