"Those who are heartless once cared too much"
-unknown
In Toronto, Canada, earlier this year, a young man named Alek Minassian drove a truck into a crowd of people, killing ten and injuring 16 before being apprehended by police.
It was the latest act of terrorism perpetrated by a relatively new breed of extremist; an "Involuntary Celibate", or "Incel" for short.
The average Incel is a young white man in his mid-to-late teens or early twenties, and usually a virgin who does not interact well with girls. Incels can come from all sorts of economic or social backgrounds, but all of them share a festering hatred of society and women, built up by jealousy, envy, rage, and loneliness for being rejected by females.
Now, this particular story took place long before the Incel movement became organized into the force that it is today, but the principles and motivations behind this particular crime are identical to the motivations that have recently driven so many young men to vent their rage against women in very violent ways.
This particular individual was no idiot or stereotypical, basement-dwelling loser. He was a very highly intelligent, if troubled, young man who was, in truth, one of the smartest, most cunning criminals I have ever read about.
This man had a prestigious job and a loving family, but he was haunted by a jealous, envious rage over a girl he was infatuated with.
Consumed by anger, vengeance, jealousy, and fury, this intelligent young man, who once had dreams of becoming an animal doctor, became one of the strangest, and most ruthless, killers this country has ever seen.
This is the story of Steven Roy Harper.
The Mysterious Illness
It was the morning of September 10, 1978, in a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska.
24-year-old Duane N. Johnson, his wife Sandy Johnson (nèe Betten), and their children, 2-year-old Sherrie and one-year-old Michael, had slept in late after a party the previous night.
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| Duane Johnson |
Duane was among the first to get up that morning, along with his wife and young daughter. Still groggy from his sleep, he poured himself a glass of milk and drank it. Duane nearly gagged. The milk tasted awful.
"This milk tastes funny", he told his wife. Sandy Johnson smelled the milk carton and examined it. She took a sip. "Seems fine to me", she said. But Duane was insistent. "It tastes funny." he said. "Something's wrong with it."
Sandy was confused, but she didn't want to get into an argument. She took the milk gallon and dumped it down the drain. Maybe it was just a bad carton.
After breakfast, Sherrie Johnson came down with a terrible stomachache. Nevertheless, she decided to accompany Sandy to the grocery store. Duane Johnson went outside to continue painting the exterior of his house.
Unexpectedly, Sandy and Sherrie returned home early. Sherrie had been vomiting nonstop at the grocery store, and Sandy suspected that her daughter had come down with the flu.
At about the same time, while painting the house, Duane suddenly developed a severe headache and also began vomiting and suffering from severe diarrhea. Suspecting he also had a case of the flu, he returned to bed, hoping to sleep it off. Sherrie Johnson did the same.
Several blocks away from the Johnson home, Sandy's sister, Sallie Betten, and her husband, Bruce Shelton, were taking a day trip around Omaha with their 11-month-old son, Chad. After shopping for cleaning supplies, they decided to visit the Johnson home.
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| Chad Shelton |
At the house, Sallie and Bruce arrived to find Sandy Johnson a little frazzled and noticeably stressed. She explained that her husband and daughter had suddenly fallen seriously ill. Both Duane and Sherrie were constantly vomiting in the bathroom and had come down with severe headaches. Sandy told Bruce and Sallie that she suspected there had been a flu outbreak, so the Sheltons didn't stay too long.
After attending a birthday party, Sallie and Bruce picked up some tacos from a Mexican drive-through restaurant and returned home.
Upon reaching the house, Sallie and Bruce Shelton suddenly became sick and began throwing up. Soon afterwards, 11-month-old Chad also became seriously ill. He began vomiting so hard his body shook. Sallie and Bruce suspected they had a case of food poisoning from the tacos. They went to bed early, hoping to sleep the sickness off.
But sleep didn't help them. Throughout the night, the Shelton's condition just grew worse. Bruce Shelton nearly choked to death on his own vomit in his sleep, and he spent much of the night hunched over the toilet, spewing his guts out in painful bouts of spasm. Both Sallie and Bruce developed headaches so severe that they couldn't even sleep. They lay awake all night, periodically returning to the bathroom to throw up some more.
The next morning, back at the Johnson house, Duane Johnson awoke to find his condition having hardly improved. Now, instead of just a headache, Duane felt pain all over his body. He felt so sick that he didn't report to work that day, instead remaining at home to sleep off his sickness. Duane tried taking aspirin for his pain, but that didn't seem to help, either.
Sherrie's condition wasn't much better. She was also pale, lethargic, and constantly vomiting. Neither she nor Duane could keep any food down. They spent the rest of the day lying in bed or vomiting in the bathroom. Sandy could do nothing except just clean up after them and try and make her family as comfortable as possible.
The Shelton's conditions were also worsening. The symptoms were getting dangerously severe. The vomiting and headaches continued throughout the entire day.
Whatever this illness was, it wasn't food poisoning.
An Enigmatic Death
On September 12, 1978, two days after becoming ill, Sherrie and Duane's conditions had worsened even more. Neither of them could keep down any food, and Sherrie's skin had turned a dull white.
Duane's nose also began bleeding, but this was no ordinary nosebleed. The blood just kept coming and coming without stopping. Duane began bleeding so much from his nose he had to keep his head over the toilet to catch the flow of blood.
Chad Shelton's condition became even more serious. His vomiting continued, and he became very lethargic and pale. His parents' symptoms also seemed to worsen.
Eventually, Bruce and Sallie decided that Chad's condition was too serious for them to treat. They rushed Chad to the hospital, where he was admitted into the emergency room. The doctors noticed that Chad's skin had yellowed and his eyes appeared jaundiced, an indication of a liver problem. They gave Chad some antibiotics to guard against infection, and decided to keep him overnight to observe him.
The following morning, on September 13, the doctors entered Chad's room in the hospital to check up on him and see if his condition had improved. But it hadn't. In fact, it was now much, much worse.
Chad's skin was even more yellowed, and he was now bleeding from every orifice. His eyes, nose, mouth, and anus were all bleeding, and every pore on his body had a spot of blood on it. Worse, Chad was completely unresponsive. It appeared as if he had slipped into a coma during the night.
