Joran and Thomas alike? Yes. But no.

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Thanks to the reader comment for a question and giving me the incentive to put my thoughts down: Joran van der Sloot, Thomas Pate; what is the difference in these two men?



I understand the image perception of Thomas and Joran being similar but in fact to me there is a large difference. Yes. Each killed and left the body, ran - Joran after killing Stephany Flores and Thomas after killing Micah. Yes. Each killed and reached out to Dad to help them. Joran, so dad could handle the situation with Natalee- the body. But I feel Thomas needed his dad to tell him what to say, like he needed Dad's approval before he admitted he’d shot Micah. Both Thomas and Joran are liars, Thomas lied about Micah's disappearance, he’s still lying about why she died, but I don’t 'think he rates being considered a consummate liar. Being a consummate liar is reserved for Joran and the alleged killer Robert Kastner. Thomas is still lying but that is self preservation, he doesn't want to die; he is an opportunist liar. And before the murder, he simply ( if you can accept the word simply in a murder case) wanted Micah out of his life. Joran is still lying also, he knows no other way, he is a media hoarder; I don't think Thomas wants the limelight . Thomas admitted, after his dad asked him, that he had done cocaine in the past but stated he’d quit a couple years earlier. He did say he had been drinking again of late. Joran uses drugs and alcohol as a way to get his victims to go with him. It was part of his MO; I believe that was a fact in both cases, Natalee and Stephany. To me, Stephany isn't walking straight in the video where they come into the motel. She is swaying side to side. But when you see her come into the casino she isn't swaying when she walks. I am not sure Thomas slipped Micah drugs, it's possible for sure, (but I don’t remember reading of them being in her system) I do feel he definitely had complete control of her that fateful night.

Joran became attracted to a woman and decided she was his victim, he is a hunter. Thomas had someone else and no longer wanted the one he had, he needed an out. Thomas used a gun, brought it from his home as his weapon of choice; it was a quick and easy kill, and then he discarded the weapon; Joran used his hands and a tennis racket on Stephany and his hands on Natalee ( he hasn’t bragged about using any other weapon on her). I believe Joran used what was handy when he was rejected. Joran didn’t premeditate; He acted on the moment. In my opinion Thomas had total premeditation with Micah’s murder, he planned it in full, he took the weapon with him, he took her where it wouldn’t be an easy find before he could go home and clean himself up and think of an excuse scenario of why she didn’t come home.

Joran will never cry for his victims, when he goes to court on all the charges he is accused, he will be stoic and likely we will see smiles at times; Thomas will cry, he has a conscience, guilt; Shoot, he even cried hearing his own confession. He will be tearful in court partly in hopes the jury will forgo the death penalty too, and sadly, it will probably work. Both will, however, blame the victims. Thomas’s lawyer will find a way; one will be that she walked in front of the gun with the self defense defending of Thomas. Joran has always blamed Natalee, she drank too much, she used drugs, she danced on a table and fell. He has with his defense of killing Stephany too, Stephany slapped him, she grabbed his computer and was searching for information on him. In his evil mind, How dare her! I don’t think Thomas is evil, he is just a lowlife killer who didn’t have the guts to say, this marriage isn’t working, I want a divorce. He probably is a selfish individual who didn’t want to share his possessions. They were his and not hers to him. That, if true, (and I feel it is, otherwise why kill and not just leave) makes him more bordering being more narcissistic than a psychopath. Yes. I do feel a narcissistic person can have a conscience and feel guilt. I believe that being self-serving doesn’t necessarily always define the no-conscience theory that’s thrown out to the media in describing some killers.

As a matter of fact I see Joran’s personality more similar to some other killers, in particular Dennis Radar; Other than one small difference - Radar wasn’t a consummate liar like Joran - the two have no conscience; They are true psychopaths. Saying that, I will admit that I am of the belief all killers who premeditate their murders are psychopaths to a degree. Some more than others, like Dennis Radar and the Albert Fish of the world. Obvious premeditation and murder were used when Radar used a ruse to enter his victims’ homes and kill them. Just as obvious rape was tops in Joran’s mind when he was attracted to a woman, he is, to me, a serial rapist like Profiler Pat Brown alluded too and not a serial killer. There are no other bodies out there of his but there are more victims out there.

I do, (and with hopes readers won’t think I am rambling and being indecisive with the serial killer angle) believe that as Joran drank his coffee and ate, the anger at her and the fear of what he’d done, killing her and fearing being caught with her body left him. He admired his kill (otherwise he couldn’t have stayed in the same room with her body very long) and at that moment he decided no woman would survive denying him what he wanted, at that moment he became a future serial killer. If he had not been captured, more bodies would have been found. I do not feel Stephany’s death was what Joran intended to happen, nor do I think it was robbery; It was due to her fighting his advances. The money he took was an afterthought and probably to set robbery up as a motive for some unknown to have killed her.