Posted by Jan den Breejen on September 25, 2000 at 15:17:06:
Mr. Death: the rise and fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. (US tv documentary)
Fred specialized in making apparatus for executing people for the US government; with his personal speciality being the electic chair. He's very psychotic; talking about his works as if its regular school furniture. Als the way he looks at his work is definitely psychotic; not seeing the weirdness of it himself: 'It's difficult to destroy the human body'. He changed his interest from electric chairs to specializing in the process of lethal chemical injections, hanging of prisoners and finally the gas chambers. Of course it's not only this mans disorder but also the US context of not making much of a problem of executing offenders which has influenced his 'career'. Leuchters complete lack of feeling of reality and lack of empathy made him agree to a request by a Canadian neo-nazi to investigate the German nazi gas chambers. Leuchter went there with a pickaxe and chopped pieces of concrete of the walls. He couldn't find traces of killing gasses and gets convinced that there have never been death camps. Then he Leuchter becomes keynote speaker at neo-nazi rallies and the end of his bizarre life is that he's rejected by everyone.
A sad story about a person who possibily is an Idiosyncratic Style character (with Self Confident and/or Vigilant styles).
Jan