The doctors rushed Chad into the emergency ward. They ordered a range of blood tests on him to determine what was wrong with the infant. When they checked Chad's platelet count, they were shocked.
A healthy platelet count numbers about 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. Chad's count was down to just 19,000. His blood vessels were literally leaking like ruptured pipes.
Other tests indicated that Chad was suffering from serious liver failure. His blood-sugar count was at 11, well below the normal level of 80, and his blood-ammonia level was at 300, far above the threshold limit of 50.
The doctors rushed Chad into surgery, hoping to get a blood transfusion ready before the baby boy died. It was there that they discovered Chad had severe internal bleeding as well. They inserted a catheter into his lungs to suck out the blood and administered vitamins to try and reduce his ammonia count. Time was of the essence if they hoped to save the infant.
That same morning, Duane Johnson woke up to find himself covered in blotches of blood all over his body. He was lethargic, and his eyes stung every time he saw light.
Blood was everywhere; in his nose, mouth, eyes, gums, and even his anus. Duane was aghast and confused. What was happening to him? What was this terrible sickness? He remained in bed, feeling absolutely miserable, and worrying excessively about his daughter's condition, which had also worsened.
Duane's nose continued bleeding severely throughout the day. Every time Duane sneezed, he sprayed an unbelievable stream of blood everywhere. Sandy tried calling the family doctor, but he had no idea what Duane was suffering from, and had little help to offer.
Early on the morning of September 14, 1978, Chad's vital signs became dangerously irregular. His heart rate accelerated rapidly to nearly 200 beats per minute, then plummeted down to 46 beats per minute. As doctors tried to revive him, Chad's heartbeat dropped even further, down to a meager 19 beats per minute. His face turned blue as he began to suffocate.
Doctors rushed into the room, frantically trying to revive Chad by massaging his heart, but it was no use. Chad had lost too much blood. His body couldn't handle the sickness anymore.
At 4:30 AM on the morning of September 14, 1978, Chad Shelton died. He was just three days away from his first birthday.
Doctors were baffled. Chad Shelton had been a perfectly healthy child, with no history of illness. Toxicology scans on his blood had turned up negative, and doctors had already determined he did not have any disease that they were familiar with. They had no idea what had caused the healthy young baby to die.
At Chad Shelton's autopsy, doctors found blood in his brain and stomach, but they were stunned to see his liver. It was mangled beyond recognition, diffusely yellowed, badly scarred, and showed early signs of necrosis. None of the physicians had ever seen such damage to human liver tissue before, and there was no trace of whatever had attacked it.
"What is Killing These People?"
Back at the Johnson home, Sandy received a phone call from Sallie Shelton, who tearfully informed her that Chad Shelton had died at the hospital. Sandy burst into tears. She was heartbroken for her nephew, and terrified that her sick daughter would now die, too.Duane Johnson was also crying as he tried to comfort his distraught wife. "It must have been God's will", he said to Sandy as he lay on his bed, bloody and internally ravaged from the sickness.
Sandy ultimately decided to take Duane and Sherrie to her brother's physician to get his opinion on the mysterious illness. If her daughter and husband had the same sickness that had killed Chad Shelton, then she could no longer wait for them to recover.
During the ride over to the clinic, Duane became almost comatose. He appeared awake, but was hardly responsive and seemed "detached", as Sandy later put it.
Duane needed help walking into the clinic. He was silent and distant, staring ahead with vacant, unblinking, blood-welled eyes. As the doctor attempted to ask him what was wrong, a peculiar expression crossed over Duane's face. Wearing a strange, slight smile, he stared ahead and didn't respond to the doctor's questions. "Duane? Duane? Hello?", asked the doctor, confused by the patient's behavior.
Suddenly, Duane's nose once again began bleeding severely. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious and unresponsive.
Duane Johnson and his daughter, Sherrie, were rushed by ambulance to the hospital, the same hospital where Chad Shelton had died earlier that morning.
Doctors determined that Duane had slipped into a coma, and his condition was rapidly deteriorating. Duane's platelet count was down to just 7,000. Blood was leaking from his nose, eyes, pores, mouth, anus, and ears. His nail beds had turned blue, and swelling was emerging all over the young man's body.
One of the nurses there recognized the symptoms as being identical to those of Chad Shelton. Something was very wrong. One healthy baby had died, and now a healthy young man was dying. "By God! What is killing these people?", she asked, incredulous.
Duane Johnson's condition became erratic as he was wheeled into post-intensive care. His heartbeat shot up to 180 beats per minute, nearly three times the normal rate, and he began suffering from bouts of seizures as doctors tried to treat him. Duane's nervous system was completely clogged with blood, and every single one of his internal organs was bleeding profusely, including his brain.
Doctors could do nothing to help Duane. Surgery was out of the question, as it would only worsen the bleeding, and it was too late for a blood transfusion. Nothing would be able to hold the blood, and there was too much blood in the organs. None of the doctors expected Duane to survive the illness, but none of them knew why.
Sherrie's condition wasn't much better. She was bleeding from pores all over her face. Her liver was swollen and appeared damaged and her platelet count was down to 9,000 per microliter. She, too, was given a slim chance of survival.
The following morning, on September 15, 1978, Duane Johnson's body finally succumbed to the mysterious illness. The 24-year-old truck driver died at 10:25 AM, a little less than a day after being admitted to the hospital.
An autopsy revealed that Duane Johnson's liver had been practically obliterated, but there was no trace of any toxin in his body. Similarly, Duane's brain had also suffered tremendous damage, so much so that his skull was practically empty. Despite extensive testing, the doctors could find no toxins in Duane's bloodstream.
Whatever had killed Duane Johnson and Chad Shelton had done so without leaving a single chemical trace in their bodies. Doctors had never seen a case like this before. They had no idea what to do.
Toxic Lemonade
Two healthy, young people were now dead, and three others were seriously ill. Doctors had no idea what was killing the Shelton and Johnson families, but they were worried that it could spread and infect others. The CDC held an emergency meeting in Omaha, trying to determine what had caused the mysterious deaths of Chad and Duane, and what, if any, treatment could be given to Bruce and Sallie Shelton and Sherrie Johnson, who were still very sick.
