Is Murderer Ben Field a Psychopath?

On August 6, 2019, the FBI issued a warning on the growing sophistication of online criminals who create fake personas to commit romance fraud. This warning was in conjunction with the release of its annual cybercrime report, which found that, between 2017 and 2018, complaints of confidence/romance fraud grew from 15,000 to 18,000. Even more alarmingly, the amount of lost money increased by 70 percent. Criminals are getting increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to commit fraud and recruit money mules, according to the FBI. Nearly $650 million was stolen from people age 60 and over, the report showed this age group to be particularly vulnerable. As a result, the elderly are the preferred prey for scammers.

Loneliness, though, doesn’t just make us vulnerable to high-tech hustlers, especially when faith is involved. On August 14, deputy churchwarden and parish council secretary Ben Field was convicted of murdering 69-year-old Peter Farquhar for his money. Mr. Farquhar was a successful academic and author but had struggled for years to reconcile the inner conflict he experienced between his gay sexual orientation and his Anglican faith. Psychopath and religious conman Ben Field saw someone ripe for exploitation.

While financial gain was his main motive, it appears that the 28-year-old psychopath also got pleasure pretending to love his “fiancé’” while…