Why do normal average joes turn themselves in for famous crimes they didnt commit
Ex: people claiming to be the zodiac killer, people claming to have killed/buried Jimmy Hoffa, etc
Do they do this because they want attention and/or are mentally ill?
In: Other
Sometimes it’s mental illness and they’re confused about what they’re doing/what they did. But in most cases it’s a form of thrill seeking. Chances are they have fantasies of doing whatever the person did and they have the chance to live that out vicariously. To them best case scenario they’re famous for a bit and everyone wants to talk with them. Worst case they get convicted and go to jail which might be some form of escape from their life which they don’t enjoy.
>Do they do this because they want attention and/or are mentally ill?
“Yes”.
This sub requires longer explanations for answers, except you have already answered your question yourself, so there is nothing further to add.
To some degree, statistics – only one in a million people would think to do something like this, which means that in a city of 10 million…..
Like you said, it’s a combination of boredom, mental illness, attention seeking, or similar. 99.99% of bored, mentally ill attention seekers wouldn’t do it, but that remaining 0.1% is all it takes with a very public crime.
Imagine you’re living a desperate life. You’re working a meaningless job, no prospects, no friends and no hope. What wouldn’t you do for just a bit of attention even if it’s for a horrible thing?
Fame. It’s a hell of a drug. Reminds me of an Ancient Greek man, Herostratus, who burned down the temple of Artemis at Halicarnassus in the hopes of having his name go down in history.
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