that he absolutely hated him. This early exposure to misogynist violence may account for elements of Lépine’s psychology; however, by examining the role that his mother and sister took in his life, we gain a much broader perspective. During Marc’s childhood, his mother spent very little time with him. Since he had already suffered psychologically as a result of his father’s abuse, this increased his vulnerability to negative emotions. Rather than rationally understanding his mother’s plight as an overworked single parent, Marc felt simply abandoned. To make matters worse, his sister, Nadia, mocked him mercilessly during his teens and early twenties. With the two primary female figures in his life projecting the notion that he was unworthy of a woman’s love (Monique doing so unintentionally, Nadia maliciously), the acne-ridden, bookish Lépine was unable to envision a woman ever wanting a romantic relationship with him. These impressions laid the groundwork for his misogyny, which his narcissistic intellect forged into ideology. Ultimately, this ideology created political justifications that masked the insecurities underlying his hatred of women. I present this as an explanation, not a justification.
Underpinning Lépine’s misogyny, obsession with violence, fatalism, and need to convince the world that he was a “somebody” was his extreme narcissistic vulnerability. We will explore the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder later, in the case of fellow Montreal school shooter Valery Fabrikant (Chapter 4). To quote Monique Lépine,
For him [Marc] … everything was, categorically, either black and white, good or bad, total belief or outright defiance. He could never be cheerful if he was down or believe he could succeed if anyone (his sister for example) thought he was a loser.… Because he couldn’t love himself, he became convinced that no member of the opposite sex could ever love him.… He was narcissistic, anti-social, and extremely sensitive to rejection. Whenever he experienced setbacks, he took refuge in violent, extravagant daydreams that compensated for his feelings of incompetence. [25]
Andre Kirchhoff
Peter John Peters
Tattoo Man
“When the police find you, make sure you tell them that I was a real nice guy.”
Victims: 2 killed/1 wounded
Duration of rampage: January 20 to 25, 1990 (spree killer)
Locations: London, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario
Weapons: Manual strangulation/plastic bag suffocation; iron bar
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Before dawn on Monday, January 22, 1990, Albert Philip rolled from the warmth of his bed and glanced out the window. In the dim glow of the streetlights, snowflakes were falling on Ellis Avenue, as if powdering a corpse for burial. Beneath the blankets, Albert’s wife lay sleeping. Careful not to wake her or their thirteen-year-old daughter, the ageing man put on his coat, slipped out the front door, and drove to the downtown Toronto parking garage where he worked as an attendant. He was a kind and considerate man, known for providing food to the homeless. Albert clocked in for his shift and began readying himself for work, intending to rouse his wife shortly after with a routine wake-up call. Sadly, his life of peaceful order was about to be interrupted by the savage forces of chaos.
Albert’s wife arose late at 7:30 a.m., surprised not to have been woken by her husband’s gentle tone. When she telephoned the parking building’s office to check on him, she received no answer. Concerned, Mrs. Philip called another employee and asked him to investigate. Heading downstairs to the office, the co-worker came face to face with a bloodied Albert Philip — unconscious and barely breathing. Police and paramedics arriving on the scene doubted the sixty-three-year-old would survive his attack. Albert’s skull had been fractured several times, propelling his false teeth under the radiator. He had also sustained numerous defence wounds
Underpinning Lépine’s misogyny, obsession with violence, fatalism, and need to convince the world that he was a “somebody” was his extreme narcissistic vulnerability. We will explore the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder later, in the case of fellow Montreal school shooter Valery Fabrikant (Chapter 4). To quote Monique Lépine,
For him [Marc] … everything was, categorically, either black and white, good or bad, total belief or outright defiance. He could never be cheerful if he was down or believe he could succeed if anyone (his sister for example) thought he was a loser.… Because he couldn’t love himself, he became convinced that no member of the opposite sex could ever love him.… He was narcissistic, anti-social, and extremely sensitive to rejection. Whenever he experienced setbacks, he took refuge in violent, extravagant daydreams that compensated for his feelings of incompetence. [25]
Andre Kirchhoff
Peter John Peters
Tattoo Man
“When the police find you, make sure you tell them that I was a real nice guy.”
Victims: 2 killed/1 wounded
Duration of rampage: January 20 to 25, 1990 (spree killer)
Locations: London, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario
Weapons: Manual strangulation/plastic bag suffocation; iron bar
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Before dawn on Monday, January 22, 1990, Albert Philip rolled from the warmth of his bed and glanced out the window. In the dim glow of the streetlights, snowflakes were falling on Ellis Avenue, as if powdering a corpse for burial. Beneath the blankets, Albert’s wife lay sleeping. Careful not to wake her or their thirteen-year-old daughter, the ageing man put on his coat, slipped out the front door, and drove to the downtown Toronto parking garage where he worked as an attendant. He was a kind and considerate man, known for providing food to the homeless. Albert clocked in for his shift and began readying himself for work, intending to rouse his wife shortly after with a routine wake-up call. Sadly, his life of peaceful order was about to be interrupted by the savage forces of chaos.
Albert’s wife arose late at 7:30 a.m., surprised not to have been woken by her husband’s gentle tone. When she telephoned the parking building’s office to check on him, she received no answer. Concerned, Mrs. Philip called another employee and asked him to investigate. Heading downstairs to the office, the co-worker came face to face with a bloodied Albert Philip — unconscious and barely breathing. Police and paramedics arriving on the scene doubted the sixty-three-year-old would survive his attack. Albert’s skull had been fractured several times, propelling his false teeth under the radiator. He had also sustained numerous defence wounds
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