Why do certain

people commit murder?

Could their

acts have been prevented?

Dr. Gregory

K. Moffatt, a columnist for this newspaper on family and children's issues

and a professor at Georgia State University, attempts to answer these

questions in a compelling book entitled "Blind-Sided, Homicide Where

It Is Least Expected."

I didn't expect

to like this book, given the subject matter and the fact that it was written

three chapters. Moffatt, who is an expert in the field of homicide risk

assessment, takes the reader behind the crime scene tape and into the

world of the murderer.

In almost every

single instance, the perpetrator exhibited behavior prior to committing

the crime that signaled a serious problem. Moffatt states that all human

beings are capable of taking a life, but healthy coping mechanisms prevent

most individuals from crossing the line.

The inability

to cope, the lack of intervention, mental illness and a host of other

variables are the intangibles that, when mixed into a volatile situation,

can push others over the brink to act on impulse and take a life.

Moffatt avoids

psychological jargon in "Blindsided," making it easy reading

for the layman. He profiles many highly publicized incidents, including

several local murders, such as the 1996 Hoshizaki shooting in Peachtree

City that took the life of Tracy Lavallie, and the more recent 1999 Atlanta

homicides committed by Mark Barton at the trade center downtown.

One of the

most chilling chapters in the book focuses on the Columbine massacre and

the two boys who masterminded the worst school shooting in the nation's

history. The chapter is titled "Homicide by Children, part two,"

and examines the actions of the Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold a year prior

to the shooting.

Moffatt divides

the book into chapters on types of homicide in the work place, homicide

at home and homicide by children. The concluding chapters assess the risk

factors of homicide and provide some valuable information on how one can

take control and save a life, possibly one's own, if placed in a life-threatening

situation.

"Blindsided"

was published in 2000 by Praeger Publishers, Westport, Conn.; www.praeger.com .

Back

to the Top of the Page