When Forgery becomes Murder

I am twenty-five years behind on this story, but I can probably be forgiven since I was not even reading yet when it happened. In 1985 Mark Hoffman, on the verge of having his hundreds of forgeries discovered, sent bombs that killed two people before maiming himself with a third explosive. The story is reminiscent of several others I have discussed here, most notably those of Jean-Claude Romand and Brian Blackwell, in that it deals with a man who killed in order to protect his lies. Both Hoffman and Romand ended their deceptions with suicide attempts, but it is notable that neither attempt succeeded. Hoffman was obviously adept at making bombs, but only two of three he made killed their targets. I don't think that Hoffman ever intended to die.

I wonder whether these types of deception are forms of survival for some people, to such an extent that they somehow feel that they must ultimately kill or be killed (or discovered to be frauds, which is apparently just as bad). While I am extremely interested in forgery, I don't necessarily think that it is the worst possible crime, and find it almost unbelievable that a person would kill for the preservation of his forgeries. People like Mark Hoffman seem almost like another species, one that follows its own set of social/moral rules. I will probably continue to be baffled.

On Narcissism and Liars

This is the story of Brian Blackwell, a 19-year-old man (or should I even say boy?) who told his friends he was a professional tennis player and brutally killed his parents when they discovered he had fraudulently opened and used credit cards in their names. He admitted to "manslaughter with diminished responsibility," claiming that his Narcissistic Personality Disorder diminished his responsibility. As this 2005 article discusses, "Blackwell's personality disorder meant he fantasised about unlimited success, power and brilliance" and he resorted to murder when his fantasy began to crumble.

It seems that nothing about Brian Blackwell's life was quite the truth, until he really, truly murdered his parents and then went on vacation with his girlfriend using their stolen credit cards. Is the liar's truth the lie he makes others believe, or the reality only he knows? It almost seems as though his lies about himself became so profound that he was no longer held accountable for his real actions, as though those were made untrue as well. Blackwell was the first person to use Narcissistic Personality Disorder as a criminal defense, and I wonder to what extent he opened the floodgates for others like him. Should Blackwell's actions get more leniency than those of criminals who aren't compelled to lie, who kill for money, or food, or love? Are his fantasies less controllable than others' avarice, gluttony, or lust?