Because Kearney was constantly changing schools throughout his childhood, he was never able to form strong relationships with his peers. He had very few friends and had trouble fitting in. Considerably thin and frail, Kearney was often teased and even bullied. Everywhere he went bullies targeted him, and this had a significant psychological impact. In high school, the effects started to appear in that he fantasized about killing people and became even more aloof from his classmates (Cook et al., n.d.). All this manifested itself in his choice of victims. Kearney chose many of his victims based on their resemblance to his childhood bullies