Health officials searched frantically for the source of the illness. They suspected that a chemical in a rug shampoo at the Shelton house was behind the sickness, but tests on the shampoo were negative. Tests on the tap water also revealed no signs of toxins.
Health officials soon determined that Chad Shelton and Duane Johnson probably got sick at the same time and at the same place. They found that Chad Shelton and Duane Johnson had, in fact, been together just two days before they became sick, at a family get-together hosted at the Johnson home. Also at the party were all the other family members who had gotten sick.
The investigation shifted to the Johnson home. Practically every single object in the house was tested for toxins. Tests on the tap water turned up negative. Then, authorities suspected that a chemical in the house paint might be behind the illness. Yet again, the tests revealed no toxins.
Health workers also noticed an air conditioning unit on the house was missing a filter. They wondered if the illness might have been from a yeast-like fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum, which can grow on contaminated bird feces. The fungus can cause respiratory problems and disease in some people, but it was not known to cause liver damage or bleeding. Health workers soon ruled out the possibility, and, in the end, found no trace of the fungus in the soil.
Right when investigators were about to exhaust all of their leads, they discovered an unusual coincidence. At the family gathering a few days before the sickness struck, the Johnson family had served lemonade. Everyone who had gotten sick had drank the lemonade. Those who didn't drink lemonade didn't become ill. Duane Johnson, whose symptoms had been the worst of those who were ill, had also drank more lemonade than anyone else.
Health officials now were convinced that whatever had killed Chad and Duane was in the lemonade. Unfortunately, the lemonade was gone and the pitcher had been washed and cleaned. Tests on the lemonade mix revealed no signs of toxins, and even though the investigators had found the source of the poison, they had no idea what kind of toxin was in it.
But one of the health investigators would recognize a trait of the mysterious illness that seemed oddly familiar. It would blow the lid off of the mystery and cause the entire investigation to shift its focus.
DMN: The Invisible Killer
With the investigation of the house a dead end, health officials decided to once again examine the liver samples taken from Duane Johnson and Chad Shelton. Whatever toxin had killed them had absolutely ravaged their livers without leaving a trace.When a nurse examined the liver samples, she recognized the damage pattern as being similar to a case she had previously studied. If her hunch was correct, it meant that the poisonings of the Shelton and Johnson family were no accident.
The liver samples resembled those of a German woman who had been poisoned with a highly toxic chemical agent: Dimethylnitrosamine, or DMN.
A byproduct created during the manufacture of rocket fuel, DMN is an extremely toxic, semi-volatile, oily yellow liquid with a faint, distinctive odor and a sweet taste. It is water soluble, extremely toxic if swallowed, and fatal if inhaled. The chemical is also used as an anti-corrosive agent in the manufacture of rubber, and is present in microscopic, harmless amounts in tobacco smoke, beer, and bacon.
DMN is a highly potent toxin that, when ingested, tends to almost exclusively attack liver and kidney tissue, causing tremendous damage in a very short period of time.
After attacking the liver, DMN is rapidly metabolized by the body and is excreted within 48 hours of ingestion, leaving no chemical trace behind. This would explain why the autopsies of Chad Shelton and Duane Johnson showed no trace of any toxins.
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However, the damage DMN does during this short time is considerable and often fatal. Even if one could survive with a permanently damaged liver, DMN is known to alter mitochondrial DNA, and it is a known carcinogen in both animals and humans.
In addition to attacking the liver and kidneys, DMN interferes with the body's platelet production, which explained the staggeringly low platelet count and severe bleeding present in the family members who were sick. Also, DMN can alter the taste buds, which explains why Duane Johnson thought the milk in his house didn't taste right.
Because of its potency as a carcinogen, DMN is often used on mice in cancer research labs. It was a lab like this, the nurse suspected, where the killer of Chad and Duane probably acquired the poison.
The investigation was no longer focused on an accidental poisoning. Police were now convinced that Chad Shelton and Duane Johnson had been murdered. The authorities knew what had killed the two. Now they just had to find the murderer.
Sandy's Old Flame
Now believing that the poisoning of the Shelton and Johnson families was a deliberate act, police decided to ask Sandy Johnson if she knew of anyone that wanted to harm her family.At first, Sandy couldn't think of anyone who hated her, but, soon, she remembered something:
About three years earlier, right after Sandy had married Duane Johnson, a young man had opened fire on her family with a shotgun, wounding two people. The shooter was an old boyfriend of Sandy's who was furious with her for dumping him. The man's name was Steven Roy Harper.
Police decided to look further into the life of Steven Harper, and learn more about the troubled young man with a sad past and a deadly, obsessive grudge.
The Troubled Life of Steven Roy Harper
Steven Roy Harper was born on April 18, 1953, to Jesse and Eva Lou Harper, the oldest of several brothers.
When he was 9 years old, Harper's life took a sad turn. He and one of his brothers met some friends near a garbage dump. One of the friends had brought along a jug of gasoline and the boys began playing around and setting small fires. Unfortunately, they fooled around too much, and one of the boys accidentally sprayed Harper with gasoline, setting the child on fire.
Harper rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the blaze, but it was to no use. The entire left side of his body became engulfed in flames. By the time neighbors managed to put out the fire, Harper had lapsed into shock. He had suffered severe second and third degree burns over 65% percent of his body. Doctors gave him little chance of survival.
Miraculously, Steven Harper pulled through, but he was scarred for life, both physically and mentally. The left side of his body was irreparably and noticeably disfigured, and the skin never fully healed. Harper also developed an extreme fear of fire and human physical contact, and he would recoil away in horror whenever someone reached out to touch him.
The scars also destroyed Harper's social life. He no longer hung out with the other kids. He was always polite, but he had few friends and was very withdrawn, preferring to keep the company of animals rather than humans.
While his social life was practically nonexistent, Harper proved to have an unnaturally high intelligence level. He excelled in his elementary school and middle school, graduating at the top of his class. At high school, he focused intensively on becoming a veterinarian, and performed phenomenally well in history, biology, and science.
Unfortunately, Harper's inability to interact socially with his peers would later come back to haunt him.
A Deadly Isolation
Harper's self-seclusion didn't affect him too much in elementary school, but when he entered middle and high school, things would change.
