All language subtitles for Lords.of.the.Mafia.with.Robert.Stack.S01E16.Lords.of.Death.Murderous.Minds.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Journey into
the dark side of the soul,

into the nightmare
world of mafia hit men.

Learn the secret
to violent madness

as you probe the minds of the
killers from the underworld.

They may be
international syndicates

or inner city street gangs.

Their criminal
activities can range

from drug smuggling
to white-collar scams.

But regardless of the
illicit enterprise culture

or sphere of power,
the chief currency

of all underworld
empires is death.

For the history
of organized crime

is a history soaked in blood.

A blood-drenched tide is rising.

Violence and death
flood our cities.

The homicide rate is escalating,

for killers walk among us.

They look like anyone,
professional assassins,

sexual sadists,
nomadic serial killers.

Chances are, you may
meet one someday.

You could pass a psychopathic
person on the street,

even a killer, and
not really know it.

Although I have met some
psychopathic killers

who've killed a lot
of people who have

that so-called reptilian stare,
where there's a cold iciness

that you feel when
you sit with them

because you know that
there's just nothing there.

Many of them, particularly
more sophisticated ones,

can put on a
chameleon-like exterior,

which is superficially glib,
engaging, and charming,

disarming everyday people

from realizing what
they're sitting with.

Psychologist Kris
Mohandie is a criminal profiler

for the Los Angeles
Police Department.

The people that I've talked to

that are of this
psychopathic killer variety,

when they relay their stories
of the details of their crimes

and how they killed
people, hunted people,

and harmed people, there
is not one bit of remorse

in the hardened ones
that I've talked with,

the ones that have made
a repetitive venture

of hunting and killing people.

When you talk with
them about the killing,

it's as if they're talking about

what they had for
dinner the night before.

John Yarbrough
is a criminal profiler.

He uses psychology to
build personality profiles

of possible suspects.

His specialty, the sex murderer.

And I don't mean to
create panic in anybody,

but the reality is, there
are these sexual predators

that no endless amount of
incarceration is going to deter.

They are going to do this.

University of
California neuroscientist

Adrian Raine is probing the
brains of violent criminals.

This is an MRI which shows

the brain of a
violent individual.

We can literally cut inside

the brains of violent
offenders using this technique.

It's non-invasive.

There's no pain or
anything like that,

but it's a technique
which allows us to look,

with exquisite detail, at
the structure of the brain

of the violent offender.

Probe inside
the brain of a killer.

Psychoanalyze the mind
of a sex murderer.

Years ago, this would
be absurd. No longer.

Today, researchers
and criminologists
are at the threshold

of answering questions that
have long tormented society.

Why are we the only animal
who finds joy and torturing

in killing our own kind?

What forces transform a
person into a lord of death?

What motivates their
violent madness?

Who are the killers
who walk among us?

We can get people
who, to the extreme,

are cunning, clever, manipulative.

They're very charismatic,

but they don't care an
iota about the victims.

They have no empathy
for the victims.

They have no remorse for the
crimes they've committed,

and they're motivated by thrill.

And that's the
classic psychopath.

They usually look at
the everyday citizen

as just kind of
this inert, neutral,

they would look at them as
the sheep that are out there

that are pawns in their
war against the system.

Their
fury has reached

our neighborhoods and homes.

Drive-by shootings,
home invasions.

In the ultraviolet new
world of organized crime,

everyone is vulnerable.

In the old days, if two
of us beat up one of you,

you and your group could
or could not retaliate.

It was pretty much
an option for you.

But if two of us shoot
and kill one of yours,

the demand character of
that situation is such

that you are almost
bound and determined

somebody in your group to
try and repay that event,

to fire back at some point,
maybe not successfully,

but the requirement to do so

is much greater than used to be.

So the homicide
cycles on itself.

Didn't used to be the case.

It wasn't violent
until the '80s.

Well, I can tell you I
came into this detail

in 1972 and it was violent then.

The difference is, they had
junk guns in those days.

They didn't have
necessarily good guns,

sawed-off shotguns and .22s,

where now they all have
excellent weaponry.

The new 9 millimeter or .380

tends to be their
favorite weapon

and you put a lot of bullets
in the air with one of those.

All of a sudden,
now y'all is into it

because of the drugs.

You know, now either
he wants to kill you

or you want to kill him.

