As an author rooted in supernatural horror and psychological fiction, he uses this philosophy to anchor his stories. Fictional ghosts like vampires and werewolves often have a predictable outcome; human beings, however, are unpredictable.

Their hatred towards someone, the evil intentions, your seemingly friendly neighbour might have- you can’t trust people easily. I’ve read and heard countless cases about people getting raped and killed, wives killing their husbands, or minors committing heinous crimes.

Cases like these are so terrifying, it shakes the entire nation. Ghosts are still predictable. They might startle you. But humans? They’ll go to extremes to get their pound of flesh. 

This terrifying reality that we live in is the exact reason why I’m hooked on true crime. It makes me wonder how their brains work, or if they even feel remorse towards their actions.

Some don’t feel guilty. They’re glad they took this step, and justify their actions! 

3 cases, 3 different justifications. And 1 uncomfortable truth about human behaviour.

Menendez Brothers

August 20th, 1989. It’s a bright sunny day in California. People are visiting the beach with their families and friends, enjoying the outdoor activities, and just living their lives. But in the Menendez household in Beverly Hills, the scene was different.

Jose and Kitty Menendez lay dead in the middle of their living room. Brothers Lyle (21 years) and Erik Menendez had shot their own parents in cold blood with a 12-gauge shotgun. Shortly after, they called 911 and told the police that intruders had broken into their house and killed their parents.

A year later, the brothers were arrested for first-degree murder. The prosecutors accused them of killing their own parents for financial gain. But the defence argued that they were emotionally and sexually abused by their father. The trial went on for years before the final decision was made.

There were 2 separate trials for this case. One decided the fate of Lyle, and the other for Erik. The first trial took place from July 1993 to January 1994. During the first trial, there was some evidence against the brothers, including individual confessions to their therapists. Both brothers stood their ground and spoke about the graphic sexual abuse they faced from their father. 

According to them, they shot their parents out of pure terror. They believed that their parents were about to kill them to keep the abuse a secret. Both juries deadlocked in January 1994, and mistrials were declared.

The second trial (1995 to 1996) was heavily restricted from the public. It was during this trial that the judge decided the brothers’ fate. Lyle and Erik were tried together. Judge Weisberg, who led the case, barred expert witnesses from testifying about "battered child syndrome". The judge removed manslaughter as an option for the jury. The jury was given an all-or-nothing choice: convict the brothers of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree murder, or acquit them entirely.

Currently, the California judge has formally re-sentenced the brothers to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole. This case serves as a profound study in human psychology, highlighting how trauma, fear, and family dynamics can collide to drive extreme behaviour.

Under extreme distress, the brain's survival instinct can trigger a flawed assessment of danger. The brothers didn't see themselves as murderers. They saw themselves as survivors. And that is what makes this case so psychologically unsettling.

Pakistan: Inside a Graveyard for Victims of “Honour Killings”

"Each grave reveals the story of a woman who has been silenced,” says Aisha Dharejo, a human rights activist. She describes the grave as a tool to scare women, warning them not to challenge societal norms. 

Also called “karo-kari” in Pakistan, it’s usually the women who are targeted if they elope or choose their own spouse, or do anything that brings shame or dishonour to the family. 

The exact numbers are hard to verify, but as per sources, at least 405 cases of honour killings were reported in 2024, in Pakistan alone.

One such “honour killing” case that shook the entire nation was that of Qandeel Baloch. She was Pakistan’s first social media star, and her real name was Fouzia Azeem. 

She was born and brought up in Multan, Pakistan. A rural place where educating girls wasn’t encouraged. But Qandeel had big dreams; she wanted to be a star just like the TV actors.

She had her first major public recognition when she auditioned for the reality show Pakistan Idol. Her dramatic, tearful, and highly expressive reaction to the rejection went viral across the internet. 

Then she started to focus on social media and shared videos from her bedroom. She filmed herself every day, intimate moments, pouting in front of the camera and asking her viewers, “How am I looking?”

The exaggerated accent became part of the persona — a deliberate distance from the rural girl she'd left behind. 

Some of her stunts include her public declaration of love towards Virat Kohli and openly mocking Pakistan’s president against celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Back in Pakistan, her family had 2 different reactions. Her parents were happy that she was financially independent, but her brother (Waseem) grew furious. 