As Harper entered adolescence, he, like most boys his age, began becoming interested in girls. Middle school and high school are generally where young teenage boys and girls develop their first intimate and romantic relationships.
Many teenagers in middle and high school experience their first dance, their first kiss, their first date, and, often, their first sexual encounter.
But Steven Harper never experienced any of this. As a teenager, Harper remained shy and withdrawn, especially around girls. Because of his scars, Harper was very, very self-conscious about his appearance. He was paranoid of the social stigma that came with his disfigurement.
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| Steven Harper's senior portrait |
Throughout his childhood, Harper had to deal with other kids gawking and whispering about his disfigured face. In middle school, girls laughed at Harper behind his back, mocking his burns and his appearance. He was called a "freak" on more than one occasion, and, as a result, Harper secluded himself in his studies, away from the prying eyes of his peers.
Harper felt sick to his stomach whenever he heard people gossiping about his injuries. He felt out-of-place, like a hideous beast that needed to be locked away.
As a teenager, Harper was caught in an uncomfortable purgatory. On one hand, he wanted desperately to get a girlfriend and start a romantic relationship with a girl, but on the other hand he was terrified of asking a girl out, and of the social stigma that came with his disfigurement. Harper was worried that a girl would reject him because of his scars, and that he would be left heartbroken and humiliated. All he could do was wait and hope that a girl would approach him and make the first move, but none did.
As his friends began flirting with and dating girls, Harper continued to drift further and further away, secluding himself into his own little world. Throughout his teenage years, Harper never had a girlfriend, never kissed a girl, never held hands with a girl, never went out on a date, and never went to a high school party. His social life was completely nonexistent.
The loneliness took its toll. Harper would become bitter whenever he saw girls or couples in his school. Harper absolutely despised couples, and the sight of young lovers filled him with rage and envy. He felt as if he had been cheated out of a social and romantic life. Harper hated his scars, hated the trauma and the insecurity that had left him miserable and alone during what were supposed to be the best and most carefree years of his life.
To combat his bitterness about his failed social life, Harper buried himself in books and research. His above-average intelligence allowed him to easily master complex subjects, especially in biology, foreign language, history, and physics. Harper graduated top in his high school class, earning a masters degree in biology.
In 1971, Harper was accepted into the esteemed Creighton University, rated the top college in the entire Midwest region. There, Harper studied Latin and biology, and spent his free time with his beloved animals.
When he was 20, a major turning point would take place in Harper's life, one that would eventually turn the young veterinarian-to-be into a cold-blooded killer.
That summer, while Harper was studying at Creighton University, he got a call from one of his friends. A girl from his high school was currently single, the friend said, and she was interested in dating him.
Harper was astounded. A girl wanted to date him? A real girl? He was ecstatic. Harper eagerly accepted the offer.
Harper felt sick to his stomach whenever he heard people gossiping about his injuries. He felt out-of-place, like a hideous beast that needed to be locked away.
As a teenager, Harper was caught in an uncomfortable purgatory. On one hand, he wanted desperately to get a girlfriend and start a romantic relationship with a girl, but on the other hand he was terrified of asking a girl out, and of the social stigma that came with his disfigurement. Harper was worried that a girl would reject him because of his scars, and that he would be left heartbroken and humiliated. All he could do was wait and hope that a girl would approach him and make the first move, but none did.
As his friends began flirting with and dating girls, Harper continued to drift further and further away, secluding himself into his own little world. Throughout his teenage years, Harper never had a girlfriend, never kissed a girl, never held hands with a girl, never went out on a date, and never went to a high school party. His social life was completely nonexistent.
The loneliness took its toll. Harper would become bitter whenever he saw girls or couples in his school. Harper absolutely despised couples, and the sight of young lovers filled him with rage and envy. He felt as if he had been cheated out of a social and romantic life. Harper hated his scars, hated the trauma and the insecurity that had left him miserable and alone during what were supposed to be the best and most carefree years of his life.
To combat his bitterness about his failed social life, Harper buried himself in books and research. His above-average intelligence allowed him to easily master complex subjects, especially in biology, foreign language, history, and physics. Harper graduated top in his high school class, earning a masters degree in biology.
In 1971, Harper was accepted into the esteemed Creighton University, rated the top college in the entire Midwest region. There, Harper studied Latin and biology, and spent his free time with his beloved animals.
When he was 20, a major turning point would take place in Harper's life, one that would eventually turn the young veterinarian-to-be into a cold-blooded killer.
Sandy Betten: Harper's First Love
That summer, while Harper was studying at Creighton University, he got a call from one of his friends. A girl from his high school was currently single, the friend said, and she was interested in dating him.
Harper was astounded. A girl wanted to date him? A real girl? He was ecstatic. Harper eagerly accepted the offer.
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| Sandy Betten |
The girl was an old high school classmate of his; Sandy Betten. Sandy had been a popular cheerleader, a pretty blonde girl who was the love interest of all of the boys and who had slept with several of Harper's friends in high school. Harper had developed a crush on Sandy during high school but he never worked up the courage to ask her out.
By now, after many short flings with multiple boyfriends, Sandy Betten had just gone through a messy divorce. She was looking for another man to be with.
Harper and Sandy began dating soon afterwards. For Harper, it was the happiest time of his life. No longer was he afraid or withdrawn about his scars. No longer did he have to rot in loneliness watching his friends charm up other girls. No longer did he recoil when someone touched him. Finally, Harper was in a real, loving, intimate relationship. He fell deeply in love with Sandy.
Harper was a little nervous at first. He asked Sandy about her ex-husband, and whether or not she was still involved with him. Harper was worried that Sandy would soon leave him for yet another man. But Sandy didn't want to talk about her former husband. "I never loved him", she told Harper. "You're my man now".
But Harper still had to worry about his studies. When the summer ended, Harper went back to school, hoping to build up his doctorate and get a college degree in biology. Unfortunately, Sandy didn't like the long hours Harper spent studying. It was time he wasn't spending with her. She pressed Harper to abandon his studies and marry her.
Sandy had never been devoted to her education. Getting by on her good looks and charm, Sandy had dropped out of high school when she was a junior. Harper was more serious about school. He had no intention of ending his studies at Creighton. He wanted to finish his education and graduate from the university.
