Norwood Park Is A Middle-Class Suburb Outside Chicago

Typical Norman Rockwell Americana. An honest, hardworking, tight-knit community. Especially well-liked was John Wayne Gacy, a former cook who became a successful entrepreneur in the construction business. The neighborhood barbeque was always at John’s house, due to his skill on the grill, and his fondness for dressing up as “Pogo the Clown” to entertain the children with his antics and balloon animals. In 1978, Police would find the bodies of 26 young men and boys, tortured and murdered, buried in the crawlspace under Gacy’s house.

Dennis Rader grew up in bucolic Wichita, Kansas, eventually serving a successful tour in the Air Force and earning a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from Wichita State, which found him a career as a compliance officer for Park City. He would meet his wife through the local Lutheran Church, which elected Rader president of the church council. They had two kids, and Rader would become the leader of the youth’s Cub Scout Group. In 2005, the FBI would arrest Rader for the torture killings of at least ten people over almost two decades, infamous by his nickname: BTK. Bind - Torture - Kill.

What do these two killers, who appeared outwardly normal before their secret lives of horror were revealed, have in common with the vast majority of other serial killers? The most famous prognostic criteria is the presence of the “MacDonald Triad” in childhood: arson, cruelty to animals, and bedwetting. Dr. MacDonald hypothesized his theory in 1963, claiming the presence of these three factors marked a significant increase in predatory behavior in adulthood.

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The MacDonald Triad remained a popular theory for forty years, and remains eminent in popular culture. However, recent studies have proven the MacDonald Triad has no statistically significant link to an individual's preponderance for violence. (Childhood firesetting, enuresis, and cruelty to animals as cultural lore. Published on May 2, 2012 by Karen Franklin, Ph.D.) A study by Drs. Skrapec and Ryan has gone so far as to call the “MacDonald Triad” nothing more than an urban legend.

Only one factor has been proven to have a connection to the vast majority of serial killers: head injury. Dr. Jonathan H. Pincus, author of Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill? (1997), found in two separate studies of serial killers that 100% of the subjects had suffered head trauma. John Wayne Gacy suffered blackouts and blood clots after he was knocked unconscious by a swing at age 11. Dennis Rader was dropped on his head by his mother as an infant. The list goes on: Richard Ramirez (“The Night Stalker”) needed 30 stitches in his head at age of 5 after a dresser fell on him. David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) was struck in the head with a lead pipe as an adolescent, leaving a four inch gash.

The stories of these serial killers are horrific, but they remain an exceeding small percentage of the population. The most alarming implications of the link between head injury and violence occur when we examine the risk factors for society at large. Although the psychopaths listed above suffered single, acutely traumatic injuries to the head, recent research reveals that continued, sub-acute impacts to the head may be nearly as dangerous, well into adulthood. Because incidence of sub-acute brain trauma is exceedingly common in impact sports, the number of Americans at risk is in the tens of millions (Citation needed: Number of Americans playing football).

We will examine the risk of violence linked to brain trauma in American athletes and service members, including the tragic outcomes, and show that protecting the brain from all forms of trauma needs to be a priority that it currently is not. Tom “The Dynamite Kid” Billington and Bret “The Hitman” Hart were two Canadian superstars that put Professional Wrestling on the map in the ‘70s. They wrestled against the likes of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. In 1978, they made a promotional stop in Edmonton, Alberta, to drum up support for the newly formed World Wrestling Federation (WWF.) In the crowd was 12 year old Chris Benoit. He was immediately hooked. Chris would spend his highschool years building his body into the size and shape of his idols. At the age of 19, Chris would join the Hart family patriarch Stu Hart at his famous wrestling center, known as the Hart Family “Dungeon.”

The dungeon was an appropriate name. Stu Hart taught a dangerously violent, high-risk style of wrestling, famous for launching flying attacks from the top rope like the “Shooting Star DDT”, and bombastically over-the-top finishing moves such the “Sharpshooter.” Both moves involved violently leveraging one’s entire body weight and momentum to knock opponents into submission. Chris Benoit would master these moves, among others, and ultimately become one of the most decorated stars in professional wrestling history, earning himself the nickname “Wild Pegasus.”

In June 2007, Chris Benoit was scheduled on the title card of a Wrestlemania Event in Atlanta, Georgia. But Benoit failed to appear without explanation. All attempts by wrestling officials to contact him were fruitless, ultimately forcing them to send police to Benoit’s house for a welfare check. Inside the police would find Benoit’s wife Nancy bound and strangled; the Benoit’s 7 year son was drugged and strangled; and Benoit himself was found hanged from the lat bar of his workout bench. The situation would quickly be ruled a murder-suicide.

