
According to research in The Journal of Neuroscience, the rate of aggression and violence after a TBI ranges from 35%-90%. TBIs are associated with an increased risk of violent behavior, including suicide and murder.

Traumatic brain injuries are a major cause of psychiatric illness and violence.įew people know about the link between traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and mental health problems because most psychiatrists never look at the brain. Paul’s active SPECT scan shows dramatic overactivity.ģ. Look at this scan of a healthy brain compared to a scan from Kip Kinkel. On SPECT, the brains of murderers show abnormal activity in a variety of brain regions, especially the prefrontal cortex involved with empathy, judgment, and forethought. It shows 3 things: areas with healthy activity, areas with too much activity, and areas with too little activity. Brain SPECT imaging is a technology that measures blood flow and activity in the brain. The brains of murderers typically don’t look healthy. People who do the worst things often have troubled brains. Here are 7 lessons from the brain scans of murderers. Click To TweetĪmen Clinics, which has the world’s largest database of functional brain scans (over 160,0000 and growing), has scanned the brains of over 1,000 convicted felons, including over 100 murderers. We use brain SPECT imaging to see inside their brains and have discovered 7 critical lessons. What do brain scans reveal about murderers? America has been captivated by killers for centuries-digging into their family histories, psychological profiles, and much more. Now, thanks to brain SPECT imaging, we can also see inside their brains. What drives some people to kill another human being? Or to gun down dozens of their schoolmates? America has been captivated by killers for centuries-digging into their family histories, psychological profiles, and so much more. I don’t know why… I have no other choice.” God damn these VOICES inside my head… I have to kill people. After the shootings, officials found 5 bombs at the Kinkel residence, one of which went off when it was being disarmed.Īuthorities found a note in the living room that Kip wrote, saying: “My head just doesn’t work right. Before the shootings, students at the high school said that Kip had talked about shooting people. Kip had once been voted as “most likely to start World War III,” according to a Thurston High School student. Under Oregon law he was too young to face the death penalty. Kip was sentenced to 112 years in prison for aggravated murder and was prosecuted as an adult. A group of classmates, including one teenager who had been shot in the chest, finally subdued him.Īfter he was arrested and taken to the police station, the freckle-faced teenager lunged at an officer with a knife that he had strapped to his leg, yelling, “Kill me, shoot me.” The officer stepped back and used pepper spray on him. Carrying a rifle and two handguns, Kip walked down a hallway and into the school cafeteria, firing off over 50 rounds that killed two students and wounded about two dozen others.

The next morning, dressed in a long trench coat, Kip drove his mom’s Ford Explorer to a spot near Thurston High School and parked it.

When his mother arrived home later that day, Kip met her in the garage, told her he loved her, then shot her multiple times. 22 rifle from his room then fired a bullet into the back of his dad’s head. According to Kip’s confession, his father was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee while Kip grabbed a. Police booked him on criminal charges and sent him home with his parents. On Wednesday, May 20, 1998, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel was caught with a stolen gun in his locker and suspended from school, pending possible expulsion.