Either it's behind,
he want to jack you

or he want this neighborhood,
or you want the neighborhood.

So everybody want
to be Scarface.

Crips killing Crips.

Crips killing Bloods,

Bloods killing Bloods,

Bloods killing Crips.

The thing just went haywire.

The drugs came in and had
everybody going crazy.

It's all negative.

Gangland murder is
evolved into mafia terrorism.

Our homes are stormed,
our families brutalized

by ethnic gangs who live
by the code of death.

Well within these Chinese
gangs and the Vietnamese gangs,

for that matter, home
invasions are commonplace.

First thing they do when
they burst into a home,

if the head of the family,
the male person is present,

they shoot that
person in the leg.

Give
me all you got!

Where's the money?

Shut up!

Give me the money!

I want the money now.

We know it's here.
Go and get it!

Another technique they
use, if a very small child,

preferably a baby's
present, they take the baby.

No!

And they tape it to the wall

using the electrical duct tape.

They then take their weapon

and they fire a
round into the wall.

Bit like a Bugs Bunny cartoon,

but a little bit more dangerous.

The
wholesale slaughter by
today's gang bangers

is far different
than how the mafia

once fulfilled their blood lust.

Lucky Luciano once boasted at
the mob only kills each other.

Killing outside the
ranks of organized crime

would only bring down
the heat, they reason.

Politicians, public servants,
the average citizen,

they were all off
limits to mob hitman.

The transformation of the
mafia into an organization

with enforcement rules,
recruitment procedures

on a managerial
hierarchy, occurred when

the fabric of America was
undergoing a major alteration.

It was the Industrial Age,
a fresh breeze whistled

through the skyscrapers
of American business.

New theories on
labor productivity

and management were
picking up steam.

Mom and pop stores
and shops fell victim

to the consolidation and
growth of national firms.

A new species of American
was born, the corporate man.

The loyal worker who
rose to prominence

by simply following orders.

It's been said organized
crime is a twisted image

of the society of praise.

Mob kingpins were quick to
embrace the new business ideas

of specialization,
marketing, and merging.

Godfather's Lucky
Luciano and Meyer Lansky

consolidated the mob into
a national syndicate.

They decided to market one
of their principle resources,

mob gunman, masters of
killing and torture.

The enterprise was called
Murder Incorporated.

The business plan was simple:

Acquire an elite
stable of killers

whose job description
was mafia hitman.

Any crime group associated
with a syndicate

could purchase a service
of Murder Incorporated.

The reigning godfathers
must approve all killings.

Payment would always be made

before the murder was completed.

After the job was done,

the hitmen would receive
a new assignment.

For years, there had been
rumors of such an operation,

but most refused to
believe that a death squad

could be working in America.

But in 1939, disbelief
was shot full of holes

when a Murder Incorporated's
top enforcers took the stand.

Quiet!

It was a murder
trial of a mob killer.

A highly placed enforcer
called Kid Twist

had turned informant.
- There he is.

Abe Reles' testimony
opened the public's eye

to the evil that was
Murder Incorporated.

Mobsters were not pleased.

You open your mouth and
you're a dead man, kid!

I swear I'll beat you myself.

You squeal and you're dead.

Mafia bosses enact
their codes, achieve goals,

and maintain control
through enforcers,

wise guys who take
care of contracts.

In the 1930s, they
were called the Muscle.

When Murder Incorporated
was established,

Mob Muscle became a business.

Never in the history of crime
had murder become such an

organized enterprise as it
did with Murder Incorporated.

Kid Twist knew where all
the bodies were buried.

He told of hundreds of
killings by mob enforce,

fingering godfathers
like Lucky Luciano

and sadistic gunman
Frank Abbandando.

For the first time,

the deadly language
of the mob was heard.

Orders for killings were
contracts, hits were murders,

and the victim was
always known as the bum.

For the record, Your Honor,

the witnesses pointed
out the defendant,

Mr. Frank Abbandando,
also known as The Dasher.

Now, according to your
testimony, Mr. Reles,

Mr. Abbandando has
committed over 45 murders.

Is that correct?

Yeah, The Dasher
was always busy.

He may have even
knocked out more.

He was getting contracts all
the time. He loved his job.

Where would you and The
Dasher receive your orders,

your contracts?

All of us guys hung
around Midnight Roses.

You know the place, the
candy store in Brooklyn.