Here, a rift soon developed between Sandy and Harper. Harper still deeply loved Sandy, but he wanted to finish his education before marrying her. He promised Sandy that he would marry her in 1975, the same year he would graduate.
But Sandy wouldn't have it. She gave Harper a choice: It was either her or the university.
Harper tried his best to reason with Sandy. He tried to work out a compromise so he could remain with her while still staying in school. For a while, it worked. By 1974, Harper was close to finishing school, and he had even managed to convince Sandy to attend a business college.
Unfortunately, Sandy began to miss the parties and going out with her friends. She nagged Harper about his obsession with working and studying, and again pressured him to marry her. Harper still wanted to become a veterinarian before marrying Sandy, but she was becoming too much of a nuisance. Nevertheless, he clung to the relationship as hard as he could. It was the first and only time he had ever been truly happy, even if Sandy was a little pesky.
But Harper would soon see the relationship, and his entire world, implode in yet another sad turn of events.
It all came to a close one evening in late 1974. Harper was studying for college when Sandy, annoyed with Harper's obsession with work, began pestering him. He asked her nicely to leave him alone while he studied, but Sandy persisted. The dispute turned into a heated argument, and, finally, Harper lost his temper. He grabbed Sandy by the throat and began choking her in a fit of rage.
Finally, aghast at what he had done, Harper released his grip on the young woman. Horrified by his actions, he begged Sandy to forgive him. He apologized again and again and again for what he had done, but Sandy left the house in tears without saying another word. She never returned.
Harper was distraught. What had he done? Why did he wreck his one happy relationship? Harper decided to give him and Sandy some time to cool down before calling her again. Two months after the incident, Harper finally worked up the courage to give Sandy a call. She'd have to take him back, he reasoned. He'd promise to spend more time with her and focus less on school.
But when Harper called Sandy, she had no intention of rekindling their relationship.
"We're through!", she growled over the phone. "I'm seeing someone else!"
Harper couldn't believe it. It had been only two months!
Sandy told Harper she had a new man in her life. "His name is Duane Johnson, and we're going to get married."
Harper was mortified. He demanded to know why Sandy had left him for Duane. She mocked and belittled him. "He's a taller man", she teased Harper over the phone.
Harper begged Sandy to dump Duane and get back with him. He promised Sandy that he would spend more time with her and not on school. After all, hadn't she said she loved him?
Sandy's reply was cold: "I never loved you", she told Harper. She explained that she just wanted to be with a man while getting over her divorce. Then she hung up on Harper before he could respond.
Harper was distraught. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Sandy had lied to him. She had used him for her own gain, and then abandoned him for another man. Harper had never felt lower. He felt as if his life was over. His heart and his very soul had been shattered to pieces.
With tears welling in his eyes, Harper dropped the phone, broke down, and began sobbing uncontrollably, weeping and crying himself to sleep.
Sandy Betten and Duane Johnson were married on January 17, 1975, at a church in Omaha, Nebraska.
While the newlyweds went on their honeymoon, Steven Harper finished his studies at Creighton University, graduating with an master's degree in biology. But, with his studies now finished, he had no way to bury the sorrow that Sandy's rejection had inflicted on him.
By now, after many short flings with multiple boyfriends, Sandy Betten had just gone through a messy divorce. She was looking for another man to be with.
Harper and Sandy began dating soon afterwards. For Harper, it was the happiest time of his life. No longer was he afraid or withdrawn about his scars. No longer did he have to rot in loneliness watching his friends charm up other girls. No longer did he recoil when someone touched him. Finally, Harper was in a real, loving, intimate relationship. He fell deeply in love with Sandy.
Harper was a little nervous at first. He asked Sandy about her ex-husband, and whether or not she was still involved with him. Harper was worried that Sandy would soon leave him for yet another man. But Sandy didn't want to talk about her former husband. "I never loved him", she told Harper. "You're my man now".
But Harper still had to worry about his studies. When the summer ended, Harper went back to school, hoping to build up his doctorate and get a college degree in biology. Unfortunately, Sandy didn't like the long hours Harper spent studying. It was time he wasn't spending with her. She pressed Harper to abandon his studies and marry her.
Sandy had never been devoted to her education. Getting by on her good looks and charm, Sandy had dropped out of high school when she was a junior. Harper was more serious about school. He had no intention of ending his studies at Creighton. He wanted to finish his education and graduate from the university.
Here, a rift soon developed between Sandy and Harper. Harper still deeply loved Sandy, but he wanted to finish his education before marrying her. He promised Sandy that he would marry her in 1975, the same year he would graduate.
But Sandy wouldn't have it. She gave Harper a choice: It was either her or the university.
Harper tried his best to reason with Sandy. He tried to work out a compromise so he could remain with her while still staying in school. For a while, it worked. By 1974, Harper was close to finishing school, and he had even managed to convince Sandy to attend a business college.
Unfortunately, Sandy began to miss the parties and going out with her friends. She nagged Harper about his obsession with working and studying, and again pressured him to marry her. Harper still wanted to become a veterinarian before marrying Sandy, but she was becoming too much of a nuisance. Nevertheless, he clung to the relationship as hard as he could. It was the first and only time he had ever been truly happy, even if Sandy was a little pesky.
But Harper would soon see the relationship, and his entire world, implode in yet another sad turn of events.
Heartbreak
It all came to a close one evening in late 1974. Harper was studying for college when Sandy, annoyed with Harper's obsession with work, began pestering him. He asked her nicely to leave him alone while he studied, but Sandy persisted. The dispute turned into a heated argument, and, finally, Harper lost his temper. He grabbed Sandy by the throat and began choking her in a fit of rage.
Finally, aghast at what he had done, Harper released his grip on the young woman. Horrified by his actions, he begged Sandy to forgive him. He apologized again and again and again for what he had done, but Sandy left the house in tears without saying another word. She never returned.
Harper was distraught. What had he done? Why did he wreck his one happy relationship? Harper decided to give him and Sandy some time to cool down before calling her again. Two months after the incident, Harper finally worked up the courage to give Sandy a call. She'd have to take him back, he reasoned. He'd promise to spend more time with her and focus less on school.
