8 Psychopathic Firsts That Will Shock You
Do you crave to be first?
When it comes to psychopathic firsts it's a different can of worms. Literally. Psychopaths suffer from grandiosity and narcissism – they like to be on top. The people who study, research, and watch psychopaths are often fascinated with these firsts.
Sadly, there's no lack of candidates for psychopathic firsts – from the first recorded military psychopath to the first time the word was used. Keep in mind what researchers Kiehl and Hoffman wrote in Jurimetrics, "The psychopath has hidden himself since he emerged with the rest of us, 200,000 years ago."
That's a lot of firsts.
1. The first recorded U.S. Serial Killers were the Harp Brothers - Micajah "Big" Harp and Wiley "Little" Harp, vicious men who murdered in the late 1700s. They were actually cousins but passed themselves off as brothers. The Harps took on the names "Big" and "Little," murdering, raping, mutilating, and pillaging entire towns. Their most infamous murder spree began in Tennessee, 1798, and claimed the lives of over 40 men, women, and children.
2. The first recorded U.S. Female Serial Killer was Lavinia Fisher. She was executed by hanging on February 4, 1820, in Charleston, South Carolina. It was reported that she said to the crowd, "If any of you have a message for the devil, tell me now – for I will be seeing him soon." Legend says she wore a wedding dress to her execution, hoping to make a man "swoon" with her beauty and rescue her at the last minute.
3. The first woman Serial Killer executed in the U.S. after the Death Penalty was reinstated in 1976, was Velma Barfield. She murdered her mother, and at least 7 husbands and consorts. Barfield was also the first woman murderess executed in the U.S. by lethal injection. Her execution took place in Raleigh, NC., in 1984.
4. The first formal assessment tool to determine psychopathic traits was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Robert Hare. It was called The Psychotherapy Checklist and revised versions are still used today. Hare worked with male criminals in a Vancouver, Canada prison and used Hervey Cleckley's clinical profile for psychopaths for his main definition.
5. The first use of the term psychopathy was in Germany in the 19th century. The terms psych (soul or mind) was combined with pathy (suffering or disease).
6. The first clinical description of psychopathy was by American psychologist Dr. Hervey Cleckley in his 1941 book, The Mask of Sanity.
7. The first psychopath described in written history was Alcibiades, from Athens, 450-404 BC. He was a charming, brilliant, and fearless military leader. Plutarch wrote: "The reputable men of the city looked on [Alcibiades] with loathing and indignation, and feared his contemptuous and lawless spirit. They thought such conduct as his [was] tyrant-like and monstrous."
8. The first recorded psychopathic Royal was Queen Anula, 50-47 BC, who poisoned her son and four husbands to reign over what is now Sri Lanka. She was also the first female head of state in Asia. During her five year reign Queen Anula murdered her way to the top through at least four husbands, consorts, and the male heir to the throne. Legend says that during the last four months of her life, Anula slept with at least 32 palace guards.
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