Rose is where we got our orders.

We went all over the country.

Now the boss only
gave us contracts

to places we've
never been before,

and that was the beauty
of the operation.

We go into some
town, we hit the bum,

and then we take
the next train out.

Cops always look for a motive,

but with an unknown
killer, there was none.

Guys were coming and
going all the time.

We were the doing hits
and dumping bodies.

Guys like Michael Coppola.
Trigger Mike, we called him.

He had his wife murdered
in a hospital bed

after she gave birth.

He felt bad though,

always wished he had
done the hit himself.

Happy Malone. Called him happy.

He's always laughing
and giggling

every time he's killing someone.

Veto Gurino, he kept his to him

by shooting the
heads off chickens,

so we called him Chicken Head.

Pittsburgh Phil, called him Pep.

He held the top score
for kills. Over 60.

Yeah, those guys were
the best in the country.

Cream of the crop.

And this organization,
Murder Incorporated,

whose idea was it?

All the bosses had
their hands in it,

but it was Louis Lepke
and Luciano's idea.

You see, Lucky got where he is
by killing people and Lepke,

well, he just liked
to hurt people too.

Yeah, Murder Inc. was
their baby, all right.

Louis Lepke
and the formative Luciano

cultivated a charming,
sophisticated image.

In reality, Luciano and
Lepke's first solution

to any problem was
violent aggression.

The decision to push the
power of mafia families

by establishing Murder
Incorporated was instinctive

for men who under the skin
were pure psychopaths.

Now, what
typically will happen

is in these families, you'll
have kind of a leader.

You'll definitely have a leader,

a person who is often
charismatic, very psychopathic,

meaning that they have little
or no regard for social rules

and establishes norms of conduct

that go on in society
at large, the law.

They have no regard
for the laws,

but they create their
own belief system

and norms within their group.

And this charismatic
psychopath inclined leader will

spot people for different
roles within the organization.

So it's a subculture
that condones violence

and it's a subculture in
which you have a charismatic,

psychopathic leader who
will resourcefully identify

those that are even more
inclined towards violence

to use those people for
service of the group.

Abe Reles'
testimony was a first time

in gangland history a
top mobster told all

and Kid Twist told it
in gruesome detail.

He was dead already.

We then took the bum
down to the river-

All right, thank
you very much.

That'll be plenty. Thank you.

Mr. Reles, are all the killings

for Murder Incorporated
this brutal?

Nah, some are straight pops.

Nail the bum between the eyes.
That's a sign of a pro hit.

Most guys were shot in the
back. It was easier that way.

Some put the bum on his knees
and then point blank range...

I like that.

I take my gun out real slowly,

walk behind him as they're
crying and begging,

saying their last breath.

"Hail Mary, full of grace."

I like that. It's the least
I can do for the bum, huh?

Returning to the murder now,

why was Whitey
treated so harshly?

Did Luciano order it?

Nah, he didn't have to.

Bum was a rat.
Everybody knew that.

We just wanted to
send a message.

We do that in various ways.
It depends on the guy's taste.

- Is is this the weapon?
- Yeah.

You see, with that murder,
we had plenty of time.

We found the hiding in the
back room of the garage,

so we kind of used
everything we had,

you know, for practice.

Pep and I put him down first.

I used my
whatchamacallit, garotte.

Pep made it special for for me.

Well Whitey, he wouldn't shut
up. Just kept going on and on.

So Happy hit him with the
meat cleaver right here.

The guy misses, I had to
call in Pep to hold the guy,

takes another crack and hits it

with the meat
cleaver right here.

Best way to slice into the
brain. That shut him up.

Pep was pulling and he
couldn't get it out.

He was yelling, "Hey
Putts, give me my ax."

Putts got a headlock on my ax.

Seemed comical at the time.

Mr. Reles, do you
recognize this implement?

Yeah, that's the ice
picked used on Whitey.

And was the victim
dead at the time?

He was making noise. I
don't know if he was dead.

I mean, he could have been
dead. He should have been dead.

I thought he was
dead. He looked dead.

I thought he was dead.

They should have made
sure of that though.

I would like to
submit, Your Honor,

as evidence to the
court, coroner's report

very clearly stating that there
were over 60 puncture wounds

in the victim's body.

Like I said before,
day of selector's work.

