Joran and Thomas alike? Yes. But no.

.
.

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.

Micah Pate is dead, Thomas Pate headed to trial

.
.

Since first writing about Thomas Pate and the death of his wife, Micah, I have read articles from sites to keep abreast of what was happening in the case. (Of course, that’s strictly from the author’s point of view, since we should take no media article as the truth of the matter. However, many are informational assistance for the public.)  Last year I was angry that the state allowed Pate to bond out; I was more angry that they allowed him to leave the state and go reside with his father, work, and be otherwise a free man.


Now I am concerned for Micah’s justice. Back when Thomas first reported his wife missing (April 30, 2009) and LE questioned him, he only wanted to talk with his father. LE agreed to allow it and Thomas finally told the investigators, in dad’s presence, where Micah’s body was at. The discussion was, of course, taped; Thomas told his dad that he was out with Micah at Loosahatchie River and they were going to shoot her gun. She walked in front of the gun; the shooting was an accident. What an odd scenario to recall since she was shot in the back of the head. Thomas went on to say that he asked if she were okay but she didn’t answer; he threw the gun in the river and took off. Allegedly during his interview, dad asked Thomas about an affair he was having, his cocaine use and alcohol; dad wanted to know if Micah knew about them. All Thomas would say is, ‘I don’t know.’ Thomas also, allegedly, told dad and LE that he had gotten off cocaine and alcohol a few years earlier but admitted he had been drinking again lately.

Now, it seems, the defense has asked for the interview to be withheld from jurors because Thomas’s dad was acting as an agent of the police when he convinced him to tell what happened to Micah. They, the defense, are saying his dad was using psychological pressure to get Thomas to confess, therefore, Thomas made the statements involuntarily. I really am not understanding the mind-set of the defense with that one; it also seems when dad asked Thomas, ‘did you kill Micah?’ Thomas said no. After he confessed to his version of how her death went down, he kept repeating it was an accident. Hmm, seems parts of the confession would help Thomas at trial. So, what defense will they use to keep Thomas out of prison for the rest of his natural life? It was an accident but we aren’t going to tell you how the accident happened? Ignore all the state puts forth since it’s all circumstantial ignorance on the part of law enforcement?

The prosecutor said that they had given Thomas Pate the Miranda; she reminded the court that he, Pate, was the one who asked to speak with his dad. I stand with the state on this one. That it was an accidental shooting just can’t find its way into a believable scenario in my mind. Micah was shoeless and the bottoms of her socks were clean. Yet, he wants us to believe she stepped in front of the gun while he was pointing it at a target, with his finger on the trigger, and turned her back to him?

We will learn on June 11, 2010 if the judge will throw out the confession in Pate’s first-degree murder trial. While we wait for that ruling, although he is wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, Thomas is still free to work with his dad, go to football games and play in a basketball league. I wonder, as I wait, if Thomas is in touch with his girlfriend. Yes. He allegedly admitted having one during his interview.

Thomas Pate’s trial was reset for March 07, 2011.


my previous post on Pate: 
http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/05/current-events-in-news.html

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/05/micah-is-dead-her-killer-is-free-to.html


a couple articles used in my surmisals:
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/042210-pate's-murder-confession-heard-in-court

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/22/bartlett-man-seeks-keep-taped-statement-murder-tri/?partner=RSS