DANGEROUS Personalities Also by Joe Navarro Hunting Terrorists: A Look at the Psychopathology of Terror, 2nd ed. Louder Than Words (with Toni Sciarra Poynter) DANGEROUS Advanced Interviewing Techniques, 2nd ed. (John Schafer, coauthor) What Every Body Is Saying (with Marvin Karlins) Personalities Pllil Hellmuth Presents Read 'Em and Reap (with Marvin Karlins) 200 Poker Tells Clues to Deceit: A Practical List An FBI Profiler Narcissists Amorrg Us How to Spot a Psyclwpath -·-·-· .. .. .. - --;._.__. · ---'-~ ~-IC"'~-:-· ·~~ '·~·,~·= Ide.ntify·and Protect Yourself Jlow to Spot a Histrionic Persotzality - . ..... . .... . ' from Harmful People How to Spot a Borderline Personality· Interviewing Terrorists JOE NAVARRO, MA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT (RET.) with Toni Sciarra Poynter t RODALE. Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher. Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press. Copyright© 2014 by Joe Navarro All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written FOR THE VICTIMS permission of the publisher. Rodale books may be purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales. For information, please write to: Special Markets Department, Rodale Inc., 733 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Printed in the United States of America Rod ale Inc. makes every effort to use acid-free 9, recycled paper@. While the manuscript for this book was reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) prior to publication, the opinions and thoughts expressed herein are those of the author exclusively. The Dangerous Personalities Checklists in this book have been adapted from the following books previously published by Joe Navarro and are used by permission: Narcissists Among Us by Joe Navarro How to Spot a Borderline Personality by Joe Navarro How to Spot a Psychopath by Joe Navarro Book design by Amy C. King Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Navarro, Joe Dangerous personalities : an FBI profiler shows how to identify and protect yourself from harmful people I Joe Navarro, MA, FBI Special Agent (Ret.) with Toni Sciarra Poynter. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-62336-192-1 (trade hardcover) 1. Crime prevention. 2. Criminals. 3. Crime. 4. Psychopaths. 5. Antisocial personality disorders. I. Poynter, Toni Sciarra. II. Title. HV7431.N38 2014 613.6'6-dc23 2014012528 Distributed to the trade by Macmillan 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 hardcover tRODALE. We inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world around them. rnrb IPhnnks.com AUTHOR'S NOTE ............................................................................. viii There are two kinds of people in this world: those who fill yollr wp, and those who draill it. -foe Navarro ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................... ix FOREWORD BY DR. LEONARD TERRITO ..................................... xiii INTRODUCTION: Why I Wrote This Book, and How to Use It. ............ 1 CHAPTER 1: "It's All about Me": The Narcissistic Personality .......... 17 CHAPTER 2: "Fasten Your Seal Belts .. ." : The Emotionally Un slable Personality ............................................. 57 CHAPTER 3: "Trust No One and You'll Neve1· Get Hurt": The Paranoid Personality ................................................................ 93 CHAPTER 4: "What's Mine Is Mine- And What's Yours Is Mine": The Predator ................................................................................ 127 CHAPTER 5: One Is Bad, Two Is Terrible, Three Is Lethal: Combination Personalities ............................................................. 168 CHAPTER 6: Self-Defense against Dangerous Personalities ............. ~88 SELECTED RESOURCES .............................................................. 212 NOTES ............................................................................................ 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................. 223 INDEX ............................................................................................. 238 ' !" ! . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AUTHOR'S NOTE i . l ANYTIME YOU UNDERTAKE AN INTELLECTUAL journey, there are so many THIS BOOK IS INTENDED TO inform the reader or to validate what the reader I people to thank. The bibliography is full of such individuals who took the may have witnessed or experienced. It is not intended as a clinical guide and i:. ti~e to share what they know-they have my deepest appr~ciation. should not replace the services of a trained or licensed professional. r r The late Dr. Phil Quinn, who persuaded me to join the adjunct faculty r Whenever I talk to victims, I am keenly aware of what they have suf at the University of Tampa's criminology department, served as a mentor fered and the need to protect their privacy and dignity, and so I have for more than a decade as I studied and explored these individuals flawed changed the names of all the victims I have interviewed. To further protect of character and personality. To me, his perspective as a humanitarian, them, I altered slightly the details of events, dates, time, and location priest, psychologist, and criminologist was indeed unique and contributed because some police reports and divorce filings are now searchable by spe significantly to my understanding of a complex subject. cific words or groups of words. In the end, I