But when Harper called Sandy, she had no intention of rekindling their relationship.
"We're through!", she growled over the phone. "I'm seeing someone else!"
Harper couldn't believe it. It had been only two months!
Sandy told Harper she had a new man in her life. "His name is Duane Johnson, and we're going to get married."
Harper was mortified. He demanded to know why Sandy had left him for Duane. She mocked and belittled him. "He's a taller man", she teased Harper over the phone.
Harper begged Sandy to dump Duane and get back with him. He promised Sandy that he would spend more time with her and not on school. After all, hadn't she said she loved him?
Sandy's reply was cold: "I never loved you", she told Harper. She explained that she just wanted to be with a man while getting over her divorce. Then she hung up on Harper before he could respond.
Harper was distraught. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Sandy had lied to him. She had used him for her own gain, and then abandoned him for another man. Harper had never felt lower. He felt as if his life was over. His heart and his very soul had been shattered to pieces.
With tears welling in his eyes, Harper dropped the phone, broke down, and began sobbing uncontrollably, weeping and crying himself to sleep.
Vengeance
Sandy Betten and Duane Johnson were married on January 17, 1975, at a church in Omaha, Nebraska.
While the newlyweds went on their honeymoon, Steven Harper finished his studies at Creighton University, graduating with an master's degree in biology. But, with his studies now finished, he had no way to bury the sorrow that Sandy's rejection had inflicted on him.
Harper tried to move on from Sandy, but he couldn't. He still loved her, and he couldn't stop thinking about her. Harper went through a severe phase of depression, drinking heavily and using drugs to try and fill the hole left in his heart. He lost weight, grew thin and pale, and began aimlessly traveling around the country, never staying in one place for very long.
After a while, Harper's devastating grief was replaced by a boiling, envious rage. Years of sadness, isolation, and rejection had taken their toll, and uncontrolled anger now sprung forth from the ashes of Harper's soul. For too long, he had put up with being a shunned introvert. Sandy's betrayal was the last straw. It was time, Harper believed, to take vengeance on her and Duane Johnson.
On the night of June 20, 1975, Harper, after drowning his sorrows in some alcohol and getting into a fight with his father, decided to vent his rage against the woman he blamed for all of his problems.
Harper got into his truck with a .410 gauge shotgun and drove to a house where Sandy and Duane Johnson were visiting some friends with their family.
As Sandy and Duane exited their car, Harper pulled his truck up to the driveway. Sandy's brother recognized Harper. "Go away!", he yelled to Harper. "My sister doesn't want to see you anymore!"
Sandy saw her old boyfriend glaring at her from his truck. "What are you doing here, Steve?", she shouted. "Get out of here!"
Harper began mumbling to himself, and, for a moment, his shy, withdrawn, harmless demeanor seemed to appear once again. But when Harper caught sight of Sandy's husband, he became enraged, and his solemn face transformed into a mask of anger. "I want to talk to Duane! Let me talk to Duane!", Harper yelled.
Duane, furious, marched over to the scene to confront his wife's former boyfriend. He found himself staring down the barrel of a .410 gauge shotgun. "Look out!", Duane yelled as he dove for cover. Harper fired a shot from his truck, barely missing the young man. Harper opened his car door and exited his vehicle, carrying his shotgun and fuming with rage.
"He's trying to kill me! Help! He's trying to kill me!", yelled Duane as he ran for cover. Harper fired again at Duane as he ran away, but missed again.
Harper swung his aim around and fired three more shots, shattering a window and wounding Sandy's brother in the arm and her mother in the face.
Finally, Harper aimed his shotgun at Sandy. Now he was the one with the power. He now had the woman whom he blamed for ruining his life right in his gun sights. All he had to do was pull the trigger and he would have his revenge. But Harper still loved Sandy. He couldn't bring himself kill her. He lowered the shotgun.
"Get out of here! You shot my brother! Get out! Get out!", screamed Sandy as Harper threw his shotgun back into his truck, got inside, and sped away.
Harper was ultimately arrested in Oklahoma a few months later. Charged with aggravated assault, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years in prison. Harper was devastated. A criminal record would ruin his chances of becoming a doctor.
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| Steven Harper was arrested in 1976, a few months after trying to kill Sandy Johnson with a shotgun. Harper spent a year in prison for that crime before being paroled. |
Harper ultimately served only one year before being paroled, but jail did nothing to erase the hatred and grudge he felt against Sandy and Duane, nor did it end his infatuation with his former girlfriend. Harper left prison a somber, bitter young man, vowing revenge.
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| One of the many illustrations Harper mailed to the Johnson home. The letters "S.B." stand for "Sandy Betten", Sandy Johnson's maiden name |
Harper also began stalking Sandy and Duane Johnson. He began calling the house nonstop at odd hours of the night, immediately hanging up whenever anyone answered the phone.
The Arrest
Police soon discovered that Harper had gotten a job working at the Eppley Cancer Institute in Nebraska. It was here, police suspected, that Harper may have had access to DMN, the toxin believed to have killed Duane Johnson and Chad Shelton and sickened their families.Police obtained a warrant to search Harper's residence. There, they found evidence of animal experimentation and two empty bottles of DMN. The symptoms Harper described in a journal found at the residence exactly matched the symptoms of DMN poisoning.
There was finally enough evidence to charge Steven Harper with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and three counts of poisoning with intent to kill.
Steven Roy Harper was arrested in Beaumont, Texas, on October 13, 1978, almost exactly one month after Chad and Duane had died. When questioned by police, Harper refused to talk about the murders.
Texas authorities planned to extradite him back to Nebraska to face trial.
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| Steven Harper's mugshot, taken following his arrest in 1978 |
While awaiting extradition, Harper's disturbing behavior intensified. The night before he was to be sent to Nebraska, Harper slit his wrists with a piece of broken glass and scrawled the name "Sandy" on the wall of his holding cell using his own blood.
Harper was flown to Nebraska to stand trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, and poisoning with intent to kill. The evidence against Harper was, at this point, almost entirely circumstantial, but the investigators thought they could get a confession out of him anyway.
