We’ve all heard about stupid criminals. Well, this guy isn’t one of them.
William “Billy” Cottrell was such an exceptional student at the University of Chicago that he was described by his professors as something of an eccentric genius. He even won the award for best senior thesis in physics, addressing string theory, which seeks a single way to explain all forces and all forms of matter.
Today the 27-year-old is in jail.
Two years after his 2002 graduation with honors as a double major in physics and math, Cottrell was charged and convicted as one of the nation’s first ecoterrorists of the post-Sept. 11 era. He was found guilty of conspiracy and arson in the 2003 firebombings of Hummer and other sport-utility vehicle dealerships in the Los Angeles area to advocate a radical environmentalism. Two conspirators remain at large.
Cottrell is appealing his conviction. One mitigating factor, his supporters argue, is that he is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which can make his behavior at times inappropriate.
Ahh, so burning down car dealerships (aka: other people’s property) isn’t criminal or morally wrong, it is just “inappropriate”?
Nice theory, though not one I’d bank on no matter how many PhDs I had on my side.
check out this smart and French criminal:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/15/news/16helicopter.php
French police looking for convict who escaped by helicopter
GRASSE, France: The French police were hunting a convicted killer on Sunday who made a daring escape from Grasse prison in southeast France with the help of four masked men and a helicopter.
The well-planned breakout late Saturday took only five minutes and was the second time 43-year-old Pascal Payet had used a helicopter to escape from jail.
Maurice Barate, a security official at the prison, said the breakout was carried out by four masked men who hijacked a helicopter at nearby Cannes and took the pilot hostage.
They landed on the prison roof at the start of the night shift and used heavy machinery to break open two doors and enter the isolation ward where Payet was held.
“The operation took only five minutes,” Barate said. “The layout of the site did not allow the guards in the tower to shoot at the helicopter or the men.”
For a short I worked for a fellow with Asperger syndrome. He was a very smart, unmitigated asshole, with empathy for no one. Being an asshole shouldn’t be a defense for criminal behavior! Should it?