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Enter the Psychopath, Stage Left
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where they enjoy more freedoms. By manipulating psychological test
scores—some psychopaths are as test wise as many psychologists and
psychiatrists—they can convince staff that they are “crazy” and don’t
belong in prison. Once in the hospital, they manage to manipulate
and control other patients. Some manipulate the forensic hospital
staff to be transferred out of the hospital back to a prison setting using
similar maneuvers (“I’m not crazy like the others”).
“On Sunday he prayed on his knees.
On Monday he preyed on his fellow man.”
—Caption from the Vancouver Sun,
May 20, 2000
Bryan Richards wheedled his way into a religious community
by convincing its members that he was “one of them.” He is a
member of a line of distasteful predators who attached themselves
to religious, ethnic, cultural, or special-purpose groups in
which the members share common interests and typically are
very trusting of others who profess to share their beliefs. Many
Christian groups, for example, readily open their hearts to any
newcomer; especially those who profess to have “found Christ.”
Unfortunately, these groups often also open their wallets, unwitting
players in what is known as affinity fraud.
As described by Douglas Todd and Rick Ouston in the Vancouver
Sun, Bryan Richards, whose real name is Richard Bryan
Minard, is a smooth-talking, woman-chasing, Net-scamming
evangelist who blew into a small Canadian town with a convincing
line that he was a Christian, just like the members of the unsuspecting
group he had targeted. “Don’t despair. God’s always
there.”
He ran a local low-wattage radio station and described himself
as “the rock jock who spins for Jesus.” He also ran numerous
scams, including selling members time-shares in resorts he didn’t
own and vacation packages he never paid for, and pirating music