When Harper was interrogated, he continued to refuse to talk. He remained tight-lipped and refused to answer any questions his interrogators posed to him. Attempting to finesse information from their suspect, the police tried to sympathize with Harper to relax him and make him more talkative. They told him that they knew of his tumultuous history with Sandy, and that they understood why he was upset with her.
Finally, Harper began to open up to police. He told the detectives that, even after prison, he had remained angry with Duane Johnson for stealing Sandy from him. Harper vented his rage by rambling to detectives about his anger with Sandy and Duane. He admitted to holding a festering grudge against his ex-girlfriend, and that he had been unable to move on from her.
Confession
Harper was flown to Nebraska to stand trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, and poisoning with intent to kill. The evidence against Harper was, at this point, almost entirely circumstantial, but the investigators thought they could get a confession out of him anyway.
When Harper was interrogated, he continued to refuse to talk. He remained tight-lipped and refused to answer any questions his interrogators posed to him. Attempting to finesse information from their suspect, the police tried to sympathize with Harper to relax him and make him more talkative. They told him that they knew of his tumultuous history with Sandy, and that they understood why he was upset with her.
Finally, Harper began to open up to police. He told the detectives that, even after prison, he had remained angry with Duane Johnson for stealing Sandy from him. Harper vented his rage by rambling to detectives about his anger with Sandy and Duane. He admitted to holding a festering grudge against his ex-girlfriend, and that he had been unable to move on from her.
But he still wouldn't talk about the murders.
"Steve, you know one of those who died was a child, right?", said the detective. Harper looked up in surprise as the color rapidly drained from his face. "An 11-month-old baby, Steve. Did he deserve to die?". Harper's eyes welled up with tears.
Harper had no qualms about killing Duane Johnson, but he was not a child killer. He didn't mean for a child, especially a baby, to get hurt. Harper began crying as the detective told him about Duane's two-year-old daughter, Sherrie, who was still very sick and wasn't expected to survive.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!", Harper sobbed into his hands, breaking down as he realized the tragic consequences of his actions. "It wasn't supposed to be this way!"
Finally, after several hours of interrogation, Harper confessed to the murders. He told police that he had stolen some DMN from a fridge at the Eppley Cancer Institute, the lab where he worked, and had experimented on some mice at home to find the correct lethal dose. He planned to use the DMN to kill his former girlfriend and her new husband.
Finally, after several hours of interrogation, Harper confessed to the murders. He told police that he had stolen some DMN from a fridge at the Eppley Cancer Institute, the lab where he worked, and had experimented on some mice at home to find the correct lethal dose. He planned to use the DMN to kill his former girlfriend and her new husband.
If he couldn't have Sandy, no one could.
Harper told the detectives that one night, a few days before the Johnsons and Sheltons had their family gathering, he broke into the Johnson home by climbing through an open window. With him was a full bottle of DMN he had stolen from the Eppley Institute.
Harper opened the fridge in the house and saw a pitcher of lemonade. Perfect, he thought. Who doesn't like to drink lemonade?
He poured the entire bottle of DMN into the lemonade, swished the pitcher around, and put the cap back on. The oily yellow liquid dispersed into the pink lemonade mix, leaving no apparent change in color. No one would know that the drink was poisoned.
With the deed done, Harper closed the fridge, jumped back out the window, and left the house.
Unknown to Harper, Sandy Johnson actually didn't like lemonade. Had Harper poured the DMN into the milk carton in the fridge instead of the lemonade, he probably would have killed her, too.
Harper told detectives that he didn't expect the victims to die so quickly. He'd thought that Sandy and Duane would develop cancer years later, and that no one would ever suspect foul play. He had no idea that the toxin was so potent, and he was absolutely aghast that he had killed a child.
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| Harper arrives in Nebraska after being extradited from Texas |
Steven Roy Harper was charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, and three counts of poisoning with intent to kill. Despite having earlier confessed to the crime, Harper pleaded not guilty to all charges after the judge ruled his confession inadmissible in court.
The Trial
Steven Roy Harper finally went on trial in 1979, about one year after the murders.Harper had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and had been assigned noted public defender Lawrence Corrigan. However, Harper was dissatisfied with Corrigan. He tried to fire his attorney and told the judge he wanted to "rely on God" and represent himself.
The judge granted Harper permission to represent himself, but Harper soon decided to bring back Corrigan. He found that he couldn't handle the trial all by himself.
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| Harper often wore wire-rim glasses whenever he appeared in court |
Corrigan tried to cast doubt on the prosecution's assertions by claiming that there was no evidence that DMN was the toxin that had killed Chad Shelton and Duane Johnson. Even if the toxin had been used to poison the family, Corrigan claimed, that didn't necessarily mean that Harper was the one who had committed the poisonings.
Although he didn't directly accuse her, Corrigan hinted that Sandy Johnson, with her history of short marriages and promiscuous relationships, was a much more likely suspect than Steven Harper. Maybe Sandy had become unhappy with Duane, he said, and wanted to get him out of the way.
Of course, Corrigan's argument was all speculation. There was no evidence that Sandy had poisoned her husband. DMN is not commercially available because of its toxicity, and Sandy didn't have a job that granted her access anywhere near the chemical.
The prosecution stated that it was Steven Harper who had poured the DMN into the lemonade. Harper was a "jilted lover", the prosecutor said, who wanted revenge against Sandy Johnson for betraying him and wanted to kill Duane for "stealing" Sandy from him. They presented forensic evidence that proved that DMN was the toxin that had poisoned the Shelton and Johnson families, and that Harper had the means, motive, and opportunity to obtain the toxin and use it to get revenge.
Additionally, despite defense objections, the prosecution brought in a witness to testify against Harper. The witness was a fellow inmate of Harper's who had befriended him while he was awaiting trial. Harper had confided to his new friend all the details of his crime, right down to the name of the toxin he used.
The evidence against Steven Roy Harper was insurmountable. On Friday, October 5, 1979, the jury found Harper guilty of the first-degree murder of Duane Johnson, the second-degree murder of Chad Shelton, and the poisonings and attempted murders of Bruce Shelton, Sallie Shelton, and Sherrie Johnson.
Harper was guilty. Now his punishment would be decided by the judge overseeing his case. Harper would either go to prison for the rest of his life or be sent to Nebraska's death row.
