People say, "Were there warning signs? Were there clues that this person was a dangerous monster?" Yes, always there are. Why were the clues and warnings overlooked, so that the monster got away with his life of crime for so long? It's simple: Most people do not think about crime and criminals in a realistic way. The reality can be expressed very simply: Who commits crimes? Criminals do.

True, any law-abiding citizen may decided tomorrow to stop obeying the law, commit a crime and so become a criminal. Yet in terms of law enforcement generally, a majority of really serious crimes -- murder, rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault, armed robbery, grand theft -- are committed by a relatively small number of lifelong criminals. These people are characterized by their general anti-social personality; the criminal's contempt for decent citizens is expressed by his refusal to live by society's law. The habitual offender gets away with many small crimes (petty theft, breaking-and-entering, narcotics possession, etc.) and this confirms his view that people who obey the law are just chumps, or cowards who lack the boldness to defy the law.

This anti-social worldview is at the root of the criminal's persistence, and explains why some petty criminals continue escalating their criminality until they commit murder.