The Measure of Madness

Inside the criminal mind

by Cheryl Paradis, Psy.D.

Shawna Forde Sentenced to Death

By Cheryl Paradis, Psy.D. on February 23, 2011 in The Measure of Madness

Arizona is in the news again for a murder case with political overtones. On February 14, 2001, the jury deliberated for only a few hours before finding Shawna Forde guilty of two counts of first degree murder. She was convicted of the May 30, 2009 murders of Raul Flores and his nine-year-old daughter Brisenia, and the attempted murder of Brisenia's mother, Gina Gonzales. Read More

Her sentence is as just!

Submitted by Anonymous Too on February 23, 2011 - 12:38pm.

In spite of whatever mental problems she had, I sincerely believe that she was a sociopathic narcissist who thought she was better than everyone and deserved more than what she got.

Most of us have disturbed childhoods but there is a time when you must pay the piper for bad, poorly thought out schemes. And make no mistake, she was a schemer through and through. Just because she wasn't a Fulbright scholar doesn't mean she should be excused for her selfish motivations. She was a poor man's Eric Prince from Blackwater, just dumber and less connected.

From her decisions to prostitute herself, for which she was able to rise above, to her grand idea to rob people she thought "beneath" her enough to rob, This scheme will just be her swan song to bad ideas since now, she can't have access to the wider world to plan more bad schemes for her to get whatever validation she has long been seeking!

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Forde is angry, not insane!

Submitted by Laine Lawless on February 23, 2011 - 5:58pm.

It's the height of hubris for members of the psych profession to think that if they spend only 7 hours with someone giving them tests, that they can know that person, even in a psych sense. For the jury to convict Shawna based on politics was the true meaning of insanity in a system where all are assumed innocent until proven guilty. There were many irregularities in her trial, not the least of which was the refusal of the judge to grant change of venue. This was critical to her getting a fair trial. Shawna's supporters were in the courtroom for many days, and the media did not tell you the truth. Any evidence indicating she was innocent was not revealed to their readers. A little girl died, and someone had to be blamed. We all have a touch of narcissism in the age of the "personal" everything, and so do any good leaders. I know enough about Shawna's psychology myself after a year and a half of getting to know her to understand that after being a victim of violence she is incapable of perpetrating violence upon another. That is the truth about Shawna. Read more here: http://justiceforshawnaforde.com