Before the tragic deaths of the Benoit family, Chris had been showing signs of mental health issues. Nancy’s sister described Chris as increasing anxious and depressed, showing more aggressive and abusive behavior to his wife and child. Because of Chris’s heavily over-muscled stature, “roid rage” was initially suspected, but ruled out during the autopsy. Familiar with Chris’s high flying style and history of concussions, former wrestler and close friend Christopher Nowinski was the first to suggest brain trauma might be the root cause

Julian Bailes, head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, examined Chris’s brain post mortem. The results showed that 'Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient.' His brain showed dementia induced by CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), identical symptoms to former NFL players who suffered a similar fate: history of head injury, onset of depression, and the use of violent means to end their lives prematurely. (Citation needed: Causes of CTE)

The WWE (predecessor of the WWF) was forced to implement drastic changes after the Benoit tragedy, including: mandatory reporting of concussions and neuro-welfare checks, elimination of moves that lead with the head, and forced time off if a competitor is knocked unconscious. Whether these moves will have the desired impact is yet to be determined. Former Professional Wrestlers are still ten times more likely to die before the age of 60 than former NFL players. But the number of Professional Wrestlers and any level is small. The number of Americans playing tackle football is in the millions. That is why football now finds itself front and center in the debate about brain injuries and violence.

Junior Seau was one of the most beloved and talented football players of his era; a twelve-time Pro-Bowler, winning of NFL’s defensive player of the year, and member of the NFL’s 1990s all decade team. On May 2, 2012, two years after retirement, Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. He left a note containing the lyrics of the country song “Who I Ain’t,” which describes a man that regrets who he’s become.

Friends believe Seau shot himself through the heart so his brain could be examined intact post-mortem, similar to the case of ex-NFL player Dave Duerson, who left a note specifically requesting such examination. Both players knew something was wrong inside their heads, after years of hard-hitting play. This is a truth known in NFL circles but only brought to light in the mainstream by the shocking exposé “League of Denial” by Steve and Mark Fairnaru (2013).

Like Duerson, Seau’s brain showed significant signs of CTE, which researchers concluded likely led to his increasing bouts of depression, rage, and ultimate suicide. (Citation Needed: Effects of CTE) Most tellingly, Seau had no documented history of concussions. The damage to his brain was the result of cumulative standard helmet impacts and brain jarring, which define the nature of the NFL and occur on every play. To address concerns, the NFL would implement some half measures, such as reducing contact in practice and designating helmet-to-helmet collisions as penalties. But the nature of the game would remain largely unchanged.

Five years later, the shocking potential damage CTE could cause would be realized when Aaron Hernandez was found hanged in his jail cell. Hernandez was a star Tight End for the world-champion New England Patriots. In 2017, Hernandez was found guilty of murdering three people while he was still an active player. After his suicide, Hernandez’s brain was found to show extensive signs of CTE, similar to Seau and Duerson's.

At this point, the outcry to protect the brains of young people in football had reached a fever pitch. Youth tackle football was replaced with flag football. High school, college, and pro football coaches would re-educate every player in new forms of tackling that protected the head. Football helmets were redesigned and implemented with sensors to protect against and monitor impacts that jostled the brain. Division 1 and professional football teams would be required to have a neurologist on staff.

Fans were mostly pacified. NFL Football remains the most popular sport in the country. Players were given the freedom to choose, and nearly all remained in the game because of the lure of fame and fortune. They placed their faith in proactive protective measures and believed the new game was safer. But a shocking study released in May, 2018 by the Radiological Society of North America revealed that even one season of tackle football is enough to cause damage. (Citation Needed) 60 youth high school football players were studied with no history of head injury or concussion. Just a handful of games and practices were enough to reveal a negative impact on brain structure and development revealed by MRI. A poll of parents later that year, in light of the evidence, revealed nearly half of parents would discourage their children from playing tackle football. (Citation needed: NBC poll of parents)

Is it enough? Should football and impact sports be banned? That is a public policy decision. It is clear that nearly every professional football player will retire with brain damage. We make it illegal to consume drugs that lead to brain damage. So, it seems clear that would should do the same with tackle football. But a multi-billion dollar competitive industry built into the fabric of our nation cannot be dismissed like some junkies on the corner. If the suicide of serial killer Aaron Hernandez was not shocking enough to end the NFL as we know it, it’s hard to fathom what would be. For the foreseeable future, the NFL, CTE, and violent ends by former players seem here to stay.

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