Born killer?
down to earth,” recalled Massey, a former underworld driver. “I pressed the gun up to his chest and said, ‘Get back inside.’ For some unimaginable reason the guy thought he was more powerful than a gun. Because the gun was levelled at his chest, that’s where he got hit.” Massey then stood over the body of 30- year- old Charlie Higgins and fired five rounds at the bar.
A judge jailed him for at least 20 years for murder but Massey ended up serving twice that for his many escapes.
One time he ended up on the run in Spain. He last broke out by climbing over a wall at Pentonville jail when he was 64. Forensic psychologist Dr Vicky Thakordas-desai has spent 20 years interviewing Britain’s most violent offenders in prison. She said: “We know now that maternal abandonment can turn on and off certain genes.”
She said the feeling of early neglect may have numbed his emotions while also stunting the development of his personality and the structure of the developing brain which, she said, “increases the risk of developing a psychopathic personality”.
Prof Raine added: “All these factors can create a psychopathic personality disorder, which is characterised by a lack of feeling or empathy thy for other people, ,a a lack of remorse, a lack of guilt.
“J o hn was showing rather callous, psychopathic-like behaviour sticking that t gun into the he bouncer’s then later stepping over the e dead body bod and shooting up the club.”
Reflecting on the findings,
Massey said: “It was obviously the wrong g combination that evening, which I obviously fully regret. And I’ve got a lot of sympathy with w his family.”
Experts hope the t findings can help h prevent violent v crime by identifiying people with risk factors.
Whatmake What Makes A Murderer, Channel 4
Thursday 9pm.