© Ron Antonelli/New York Daily NewsDavid Tarloff after his arrest for the brutal murder of Kathryn Faughey.
Psycho slasher David Tarloff truly believed he was the Messiah following instructions from God when he set out to rob his first shrink in 2008, a defense expert witness testified in his murder trial Tuesday.
Tarloff's deluded plot to hold Kent Shinbach hostage to get money to rescue his infirm mother from a Queens nursing home was sanctioned by God, at least in his sick mind, psychiatrist Eric Goldsmith testified.
"That was the belief he was operating under," Goldsmith told jurors.
Tarloff stabbed and bludgeoned Shinbach's colleague Kathryn Faughey to death and nearly killed Shinbach but did not get money and fled the E. 79th St. office the doctors shared, only to be tracked down and arrested days after the Feb. 12, 2008 slaying.
But the schizophrenic accused killer is so mentally ill "he failed to appreciate his actions that night were wrong," Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith, who is expected to be on the witness stand for days, is the fourth to testify on behalf of Tarloff's insanity defense. Prosecutors and Faughey's family argue Tarloff knew his actions were criminal and he should be held accountable for the heinous killing.
Comment: It's important to note, that psychopathy can be both categorical and dimensional. That is, there are types and gradations of psychopaths. Martha Stout makes this pretty clear in The Sociopath Next Door. Some of them can be very covert, some can be "raging" mad dog types, others can be pitiful/poor me game players, etc.
Or, there can be individuals who are not psychopaths who react psychopathically when triggered because that is the kind of programming they have from their upbringing and exposure to pathological behavior. In that case, it is not really a psychopath, but rather a sociopath/ a "situational psychopath" who can also be described as a secondary psychopath.
Read the following books to learn more on the topic:
Political Ponerology - A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes by Andrzej M. Lobaczewski.
The Mask of Sanity by Hervey Cleckley, M.D.
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work by Paul Babiak, Ph.D., and psychopathy expert Dr Robert D. Hare.