have done my best to protect Michel St-Yves of the Surete du Quebec and fellow author has always the victims without losing the character or manner of the offense and what honored me with his friendship and collaboration ov~r the years on numer they endured. ous projects here and in Canada, where he is a giant in his field. Once more, he did not let me down with his critiques of this book. A special thanks goes to Kaja Perina, editor in chief at Psychology Today, who took time from her busy schedule to comment on early drafts of the manuscript. Dr. Leonard Territo receives my admiration as well as ix viii X ACI<NOWLEDGMENTS ACI<NOWLEDGM ENTS xi my thanks. While finishing his 12th book, he took the time from his valued counsel and loving support; and for your patience· as I struggled to cramped schedule to go through this manuscript meticulously with me work on this book for more than a year. You are a blessing in every sense of line by line. His vast experience working with dangerous personalities, the word who all too often has to insulate me from distractions. And last, including Ted Bundy, was extremely helpful. His foreword is most kind. I thank my parents, who honor me by calling me their son and for having This book would not be possible without Steve Ross, director of the provided me a loving environment sans dangerous personalities. Book Division at Abrams Artists Agency. Steve is the kind ofliterary agent foe Navarro, MA, FBI Special Agent (Ret.) who gets things done, and he is, without a doubt, one of the most interest Tampa ing people with whom to share a meal. I want to thank Alex Postman, Jennifer Levesque, and the rest of the November 2013 team at Rodale Books who have an appreciation for the welfare of others ·i ! both physically and mentally and who, upon seeing this manuscript, I ECHO JOE'S THANKS TO Steve Ross of Abrams Artists Agency, to our edi immediately understood its potential to save lives. To our editors Michael tors Mike Zimmerman and Jeff Csatari, and to the team at Rodale Books Zimmerman and Jeff Csatari, thank you for landing on this project on the for all their efforts on behalf of this book. run; you brought it all together-well done. Thank you to Dona Munker for being the staunchest, most loving, car Early drafts of this work were carefully read and reread by ]an ice Hill ing friend and fellow writer anyone could have. ary. I thank her for her insightful support and guidance. If only we could Love and gratitude to my husband, Donald, for being always in my all have teachers like her-a teacher who cares about her students-even army and in my corner, and for the way we can talk about the darkest of old ones like me. the dark and the brightest of the bright. My gratitude goes out to Elizabeth Lee Barron at the University of Tampa's Macdonald-Kelce Library, who generously assisted me with find To ]oe Navarro, thank you for our work together and for our many interviews and thoughtful conversations about the ways of dangerous per ing reference material and who, like my good friend Marc Reeser of the sonalities-a strange terrain you knew all too well. Thank you for your FBI, always makes me laugh. tireless work on every aspect of this book, for your dedication, for your To Toni Sciarra Poynter, I am indebted to you once again for shaping humor, and for your ferocious joy in learning and work. When you e-mail my words and thoughts, but more important, for being inquisitive, for me to say, ''I'm on it," I know you are on it. sharing ideas and concepts that are transformative, and for being singu Finally, at the risk of sounding unserious, I am grateful that our cat larly meticulous. What a gift you have for writing and for making my task Lucy was often curled soothingly within arm's reach on her fleece perch so much easier. Thank you, my friend. when it felt painful to write about these personalities. ·Also, I must thank my family here and in Europe for tolerating my absences as I struggled with writing a manuscript that was three times Toni Sciarra Poynter larger than what the reader will see. To my wife, Thryth, for whom I have New York City such a profound respect, I must thank you for who you are; for providing December 2013 FOREWORD WHEN MY GOOD FRIEND AND colleague Joe Navarro completed the first draft of this book, he asked if I would review the manuscript and make some constructive comments where appropriate. Once I picked up the book and started to read it, I could not put it down. It is without question one of the most interesting, useful, and user-friendly books I have ever read on this subject. Although numerous academic studies have been con ducted in the analysis of dangerous personalities, ]oe has made a conscious decision not to load this book with social science jargon or with elaborate statistical analysis. He does, however, make it clear to the reader that his discussions and conclusions about these individuals are well founded and based upon his many years of experience as an FBI Special Agent and criminal profiler. One of the main questions that came to mind as I read this book was: Who would find it both useful and interesting? I came to a one-word con clusion: everyone. This is because all of us at some time in our lives will most certainly encounter one or more of these dangerous personalities. In xlli xiv FOREWORD some cases, they may be family members, people we are dating or intend INTRODUCTION ing to marry, intimate or casual friends, or