The Iceman Interview - Analysis of Kuklinski

[off screen psychaitrist]
why did you decide to talk to me

[Iceman] well basically I think tried
to, I decided to talk to you

would be so I could find out more
about myself

since I don't know the answers
and you are a person who is highly

qualified to give me answers possibly
of what's going on

I figured this would be a good time to
talk to somebody like you, or you, ya know

[psychiatrist] well why don't we
turn the tables here

and you interview me
I'll answer your questions

[Iceman] interesting.

I can live with that

Just so happens I might have
a question for you

[several hms]

what do you think... about
... me

anything good bad or indifferent?

[psychiatrist] yeah some of each

the uh, the issues about your behavior

I think there are really
a couple things to say

the things that I'm most sure of based
on the information you've told me

are that your principle problem
has been a warp in your personality

and we classify personality according
to different types

and there are two types of personality
features that you have a great deal of

the first of them is called antisocial
personality disorder

what it refers to behaviorally is someone
who does not have a conscience

does not have remorse
does not feel a sense of guilt

about most of the bad things
they do, is impulsive and violent

the typical things we see before age 15
in people who earn that label are

cruelty toward animals

cruelty toward people

and an awfully interesting part of that
condition

is that we've got a little bit of
knowledge of what causes it

and where it comes from

and that's where there's some good news
and some bad news

the bad news is that part of where
that comes from is hereditary

that there's a genetic basis
to being a fearless person

and you've told me about how rarely
you have any experience

that even begins to
resemble nervousness or fear

it takes extreme things to make you
have a sense of impending danger

normal people get fearful about a
wide variety of things, frequently

and would be beside themselves with
the kinds of experiences that

you had on a weekly basis

you couldn't have done the things you
did if you were capable of ordinary fear

but the fact that you're born with a
genetic predisposition to fearlessness

doesn't mean that it's inevitable
for you to become a criminal

because some people who have that
genetic predisposition to fearlessness

become pro-social risk takers
they do things like drive race cars

test fly planes, fighter pilots
bomb disposal technicians

those are all jobs where it helps
to have a lot of fearlessness

and in fact some people in
law enforcement

are brave and have that same
capacity to be fearless

and the difference between people
who grow up to be risk taking good guys

with white hats
and the people who grow up to be

risk taking bad guys with a long long
rap sheet and a lot of crimes

has to do with how
their parents raised them

if you raise a kid with love and kindness
and affection, most of the time

you've got a good shot at their
growing up to be

decent, caring, loving human beings
and treating their own kids well

but if you raise a kid the way
Stanley raised you

with no love, no affection
constant abuse

beatings for no reason

all you teach is hatred

you make it impossible for that child
to grow up and form strong attachments

and loving, caring relationships

or to be willing to risk themselves
to protect the world

so I think you got to be this kind of
antisocial psychopathic person

both by getting Stanley's genes
and having Stanley's parenting

and your mother's cold
standoffish way of treating you

in other words, that part of you
was both born and made

but your own kids
and your own grandchildren

will turn out according to
how you and Barbara raised them

despite whatever genetic
influence there may be

the other thing that I think
is true about you is

another personality style

where I think it's fair to say that
you've got the features of what we call

paranoid personality disorder

the general rule for someone who is
paranoid is to trust no one

let no one get too close to you

and to never forgive anyone
who does you wrong

if somebody criticizes them
they're quick to respond with anger

or to counter attack

if somebody humiliates them
then they must have revenge

about 1 to 2 percent of the population
has the paranoid personality disorder

about 2 to 3 percent of males
and 1 percent of females

have the antisocial personality disorder

and then there's a smaller group
that has both

and it was having both that allows
you to have this career that you've had

and that allows you to profit from your
capacity for completely emotionless

fearless, remorseless hit by being
free of any conscience

and also free of friends and of people
who could bring you down

you were able to have a very long run
as a successful contract killer

which is quite unusual

you wouldn't have been able to do that
had you not had both of those

personality flaws in your line of work
that turned out to be major advantages

and preconditions for a successful career

[Iceman] I appreciate that you're
taking the time and explaining this to me

I am probably the
loneliest person in the world

because I have nothing
I cared for

and I can't make any friends
to have any kind of relationship or

so I've lost everything
I've lost everything I ever care for

everything I've ever wanted
it's down the toilet

since there's no love in my life
I must have something to replace it

so I replace it with hate
constant hate

constant reminder to hate

[psychiatrist] what's that do for you?

[Iceman] keeps my left foot going
in front of my right foot

keeps me moving

without it i would probably just
[pop noise] plop down someplace and

have no reason to continue

[psychiatrist] is that all you've got left
is hate?

[Iceman] it's all I've got left

everything that I've ever cared for
is gone

everything I've ever liked is gone
everything I ever [obtained?] is gone

so hate

[psychiatrist] that's all you
started with too

[Iceman] then I've come full circle

it's time for me to die

[ominous tone]