Thank you very much,
Mr. Reles. That'll be all.

Your Honor, after noon
recess, I would like to recall

Mr. Abbandando to the stand

to continue my
cross-examination.

The blood-thirsty
mafia families of the
US are not unique.

All the world's crime lords
employ teams of executioners

who carry out their
deadly orders.

Similar to the scent
left by an animal,

organized crime lays down
territorial boundaries

and markers for the
use of deadly IDs.

To experts, these tracks
are as recognizable

as a bloody footprint.

The Chinese Triads
of Southeast Asia

are one of the oldest crime
organizations in the world.

In the 16th century,

they were monks cloistered
behind shrines and temples.

Today, the Triads
are the most elusive

of underground syndicates.

The once sacred vows
had been perverted

into rituals of blood and death.

I shall not disclose
the secrets of the family,

not even to my parents,
brothers, or wife.

I shall never disclose
the secrets of money.

An initiation
ritual consists of drinking

a tea that has been mixed
with the blood of a chicken.

Whether it is prostitution,
rackets, or drug smuggling,

Triads use violence and fear

to enforce their
scope of influence.

If you cross their paths,
you will learn the Triads

are murderers in business suits.

Triad executioners are trained
butchers of human flesh.

The traditional murdering tool

is a weapon similar
to a meat cleaver.

This is a typical Triad
fighting implement right here.

This is a sort of, well,
it's a food chopper

and the Triads actually
fight with these

and they undertake
what's called a chopping

where they attack people

and they hack them
with these things.

These are razors sharp.

In places like Hong Kong,

it's very difficult to
get hold of a firearm.

So violence with a firearm
is not so frequent.

So that's why we see resorting

to these kind of
traditional weapons.

Chopping is for
the lower ranks of killers.

A technique called "death
by a thousand cuts"

is reserved for
master assassins.

Wielding the
razor-sharp cleaver,

they slice off long
strips of flesh.

Killers are careful
to make shallow cuts,

the killer's attempt to
keep the victim alive

while administering 1000 cuts.

They rarely succeed.

The Russian mob is one
of the newest members

of the international underworld.

Russian mobsters were
once street thugs

running black market operations.

Russians are different
in that they kill people

and they're not as
sophisticated about it,

but they also do a lot
of torturing of people

before they kill them.

During
the Stalin era,

the most ruthless
of Russian criminals

were banished to the
Siberian prison system.

Inside the freezing
hell of the Gulag,

the Russian mafia began to form.

They adopted a killing technique

tailored to the grueling
prison conditions

and their own
primitive barbarity.

A crushing blow to the
head is a killing sign

of the Russian mafia.

Once, a wooden club was used.

Now a common baseball bat
is a trademark weapon.

For over three decades,
the Mexican Mafia

has left a bloodstained trail.

Mexican drug lord's blood lust

is often coupled to a
morbid sense of humor.

Correo took, in '93 and
'94, to killing people

where he wanted the bodies found

and were tying them with
yellow ribbons as a message.

Gradually, Amato progressed.

He apparently owned the
only tiger in Juarez.

There's a history
among drug guys

of liking to own big predators.

In '96, the tiger
escaped actually

and ran around in
the streets there.

It was captured and sent
to see it at Chihuahua,

the capital, to be
placed in that zoo.

About that time, drug
killing started appearing

where the people would
be dead, executed,

hands tied, shot through
the head, but would be

delicately draped with
these cheap tapestries

with tigers on them.

If you're found in this
fashion, it's to send a message.

It's a form of policing.

The Yakuza Japan

traced their roots
to Samurai warriors.

Today, even with availability
of guns, swords and daggers

remain the weapon of choice
for Yakuza assassins.

The most skilled of
killers are highly tattooed

and often are missing fingers.

The Yakuza and Asian
Asian gangs generally

are renowned for being very
deadly and having no hesitation

in killing people to
further their aims.

From Jamaica came
one of the most sadistic gangs

to ever reap their deadly
harvest on American shores.

The Jamaican posses
are thrill killers

whose blood sent is
torture and slaughter.

These savage island killers
first shoot the elbows

and knees of the victim

before pumping the
body full of holes.

The professional killer,

the quote unquote,
"contract killer"

is going to be a highly
organized offender.

There's been a long
socialization process

for this person to
get them over the hump

as far as right
versus wrong killing,

and to turn it into
a business issue.

