UK: Man stabbed 32 times 'over false rape claim'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A murdered man was stabbed 32 times by his friend who falsely accused him of being a rapist, a court has heard.

Ryan Merna, the son of the owners of Compton Acres botanical gardens in Poole, suffered wounds to his head, groin and chest in the attack at his flat in the town in August last year.

Paul Taylor, 50, "whooped and shouted" in celebration when he learned of the death, Winchester Crown Court was told.

Mr Taylor, who denies murder, told police he acted in self-defence.
...
Ms Maylin said Mr Taylor told officers who arrested him: "I have killed a rapist. I really hope he is dead.

"I came here to murder him, he needs to pay for what he has done."

But she said the woman concerned had denied there had been any sexual assault.

Mr Taylor was assessed as being sane but suffering from a personality disorder at the time of the attack, the court heard.

The trial continues.'

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The accused murderer, who appears to have admitted his crime, is nuts. The false accusation did not come from an otherwise sane person who wanted an excuse to commit the murder or whose false accusation led to murder, the accuser just irresponsibly taking the chance that someone may act on his or her false accusation.

No, this one sounds like Just Plain Nuts. Not crazy in the sense that the perp isn't responsible for his actions. By "personality disorder", it means that he deals with others in such a way as to cause difficulty in his own life and theirs. Disordered personalities typically use lies to get what they want, not caring about the effects. Anti-social personalities (ie, sociopaths), narcissists, borderlines -- all use lies and half-truths to manipulate others and the image they try to project. Some are easily spotted while others are a lot cagier and work hard to put forth an agreeable image, all while scheming and plotting. While they are nuts in the conventional sense, they are not the kind of crazy that gets them off from the consequences of their acts. They know or should know what they are doing and the outcomes likely from it. They do not get a judicial pass from accountability. Well, let's just say they shouldn't get such a pass.

What's telling in this story is not that you have a whack-job going around murdering others, even supposed friends. Crazy is as crazy does and alas, we'll always have crazy people among us. What is significant is that as batty as he is, he THINKS and by implication expects that if he can accuse the dead man of being a rapist and that he was pursuing vigilante justice, he imagines he will draw a lesser penalty or face no consequences at all for his actions. That he seems to believe that if he can successfully accuse the dead man of being a rapist, he will be able to get away with murder.

So that does not prove anything in and of itself. But it points to something. It points to the notion that if a man can be successfully accused of rape, not just found guilty of it, but have an accusation stick, it leads to crimes committed against him to be treated in a far more lenient fashion. After all, why would the perp come out with such an accusation if he didn't think that would be the effect?

Only other explanation is that for whatever reason, the perp actually thinks his victim was indeed a rapist. But the supposed victim denies any such thing. So is the killer just making the story up in his head and actually believing it? If so, we go from just garden-variety crazy to clinically nuts, ie, schizophrenia with delusions. Or did he through hearsay get the idea that his victim was, in fact, a rapist? I lean more toward the standard nutty explanation paired with the disordered personality. Even if the victim was indeed a rapist, the penalty for same ought not to be an extrajudicial execution. Allowing people a pass to be judge, jury, and executioner is a slippery slope best not slid down.

Will there be justice for the murder victim? We'll see, I guess.

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