Initially, her parents didn’t know about her internet personality, since social media and smartphones were an alien concept to them.

But Waseem had a smartphone. He was humiliated when his friends taunted him about his sister bringing shame to the family. He viewed Qandeel’s financial independence and the public display of her sexuality as a direct attack on his manhood and "honour". 

Driven by unbearable social embarrassment from his peers, he decided to kill her in her sleep in July 2016. She was only 26 years old.

Waseem had no remorse when he confessed to his crime. He proudly told the press that he had drugged and killed his sister while she slept. But during the actual court trial, he changed his statement entirely, stating that the police forced him. 

The evidence towards him was so strong that he was sentenced to life imprisonment. But in Feb 2022, the Lahore High Court wiped away his conviction, and he was freed, having served less than 6 years in jail.

At its core, honour killing tells us that the human brain can value social status, group belonging, and tribal pride more than the life of their own children. 

Evolutionary psychologists and neuroscientists explain that the human brain evolved to survive in small groups, where being kicked out of the tribe meant death. 

When a society ties a family's survival to its "honour," the brain can view a rebellious family member not as a loved one, but as a dangerous threat to the entire group's survival. 

Just like the Menendez brothers, Waseem didn't see himself as a murderer either. He saw himself as a protector.

The Russian Dollmaker

Anatoly Moskvin was a highly respected scholar whose morbid childhood experiences warped into a decade-long obsession with the dead. Born in 1966 in the Russian city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), Moskvin grew up as a quiet, socially awkward, but incredibly intelligent child. 

He spoke 13 languages fluently and graduated from Moscow State University. He then became a lecturer in Celtic studies and linguistics and published numerous academic papers, translations, and historical books.

Despite his phenomenal academic background, he led an isolated life. He never dated or married. But he did become his region’s expert in cemeteries. The government had commissioned him to walk through and document 752 local burial grounds.

His fixation on exhumed girls goes back to 1979, when he was 13 years old. He was coming home from school when he saw a funeral procession of an 11-year-old girl. 

The adults behaved strangely and forced Moskvin to kiss the dead girl and placed a ring on his hand and the deceased girl’s hand. This odd ritual made him feel permanently connected with the dead.

As he wandered through the nights in the cemetery, he would dig up freshly buried girls. He chose the bodies that “communicated” with him through the grave. 

Once he got those bodies home, he began the mummification process:

1) Dried out the remains with baking soda and water.

2) Stuffed the decomposing cavities with fabric and padding (to replace the lost body mass).

3) Wrapped the hands and face with wax-treated cloth, or placed store-bought plastic masks over their skulls so they looked like toys.

4) Fitted wigs, applied makeup, dressed them in bright colored clothes, and stuffed a music box inside their chest cavities.

When his parents noticed these bodies, they thought that Moskvin had developed a new hobby of collecting large antique dolls. In 2011, the police suspected him of political vandalism at the local cemetery; they weren’t prepared to see the dead bodies of young girls.

During the interrogation, he was cooperative but unrepentant. He told detectives he was lonely, always wanted a daughter, and felt he was "saving" the girls from the freezing ground until black magic could bring them back to life.

In 2012, a team of medical experts diagnosed Moskvin with a severe form of paranoid schizophrenia. Legally determined unfit to stand trial, he could not be sent to a standard prison. The court ordered him into a high-security psychiatric hospital.

Despite his high intellect, Moskvin saw himself as a caretaker. He didn’t see himself as a criminal. Yet, like the brothers and like Waseem, his internal logic was completely coherent to him.

Conclusion

3 people. 3 completely different backgrounds, cultures, and psychological profiles. One thing in common: none of them saw themselves as monsters. They each had a story that made their actions feel necessary, logical, even righteous. 

The Menendez brothers, Waseem, and Moskvin all had internally coherent justifications. What does that tell us about human beings in general? About all of us? The human brain is extraordinarily capable of constructing a narrative that makes any action feel justified.

Understanding these cases doesn't make the world scarier. It makes people more legible. And that - knowing how the human mind justifies the unjustifiable- makes it scarier. Monsters, at least, are fictional. The human capacity for justification is not. 

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