For ordinary people
out there in America

who have been socialized
that thou shalt not kill,

it seems foreign, but I
think everybody can think

of circumstances under
which they may kill.

Such as if my children
are being threatened,

I will do what I have
to do to protect them.

If our country is it war and
we have to protect ourselves

and our interests, that's okay.

It's not good,
but it's accepted.

Well, you take that
out a few notches

and that's where you have
the development of a culture,

a subculture that
accepts violence

as a way of solving problems.

Despite the best efforts
of law enforcement,

gang-related homicides
in many US cities

average one murder every day.

It's even higher in the
city that was the home

to America's first
lords of death.

It was in New Orleans
in the early 1800s

and the Black Hand Society
brought a bloody brand

of Sicilian fevery to America.

New Orleans was the
first American city

that the Sicilian
Mafia began to inhabit.

And long before New York
or Chicago or any other,

they were attracted
to New Orleans

and to the state of Louisiana

because it resembled
somewhat Sicily.

And so they came here in droves,

and by the turn of the
century, you're talking about

by 1900, there were about
100 mafiosi in New Orleans.

The Black Hand
earned their livelihood

through extorting money
from New Orleans shops

and dockside businesses.

They then spread to other
cities, New York, Chicago.

The extorted money not
by the traditional forms

of intimidation,
such as threats,

wreck shops, or broken bones.

The Black Hand's technique
was simple: pay or you die.

The ability to kill without
hesitation gave the Black Hand

a reputation that paralyzed
society with fear.

They would send letters
that would've symbols

of skull and crossbones,
the outline of a hand,

and the wording was always
direct and to the point.

Sometimes these
were very polite,

but they were all
death warrants.

You pay or you die.

You got us
some cash. I need $1,000.

Place it at the $100
bills in an envelope

and place it underneath the
board in the northeast corner

of Fifth and the Broad Street.

If you place the money
there and you still live.

If you don't, you die.

If you report this
to the police,

I'll kill you when I get out.

They may save you the money,
but they won't save your life.

Most Gentlest Sir,
will you be so good

as to send me a $2,000?

If your life is a dear
to you, I beg you warmly

to put the money on your
doorstep within four days.

If not, I swear by
this week's time,

not even the dust of
your family will exist.

With the warmest
guards, your friends.

Black Hand thugs
would attend trials of members.

Witnesses who were brave
enough to show up in court

quickly left after catching
sight of Black Hand

silent signals, a finger
across the throat,

displaying a red handkerchief,

a finger to the head
all meant one thing:

testify and you die.

With the rise of the mafia
families of New York,

the murder supremacy of the
Black Hand Society faded.

Criminal masterminds
like Lucky Luciano

or Meyer Lansky
are often credited

with the rapid growth
of the American mob.

But actually, their success
was due to a cast of killers

who were the most proficient
murderers in criminal history.

They were employees of
Murder Incorporated.

One mobster stood at
the top of the heap

of the gunman of
Murder Incorporated.

The man lived to kill and
did it with a vengeance.

The papers of the time
dubbed Albert Anastasia

the Lord High Executioner.

Intensely loyal to
Godfather Luciano,

Anastasia was always ready
to rub out a bum for Lucky.

Albert Anastasia
was considered

the worst killer of them all.

He was the Lord High Executioner
of Murder Incorporated.

Luciano always thought Lucchese

was a better killer than him.

He could trust them
more. He was cool.

He followed orders.

Whereas you know, Anastasia
was pretty much a mad hatter

and he would kill people that
he shouldn't have killed.

Known to
mobsters as a mad hatter,

by the 1940s,
Anastasia had graduated

from the killing squad to
hit a mob family of his own.

Even when Anastasia grew in
power heading up his own family,

he couldn't reign in
his killing instinct.

When his fellow
godfathers heard Anastasia

talking about killing
civilians and politicians,

they decided the mad
hatter was out of control

and had to be put down.

Anastasia was cut down
in a hail of bullets

in a New York barbershop.

The four killers strolled away,

vanishing into the
New York crowd.

The mad hatter would
call the murder

a first-class hit on a real bum.

One killer even surpassed
the murderous wrath

of Anastasia, Frank Abbandando
was called The Dasher.

The Dasher was one of
Murder Incorporated's

most prolific of killers.

Abbandando was also
a sexual sadist.

