Many believe that people capable of committing serial murder or spree killing are born “evil,” and in some cases this can be perceived as at least somewhat truthful. This however cannot be the case for Lee Boyd Malvo, one of the two people responsible for the D.C. Sniper Attacks. The D.C. sniper case, also known as the Beltway sniper attacks, were a stretch of organized shootings that occurred over a three week period in the states of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Colombia. Ten deaths and three injuries were the products of these shootings, but on October 24, 2002, Lee Boyd Malvo and his “mentor,” John Allen Muhammad, were found and arrested ending their terror spree (“Beltway Snipers,” n.d.). When crimes like these occur, many people wonder what it was that caused this person to behave the way they did. The same was …show more content…
Although the severity and exactly which disorders Lee Boyd Malvo may have had is controversial, it is agreed that there was at least some type of mental disorder or hormonal imbalance at play. It is important to note that I believe, based on my research, that the biological factor were the factors that affected Malvo more than other factors. The strongest biological factor for Malvo is brainwashing. Brainwashing is a controversial factor many people do not believe is possible. Brainwashing is referred to as a non-scientific concept that the human mind can be altered by psychological concepts. The argument that brainwashing was a part of Malvo’s case is due to the fact that Muhammad took over care for Malvo at a young age. As a young boy, Malvo wanted a strong father figure; and this made him easily controlled by Muhammad who became the father figure Malvo desired. As Malvo grew up, Muhammad used his position as caretaker to slowly gain control over Malvo so that Malvo would do as he said without any hesitation or