.:How Well Do You Know Someone?:.

[GreekGoddess]

How well do we really know someone, or at least think you do? Over the past couple of days, I have asked myself that same question over and over.

http://www.drc.state.oh.us/cfdocs/in...&offnum=385989
http://www.the-review.com/Site%20Arc...0121local.html
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/...an00/0178.html
http://www.the-review.com/Site%20Arc...0119local.html

Joseph Wilkes was someone I grew up with, and was very close to. He was a great friend, very sweet, the kind of guy that was raised right. Not once, did it ever cross my mind that he would ever think of harming someone in the way he murdered the Alliance woman. He was just a good friend. He had his problems, like anyone else I knew. Growing up and being a teenager, we all did. There were times where we were all on the verge of being 'kicked out' or wanted to leave home because we didn't get our way about something. That was just the way things were then.

I've read over these articles a thousand times, searching for some clue. But the monster in the arcticles isn't the person that I knew at all. I don't know who he is. It makes me question so many things. And it scares me to think that it could have been me. He took so little money for the crime, who's to say he wouldn't have taken money to do the same to me?

I've 'known' him for years...or at least I thought I did. I guess I didn't really know him at all.

So, my question is:

How do you know someone? How do you know when they're capable of doing something like this, even though, everything you've ever thought of them...never entailed murder?

(Also, this is something that happened a few years ago now, but it has just come to mind recently, so forgive the ancient articles.)

[raisor]

First I would like to say that I am sorry this happened. Second I would like to answer your question by saying that you only "know" someone as well as the let you "know" them. How can anyone "know" anyone else? How can one person know how another persons mind works? How well do most people know themselves? Humans are very complex organisms when it comes to the way their brains work. I wont spend much more time on this, I only want to ask one last question. Ask yourself this, Can you honestly say that you would know how you would react if a stranger off the street walked up to you and held a gun to your head? Would you run? Would you pass out? Would you fight back? I can honestly say that I can not predict how I would react if this were to happen to me. I would like to say that the person that did this better have a good reason for doing so and be a good aim because I would definitly kick their ASS for doing this, but then again I could just as easily break down and cry and piss my pants on the spot. Well, enough of my thoughts spewing forth. Im off to work now.

[Joey_Batch_File]

Greek,

I understand the point of your post, that you never really know someone and to be honest "Anyone is capable of anything". However, your post just sparked something else in me, and my rants went full throttle. I was reading the articles and I was paying more attention to the incident in hand rather than your former friend. That Thorne individual is one Fracked Up Piece of Shiznit. The loser put a $200. contract on the Mother's of his son head so he didn't have to pay child support? Can someone explain this to me? Then contacted your friend who was strung out on cocaine and LSD, because who in their right mind would murder for $200.? The worse part of this whole situation is that the boy is w/ the fathers family. I feel so sorry for that little boy. He is going to be brained washed his whole life. They are going to tell him his mother died in an accident or something, until he is old enough to put 2 and 2 together, and then I hope he bitch slaps that piece of Shiznit that claims to be his father, attends counseling for the rest of his life, and struggles to lead a normal healthy life. This shiznit is Funked Up....

May I just say this: "Allow me to write to my son from prison and be a father to him,". Yes, son I paid $200. to have your mother slained so I didn't have to pay child support for you, but I still want you in my life. Again may I say WTF?

[mohaughn]

It's obviously a case of drug abuse.. and obviously some heavy drug abuse. The guy in the pictures looks pretty strung out..

Greek- Was he a drug abuser when you knew him? If not, it is very possible that he was not the same person you knew at the time he committed the crime.

I personally have been on the victim end of a criminal act that was committed by someone strung out on coke.. And that person had been my best friend at one time.. They were definitely not the same person with the drugs in their life.

[preep]

people have two side`s, like a yin and yang.
obvoisly his bad side was taken to the extreme, ive seen good people turn bad, and visa versa (like me) its a shame how someone can get kicked down so much, he does summin bad to get even, ob.s he couldnt take any more

Preep

[soia]

Before you get to know someone else, Do you know who you are??? This may seem a simple question but it may take a long time to answer. The answer may come in many different shapes and sizes. So when he did this horrendous act he may have or have not known who he was at the time. So can you really know someone??? I do not believe that you can.

[[WebCarnage]]

Apparently a good life is worth $200...


...And an evil one is only 30 years in a cell.

[NetSyn]

u never truely know anyone.. nor do u even ever truely know urself..

for all u know u could have split personalitys that uve never seen that may develope later in ur life and u could go around killing people 2

****ed up world we live in, and even more ****ed up people that we live in it with

--NetSyN

[Negative]

It takes most people an entire lifetime to get to know themselves. And most people never get to know every aspect of themselves. Most people don't get to know how they'd react in extreme situations, simply because they won't have to face them. Therefore I think it's wrong to judge that person by the way he reacted in an extreme situation. That doesn't change anything about the fact that he murdered someone and should be punished, of course.

I honestly don't know how I'd react myself if I were hungry and on drugs, and someone offered me 200 bucks to murder someone. We probably all like to think of ourselves as 'cool' and not being influencable by things like that. Easy to say if you're not in that situation, I guess...

Therefore, I don't think you'll ever know if someone is capable of doing something like that unless you actually see that person being faced with a situation that could lead to this kind of behaviour.

I can understand how something like this makes one question his own judgement of people, how this could make one suspicious about everything that looks like a 'clue' that 'announces' behaviour like that. And while it's important to look for those kind of clues in order to prevent something like that from happening, it shouldn't dominate your friendship/relationship; and you can't be blamed for not having noticed it - if there were anything to notice at all, that is.

[cocoke]

I am sorry to hear that, GreekGoddess.
One thing I can say is that you must known him one point.
I mean human change depends on their experiences, and environment. Thats how people 'develop', and not 'change'.

One more thing is money gets people. for any reason.
which is really sad.

I think it was good that you put this question in here, because I have simillar story on it, (rather not mention)

But your moment with him, that u used to know, will stay eternal and dnt let this sad thing change ur feeling towards him.

take care.