professional associates. This book is valuable because it will help readers to understand that when they are dealing with one of these dangerous personalities, even casually, there is a good chance they will be victimized. These individuals WHY I WROTE are so flawed and callous that they can make us feel as though we are responsible for the suffering they cause, while they remain impervious to THIS BOOK, AND modifying or changing their toxic behavior. If this book is carefully read, it will go a long way in accomplishing a number of objectives. First, it will assist readers in recognizing dangerous HOW TO USE IT personalities and preventing them from entering their lives in the first place. Second, it will provide readers with specific suggestions on how to most effectively deal with such individuals if they must. Third, and most important, the admonitions set forth in this book, if adhered to, may save one's life or at the very least prevent someone from being seriously injured mentally, physically, or financially. As a former homicide detective and still-active criminologist, I have ON JUNE 27, 1975, a young woman named Susan "Sue" Curtis went missing personally witnessed the havoc these dangerous personalities inflict on from an otherwise very safe college campus. She was 15 years old and innocent victims. They murder, rape, assault, steal, bully, and exploit any attending a youth conference at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, one who falls within their sphere of influence and control. Based on my where I was a rookie police officer. many years of law enforcement experience, as well as my own extensive I conducted the initial investigation into her disappearance. We inter research as a criminologist, I feel confident in saying that chances are, viewed friends and family for clues and learned that she'd gone back to her someone with a dangerous personality will come into your life or the life room to clean her new braces. But when I searched her room, her tooth of someone you love. While vigilance is helpful, vigilance coupled with brush was dry. She had never made it back. knowledge is optimal for keeping us safe. I can confidently say that Joe We could account for some of her activity (her lunch ticket had Navarro has written a remarkable book that fulfills that purpose. been used), but we were limited in what we could reconstruct-this was Dr. Leonard Territo before cameras were ubiquitous on campuses and cell phones kept us all connected. Distinguished Professor ofC riminal Justice, Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, Florida, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Criminology, We talked with her family. I still remember their fathomless pain and, desperation. Their trauma was devastating and sad, so sad. University ofS outh Florida, Tampa 1 2 DANGEROUS PERSONALITIES WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK, AND HOW TO USE IT 3 Sue was never found, and eventually all reasonable leads were be completely safe. I shudder to think what Sue Curtis, all of 15, was made exhausted. But the mystery of her disappearance always bothered me to understand that night, alone with a predator, before she died. because I had been on duty that night, patrolling the campus, and some I am convinced that this singular event drove me years later to serve as how felt partially responsible. I kept a copy of the case file containing a a criminal pro filer in the Tampa Division of the FBI and later in the FBI's large photograph of her, and for years afterward, I would scan crowds, elite National Security Division Behavioral Analysis Program. I felt com looking for a face that even remotely resembled hers. I kept the file, too, to pelled to understand criminal and abnormal behavior, and this objective remind me of my failure to protect that innocent soul. dominated much of my Bureau career. Sue Curtis disappeared on my Years passed, and I went on to become an FBI agent. Then one day, I watch. Those were my words and initials on that investigative report. That got a call from a Salt Lake City investigator. "There's something you should tragic event drove my passion to seek answers from those who knew best: know," he told me. "We never found Sue Curtis. But we know who took the criminals themselves and their victims. her." He went on to say that a good-looking young man had been driving What I learned from them, over a period of 4 decades, is that there are around campus in a Volkswagen that night, looking for a victim. That man certain personalities who hurt people the most. Over and over, they are had finally admitted to kidnapping and killing Sue Curtis. His name was responsible for crime, for torment, for misery, for financiallos~es as well as Theodore "Ted" Bundy, a man who eventually would confess to the murder for loss of life. This book is about those dangerous personalities that cause of 35 young women in four different states. us so much pain and suffering. What I learned about criminals, abnormal It's still hard to think about the almond-eyed girl with long hair whose behavior, and dangerous personalities you should know also, because it photo I looked at day after day ... whose diary I read ... whose clothing I may save your life. smelled for signs of where she might have been ... whose shoes I felt for moisture or dirt as I desperately looked for any possible clue to her where abouts. It's very possible that I had seen her killer that