After a day's work of killing,

Abbandando would relax by
brutalizing young women.

Do you solemnly swear that
the testimony you're about

to give is the truth,
the whole truth,

and nothing but the
truth so help you God?

I do.

The Dasher thought
he had nothing to fear

when he took the stand at
his murder trial in 1939.

Mr. Abbandando, or do you
prefer to be called Dasher?

Dasher, what I go by.

Abbandando had
always beaten murder reps.

Like most mob hit men, he
simply killed the witnesses.

Turning to the
night in question,

according to the
testimony of Abe Reles,

you participated in the
murder of George Rudnick,

also known as Whitey.

Is that correct, Mr. Abbandando?
Oh, excuse me, Dasher.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

Had a kid finished.

Your Honor.

Let's a record show that
a defendant has made

a slashing mark across the room

while pointing at the witness!

Hey, I walk or you're dead.

I will kill you slow and hard.

Call counsel to have a seat
and object in proper format.

So you know nothing about
the murder then? Hmm.

Okay, let's go to the night
of October 22nd, shall we?

A woman was gang
raped repeatedly.

You were there,
you assaulted her.

You bludgeoned a poor
defenseless woman

within an inch of her
life, didn't you, sir?

Hey, I don't
have to rape women.

The Dasher gets any broad
in the city he wants.

They love me. They can't
get enough of The Dasher.

Well, you know the state is
prepared to call that woman,

the woman whom you kidnapped,
raped, and then disfigured.

Do you recognize these, Dasher?

I'm waiting for your
answer, Mr. Abbandando.

Did you use these when you
sexually brutalize that woman?

Did you not stand by and watch

as she was repeatedly
gang raped?

Did you not then violate her

in the most sadistic
manner possible?

I told you, The
Dasher don't rape women.

Want to know about
the Whitey hit?

He was a bum. He
was a loan shark.

We protected him.

He tried to beat us on a
payment and he got hit.

We spotted him, he spotted
us. He took off like a jackal.

Runs into an empty garage.

What an idiot.
What did he expect?

No, no, no!

Wire around his neck, he
was turning blue, moaning.

How'd to get the
plate? Come on.

Hit him right.

Whitey's brain started
oozing out. He starts moaning.

Now that's when he got the pick.

Point sharp as a needle.

Get outta here!

Sometimes a remedy, isn't it?

Sometimes, just go
in slow and easy.

The juice started oozing out.

I think you stabbed him enough.

Then we whacked the
bum with the ax.

"One for good luck," as we say.

No more questions.

Sometimes you've got
people doing these hits

that start to really enjoy it

and they just simply use
this as an opportunity

to act out their
sadistic fantasies that
were already there.

So they figure it's a twofer.

A. I'm getting paid to do
it and it needs to be done.

And B. Hey, I might as well
enjoy it while I'm doing it.

Brutality serves a number
of different functions

in these types of hits.

If it's more or
less a surgical hit,

that suggests it's
just about business,

it's just about
getting the job done.

This person was in the way,

or this person did something
that they needed to be removed

as an impediment to the
group's business interest.

So the more surgically it's
done with the least amount

of fanfare suggests
that there wasn't some

sort of personal
slight involved.

It was simply a
matter of business.

Remove this person so that
the business can be conducted

according to whoever
ordered the hit,

thinks business
should be operated.

When you see overkill,

it can mean a number
of different issues.

Number one, it can mean
that there was some sort of

severe slight that was perceived

by the person that
ordered the hit.

Number two, it can
mean that the person

that ordered the hit wants
to send a strong message

to other people that might
be affiliated with the victim

so that they won't do the same
things that that victim did.

Hits him with the
meat cleaver right here.

Best way to slice
into the brain.

There's a lack of affect,
an emotionless detachment

as they describe, from a
technological standpoint,

how they did it.

And when you try to get
them to access what,

if any emotion they felt.

Typically, the only thing
I've encountered with a couple

of them has been an annoyance
that they didn't die quietly

or that they sniffled or begged.

And then they viewed
that as being weak

and they looked down upon that.

So typically, the
reporting of past homicides

is very detached, very
cold, very matter of fact,

While he was
in protective custody,

Ellis ended up being
thrown out the window

of a Coney Island hotel.

