Something Is Wrong With Cassandra
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Cassandra Borg, 17, and her 19-year-old boyfriend Johnny Ryder murdered her grandparents after Cassandra was kicked out of their home.
- ❖Cassandra's grandparents had taken her in at 16 due to her being a 'problem child,' with police called over 30 times in a year.
- ❖During the interrogation, Cassandra exhibited a flat tone and unusual facial expressions, which the host interpreted as an intentional facade or a genuine lack of empathy.
- ❖Cassandra casually admitted to 'maybe breaking her grandpa's ribs' in a prior assault, demonstrating a detachment from the severity of her actions.
- ❖The murder plan involved using a tire iron and knives, with Cassandra taking her grandmother's phone mid-attack to prevent a 911 call.
- ❖After the murders, Cassandra and Johnny lived in the house with the bodies for several days, spending money, shopping, and dining out.
- ❖They planned to murder Johnny's entire family next, having already attacked his sister and her boyfriend, before being caught.
- ❖Cassandra lied about hosting parties in the house with the bodies, only admitting it when confronted with evidence.
- ❖She described her grandmother's fear of dying as 'creepy,' indicating her inability to comprehend or feel fear herself.
- ❖Cassandra attributed her actions to wanting to 'escape reality' and being tired of dealing with her family and probation restrictions.
Insights
1Unsettling Lack of Empathy and Deception
Cassandra's demeanor throughout the interrogation is characterized by a striking absence of emotion, even when discussing the brutal murders of her grandparents. The host notes her 'flat affect' and 'masculine' facial expressions, suggesting she doesn't realize she needs to feign empathy. She casually admits to 'maybe breaking her grandpa's ribs' in a previous assault and describes her dying grandmother's fear as 'creepy,' not tragic.
Cassandra's responses about her grandparents' deaths (, ), her past assault on her grandfather (), and her reaction to her grandmother's fear (, ). The host's commentary on her inability to fake empathy (, ).
2Calculated Multi-Family Murder Plot
The murders of Cassandra's grandparents were not an isolated incident but the first step in a larger plan concocted with Johnny Ryder. Their intention was to kill both their families for money and to 'escape reality.' They lived in the house with the bodies for days, even hosting friends, before moving on to attack Johnny's sister and her boyfriend.
Cassandra states, 'the plan was we were going to get both of our families' (, ). The narrator confirms they lived in the home for several days with the bodies and 'planned on killing more people' (, ).
3The 'Rush' of Violence and Probation as a Hurdle
Cassandra describes feeling a 'rush' when Johnny began attacking her grandfather, which propelled her to attack her grandmother. She frames her grandparents and probation as 'hurdles' to her desired life, expressing anger over probation restricting her freedom and preventing her from getting a job and money. This suggests a self-centered justification for the violence.
Cassandra states, 'I started getting the rush' () and 'it's go time, I gotta do what I gotta do' (). She explicitly calls her grandparents 'my biggest hurdles because of probation' () and expresses anger about probation ().
4Manipulation and Deception Skills
While Cassandra struggles with faking empathy, she demonstrates basic manipulation and lying skills. She texted her aunt pretending to be her deceased grandmother to maintain the illusion of a vacation and initially lied about having friends over after the murders, only admitting it when confronted with evidence.
Cassandra admits to texting Sylvia, a family member, from her grandmother's phone, 'pretending to be your grandma' (). The host notes her change in posture and tone when lying about friends coming over (, ).
Key Concepts
Psychopathy vs. Sociopathy
The host distinguishes between psychopaths (born with a brain structure that lacks empathy) and sociopaths (developed through a combination of genetics and trauma, or extreme neurodivergence). Psychopaths, in the host's view, are innately different and often don't realize their lack of empathy, while sociopaths might learn to mimic it. Trauma-induced sociopathy is also mentioned, where individuals disconnect from pain due to severe past experiences.
Uncanny Valley of Human Behavior
The host explains that humans are drawn to try and 'solve' the puzzle of psychopathic individuals because their lack of empathy is so unsettling and difficult for the average brain to process. This leads people to befriend or stay in relationships with them, hoping to understand or 'fix' what seems to be missing.
Baseline Behavior Analysis
Interrogators attempt to establish a 'baseline' of normal, relaxed behavior (e.g., through food and casual conversation) before introducing difficult topics. The host emphasizes this technique and uses it to highlight Cassandra's consistent 'odd' or emotionless demeanor even in relaxed settings.
Notable Moments
Cassandra introduces herself as 'Miss Coolness' and maintains an unusually calm and casual demeanor at the start of the interrogation, despite being accused of double murder.
This initial interaction sets an unsettling tone, immediately highlighting her detached and seemingly unconcerned attitude, which the host uses to establish a baseline for her behavior.
Cassandra casually mentions, 'I might have broken my grandpa's ribs' during a past assault on him, without any apparent remorse or emotional weight.
This statement is a stark indicator of her lack of empathy and her normalization of extreme violence, revealing a history of aggression towards her grandparents long before the murders.
Cassandra describes her grandmother's fear of dying during the attack as 'creepy,' stating it was one of the few things that scared her because she doesn't understand human fear.
This is a profound insight into her psychopathic traits, showing her inability to comprehend or relate to a fundamental human emotion like fear, even in the face of her own victim's terror.
When confronted about having friends over to the house where her grandparents' bodies were, Cassandra initially denies it, then changes her posture and tone when fabricating a story about only two friends visiting.
This moment showcases her capacity for lying and manipulation, contrasting with her inability to fake empathy, and provides a clear example of her deceptive behavior when directly challenged.
Quotes
"I might have broken like my grandpa's ribs when, you know, for that charge for simple assault and simple battery, you know, not chill."
"She's missing something. I don't know what it is, but she's missing a human chord, a string or something that we all have."
"Psychopaths, in my opinion, are born that way. They just are. Like that is the way their brain functions."
"And he asked me, he was like, 'Would you kill your grandparents?'"
"It was kind of creepy cuz she was like scared to die. Like she she [soiled] herself and [peed] herself."
"The main reason why I did what I did was cuz I kind of just wanted to get away from my family."
"Grandma and grandpa were your biggest hurdles... because of probation."
Q&A
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