night driving about THE REALITY OF DANGEROUS PERSONALITIES on campus. I would have looked twice at his car for not having a BYU stu dent or faculty sticker-but many didn't that day, as there were so many By now, we're familiar with the grim headline: Lone killer walks into an visitors on campus. No illegal activity was seen or reported. It was like any office building, classroom, camp ground, or other area and, seemingly with other day, except that on this day there was a dangerous personality on cam out provocation, opens up with an assault rifle or other weapons, killing or pus: a predator and serial killer who would go on to kill many times more. maiming scores of innocent victims. And after each of these events, after BYU is one of the safest campuses in the country, yet there had been the mayhem is over and the victims are buried or patched up (the latter no an abduction and a life taken. How had this happened, and who would do doubt traumatized for life, as are their families), the question is asked: such a thing? The realization that one person can do so much damage, not "Who could do something like this, and could it have been prevented?" just to victims but also to their loved ones, was chilling. I was all of 22, a When these violent events happen, they dominate the news and preoc police officer in uniform, when I first truly understood that there are dan cupy us for months (the massacres at Virginia Tech; at Columbine High gerous personalities on this planet, and that because of them, we can never School and Sandy Hook Elementary School; and in Oslo, Norway, to name WHY I WROTE THIS 8001<, AND HOW TO USE IT 5 4 DANGEROUS PERSONALITIES you've been assaulted, mugged, or sexually abused and never reported it, just a few). Unfortunately, these horrible mass killings happen all too often. In America alone, they occur on average 18 to 20 times per year.1 Coming or if you did, nothing came of it. Much goes on around us that is never reported, and when it is, it's rare that those responsible are incarcerated. at us with almost metronomic frequency-more than one per month For 60 years, criminologists have known that fewer than 1 percent of crim such events are almost numbing. "How many were killed this time?" we inals are ever incarcerated for their crimes. ask incredulously. Was it 8, 16, 26, or 77 (as in Ut0ya, Norway, on July 22, What this means for us is that most of the people who can hurt us 2011, at the hands of Anders Behring Breivik)? these dangerous personalities-will avoid official scrutiny, wreaking hav~c Yet as staggering as these violent events are, they don't represent the in our lives without ever getting caught, or persisting for years before full picture of who victimizes most people. The sad truth is that for every they're stopped. And that's just physical harm. Not all wounds are physi mass killer, there are hundreds more who kill one child at a time, one date cal. Most of the people who cause us harm will also do it emotionally, at a time, or one spouse at a time-and these events sometimes barely psychologically, or financially. They, too, are dangerous personalities make it to page 6 in major newspapers. The mayhem that occurs under the because they put us at risk in their own way. radar, without making the national news, is the kind of crime, torment, and suffering many of us are more likely to experience. The dangerous personalities among us harm us behind closed doors at HOW FOUR DANGEROUS PERSONALITIES home, at church, at school, and in the office, often preying in secrecy on the CAME TOGETHER unsuspecting or the trusting-and for the most part, no one finds out until . it's too late. When they do make the headlines, it's on those rare occasions While working for the FBI as a profiler, I began to see a pattern emerging when they get caught. They are responsible for many of the nearly 15,000 homicides, 4.8 million domestic assaults, 2.2 million burglaries, 354,000 as to the personality types who seemed to dominate our attention. These were people who were constantly making others miserable, breaking robberies, and 230,000-plus sexual assaults that occur annually in the United States, many of which go unreported and unpunished. 2 Or, like laws, engaging in risky behavior, taking advantage of or abusing others, and in general causing pain and suffering-not once, not twice, but Bernard Madoff, they may embezzle money from the elderly or even repeatedly. friends for years (on such a grand scale, in his case, that the economic well Through my own efforts and with the guidance of others, I learned being of thousands was compromised). They can go undisturbed for decades, destroying lives as convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky did at that there are certain personalities who will ~lways be nasty, who are deceitful and manipulative, who derive pleasure from taking advantage of . Pennsylvania State University. others, and who don't respect people or laws. They are exhausting emotion Think back to those times in your own life when someone stole some- j_- ally and can be cruel, callous, and exploitative. And they will repeat their thing from you or took hurtful advantage of you. Perhaps your house was behavior over and over without concern for the physical or psychological burglarized or your car was broken into. Perhaps you dated someone who damage they inflict on others. turned out to be toxic, or you were bullied at school or at work. Perhaps I I. I I.