Rumor has it that Lucky Luciano
paid $50,000 for the hit,

but the enforcement
division of the mafia

was seriously wounded due to
the testimony of Kid Twist.

The Dasher was
electrocuted in Sing Sing.

So were Pittsburgh
Phil and Happy Maione.

Even godfather Louis Lepke

took the long walk
down death row.

He was both the richest man

and the highest ranking
mobster ever to be executed.

With all the murder and torture
that society has endured

from mafia killers,
one can easily forget

that most normal people
tend to shun aggression

and avoid hostility.

In fact, military psychologists
have noted that men

entering combat are often
more fearful of killing

than being killed.

This soldier reveals
how a normal man

can become a killing machine.

He was a guy from farm in Iowa

and I was from South.

More than likely, we
would've never been friends,

but we were.

He stepped on a mine and
we looked and we looked

and all we could find is
what seemed like a wig.

That's all we could
put in the body bag.

After that, I went
on a vendetta.

I used more ammo in
the next three months

than the entire
time I was there.

I even used napalm. Napalm
was good for revenge.

It would suck the air
right out of your lungs.

When an enemy
soldier fired upon me

after I gave him the
chance to surrender,

I emptied everything
I had into him.

It got worse as time went by.

I really enjoyed killing.

Every time I killed,
it felt better.

Under the
extreme stress of combat,

a killing instinct can emerge
as ferocious as an animals.

Nature may be read
with tooth and claw,

but killing in the wild
is mercifully swift.

A snap of the neck,

a savage ripped through
the jugular and it's over.

Animals exhibit none
of the brutality

that characterizes
human killers.

Animal behavior does offer
clues to the violence

and aggression that
plagues human society.

Animals share common
survival instincts with man,

the urges to mate, to fight
or flee from aggression,

dominate and kill for food, or
to defend against an attack.

The part of the brain with
these basic emotions arise

is the amygdala.

In man, this region
is often referred to

as the reptilian brain.

It is the oldest
area of our brain.

The massive frontal cortex
area is unique to man.

Surrounding the ancient
reptilian brain,

the frontal cortex
is thought to be

the seed of consciousness
of our self-awareness.

This is why humans
and not animals

built civilizations,
produced art,

founded religion,
and created law.

The frontal cortex is
also thought to prevent

the outflow of our most
primitive instincts.

Advances in technology
have enabled science

to analyze the
brains of murders.

What they're finding is a
structure of frontal cortex

is reduced in the
brains of killers.

It is theorized the diminished
cortex cannot control

the violent instincts of
a reptilian brain center.

This may result in an individual

who possesses the metal
faculties of a human

with the instincts of a
creature from the wild.

We now have the
techniques to actually

literally look inside
the mind of a murderer,

to actually look at their
brains, look inside the skull,

see what's happening here.

Is the structure of
this brain different

in violent offenders?

This is a very primitive
reptilian brain center,

so to speak.

These brain centers are
involved in generating emotions

like aggression, fear, rage.

Now, most of us feel aggressive
many times during the day,

but we don't lash out at
people in a violent fashion.

Why? Well, we have
a well-functioning
prefrontal cortex.

And this part of the
brain, the frontal cortex,

is involved in regulating
and controlling

these deeper brain mechanisms

that give rise to
aggressive feelings.

What we found is that
the murderers as a group

had much poorer functioning
of this part of the brain

compared to the normals.

One significance of
the prefrontal cortex

is that it's quite
likely to be involved,

at some level, in conscience.

The sort of feelings
that make us not go out

and rob a bank or kill
someone or commit rape.

And if you lack a conscience,

you are much more likely
to become a psychopath.

Psychopathy, at different
points in our history,

has had some survival value.

When there was a lot of
war, a lot of strife,

a lot of fighting, these
kinds of issues going on,

the psychopath was
the person that could

engage in behavior that
would ensure the survival

of the group to a certain
extent, to be able to kill,

to be able to harm, to
be able to manipulate.

Those genes were going
to get carried on

to form the next
generation of human beings.

The problem is the person that
was going to rise to the top

because they were not
fettered by conscience

rise to the top of these
criminal organizations

that become our most
vicious killers.

So it's possible
violent crime and murder

may be a waste product
of our evolution.

The killers of the underworld,
perhaps they are nothing

but the distorted reflection
of the human race,

the collective
nightmare of mankind.

I'm Robert Stack.
Thanks for joining us.