Post by nick on Nov 1, 2016 2:27:25 GMT
Between 1974 and 1985, he victimized at least a dozen girls and women, raping seven and killing three — Jeanine Nicarico, 10; Donna Schnorr, 27; and Melissa Ackerman, 7 — over the final three years. two wrongly convicted men spend years in prison — one on death row — for Jeanine's rape and murder, a crime he committed alone when he found her sick at home. Dugan readily admitted that he is a psychopath — manipulative, incapable of emotion, prone to violence. What's more, he acknowledged that he remains a danger to society, susceptible to a "very strong rage" and a lack of impulse control that, he said, had contributed to his violence.
But what motivated him to commit such horrific crimes eludes him. ----He doesn't know why he behaved this way, so he says. "I've changed to a point, but I'm still dangerous," he said. "He still lives in me. ... Nothing's changed except what I've tried to do for myself."
"I'm a threat to other people to a certain extent, I realize that," he said in another interview. "I know I'm a psychopath." "I don't see anything that would have stopped me," he said without hesitation.
Dugan's own family cut ties with him long ago. His siblings refused to testify about their childhood as part of an effort to sway a jury to spare his life. In a 2009 letter to prosecutors, his sister, Hilary Burr, called him a master manipulator and con man who "should be put to death."
"I was driven by some kind of an impulse that kept growing," he said of his crimes. "I could not stop."Dugan stated. In a recent journal entry, Dugan said he wrote the word "monster" to describe himself. He said his crimes were impulsive and motivated by sexual compulsion, self preservation and an emotional "numbness." He attributed that feeling to his drug and alcohol use, an abusive upbringing and his psychopathic nature. Dugan acknowledged that he is indeed a psychopath and that perhaps nothing can explain who he is better than that. He feels remorse, he said, but true empathy remains elusive. He understands the notion intellectually, but he cannot seem to grasp it emotionally, to truly feel the pain he has caused so many.
In late 1985, in an effort to avoid a possible death sentence, Dugan pleaded guilty to the murders of Melissa and Schnorr as well as the Kane County sex assaults. He offered to admit his guilt in Jeanine's murder in exchange for a life sentence, but DuPage County prosecutors had convicted two other men for the crime and did not believe him.
In prison for nearly the last three decades, Dugan is approaching 60 and knows he will die behind bars. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison after Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011.
But what motivated him to commit such horrific crimes eludes him. ----He doesn't know why he behaved this way, so he says. "I've changed to a point, but I'm still dangerous," he said. "He still lives in me. ... Nothing's changed except what I've tried to do for myself."
"I'm a threat to other people to a certain extent, I realize that," he said in another interview. "I know I'm a psychopath." "I don't see anything that would have stopped me," he said without hesitation.
Dugan's own family cut ties with him long ago. His siblings refused to testify about their childhood as part of an effort to sway a jury to spare his life. In a 2009 letter to prosecutors, his sister, Hilary Burr, called him a master manipulator and con man who "should be put to death."
"I was driven by some kind of an impulse that kept growing," he said of his crimes. "I could not stop."Dugan stated. In a recent journal entry, Dugan said he wrote the word "monster" to describe himself. He said his crimes were impulsive and motivated by sexual compulsion, self preservation and an emotional "numbness." He attributed that feeling to his drug and alcohol use, an abusive upbringing and his psychopathic nature. Dugan acknowledged that he is indeed a psychopath and that perhaps nothing can explain who he is better than that. He feels remorse, he said, but true empathy remains elusive. He understands the notion intellectually, but he cannot seem to grasp it emotionally, to truly feel the pain he has caused so many.
In late 1985, in an effort to avoid a possible death sentence, Dugan pleaded guilty to the murders of Melissa and Schnorr as well as the Kane County sex assaults. He offered to admit his guilt in Jeanine's murder in exchange for a life sentence, but DuPage County prosecutors had convicted two other men for the crime and did not believe him.
In prison for nearly the last three decades, Dugan is approaching 60 and knows he will die behind bars. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison after Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011.