On November 7, 1979, Harper appeared before Judge James Murphy to be sentenced. Judge Murphy carefully and meticulously considered the mitigating and aggravating factors against Harper before finally announcing his decision: Steven Harper would die for his crime.
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| Harper is led from the courtroom after being sentenced to death |
After an emotional court hearing, Judge Murphy sentenced Steven Roy Harper to death in the electric chair. "I can see [...] that you are not at peace.", the judge told Harper. "I hope you find peace in your next life". Murphy then set Harper's execution date for 6:00 AM on February 15, 1980.
Harper's mother began to cry. All that studying, all those therapy sessions for the burns, all that education, all those aspirations and dreams... it was all for nothing. Her son would never fulfill his dream of becoming a veterinarian; he would die as a convicted murderer.
Harper showed no emotion whatsoever during the sentencing. He was led from the courtroom, shackled and silent, to be transported to death row at Nebraska State Penitentiary.
Cheating the Chair
A few days after being sentenced to die, Steven Roy Harper was sent to death row at Nebraska State Penitentiary to await execution. Despite having an execution date set for February 15, 1980, the date ultimately passed without Harper being strapped to the electric chair. Harper's execution date was stayed to allow him time to file appeals.
At the time, there had been no executions in Nebraska since 1959, when teen murderer Charles Starkweather was electrocuted for a violent crime spree that spanned two states. Despite his sentence of death, Harper was still years away from being anywhere close to execution.
Inmates on death row in Nebraska are held in solitary confinement. They are allowed out of their cells to shower, exercise in an outdoor yard, or eat in the prison cafeteria. Harper rarely left his cell, preferring to stay in bed and read.
While on death row, Harper converted to Christianity and spent his time reading the Bible and communicating with a Catholic priest who served as his spiritual advisor. He hung a Bible calendar on the wall in his death row cell, and tried to become ordained in the Catholic church.
As he continued to await his date with death, Harper's mental condition began to deteriorate. He became increasingly paranoid and withdrawn.
Harper shied away from using the prison shower, fearing he would be sexually assaulted by other inmates, and he soon became too fearful to eat in the prison cafeteria, believing that the cooks were homosexuals who were trying to lace his food with HIV.
In the meantime, Harper's attorneys filed motions to appeal his conviction. In 1981, an appeals court upheld Harper's conviction and death sentence, and the following year, the state Supreme Court dismissed his motion for a retrial. After Harper's appeal of his conviction was rejected, another execution date was set for January 10, 1984. Yet again, however, Harper's execution was stayed by a judge to allow him to file further appeals.
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| A cell in the death row section of Nebraska State Penitentiary, where Steven Harper spent 11 years awaiting execution between 1979 and 1990. |
As Harper continued to waste away on death row, he started to lose his sanity. Harper began to believe he was a child in the hospital waiting to be treated for his burn injuries, and he continually asked prison staff if a doctor was ever going to see him.
Later, Harper began to believe he was in North Africa, fighting the Nazis and searching for his lost uncle.
At night, Harper was haunted by horrible nightmares and hallucinations of demons. He screamed at nonexistent ghosts and talked to himself for hours. Harper believed that Sandy Johnson's spirit was tormenting him at the behest of Satan.
The prison staff soon became concerned that Harper was going insane. They put him on an anti-psychotic medication, but it didn't seem to work. Harper's condition just got worse. He began hallucinating more often, and the delusions eventually reached the point where Harper became convinced that he was "Pope Stephanas I".
Later, Harper began to believe he was in North Africa, fighting the Nazis and searching for his lost uncle.
At night, Harper was haunted by horrible nightmares and hallucinations of demons. He screamed at nonexistent ghosts and talked to himself for hours. Harper believed that Sandy Johnson's spirit was tormenting him at the behest of Satan.
The prison staff soon became concerned that Harper was going insane. They put him on an anti-psychotic medication, but it didn't seem to work. Harper's condition just got worse. He began hallucinating more often, and the delusions eventually reached the point where Harper became convinced that he was "Pope Stephanas I".
As Harper's mental state deteriorated, his appeals continued to drag on. In 1987, Harper's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was denied by the U.S. District Court. Harper appealed to the 8th Circuit Court, but the backlog of death penalty cases before the court resulted in Harper's appeal sitting in legal limbo for years with no hearing in sight. Any execution date for Harper was decades away, as was any chance of his death sentence being commuted. And in the meantime, as his appeals stalled and his case languished, Harper continued to waste away, slowly and steadily losing his sanity as the years continued to drag on.
After enduring eleven years of mental torture on death row, Harper finally decided to put an end to his suffering. He began hoarding his anti-psychotic medication, hiding the pills in his pillow, planning to acquire a lethal dose to take his own life.
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| Steven Roy Harper ultimately never lived to be executed in Nebraska's electric chair |
On the night of December 6, 1990, Harper returned to his cell after having dinner in the prison cafeteria. Inside his cell, Harper turned on his prison radio and tuned it to some classical music. After writing a final farewell note to his parents, Harper found the stash of pills he'd been hoarding and swallowed all of them at once. He then climbed into his bed, turned off the light, and went to sleep. He never woke up.
That night, Steven Roy Harper suffered a massive, fatal heart attack as he slept, and he died at the age of 37. His tormented, ruined life was finally over forever. The nightmares and hallucinations could haunt him no more.
But even after Harper's suicide, his crime continued to haunt the Johnson and Shelton families. Although two-year-old Sherrie Johnson survived the poisoning, she suffered permanent liver damage and never fully recovered. To this day, Sherrie Johnson continues to battle chronic liver problems as a result of the poisoning that nearly killed her.
Bruce Shelton and Sallie Shelton also survived the poisoning, but Sallie was always worried that she would eventually develop cancer from the DMN poisoning, and as a result she never bore another child again.
Like Sherrie Johnson, Sallie Shelton also suffered from severe liver damage and resulting chronic complications, and she ultimately died from liver failure in September 2014, at the age of 57.
Bruce Shelton was affected the worst. Heartbroken over the death of his son, Chad, and terrified that he, too, would one day die of cancer, Bruce lost his job, his marriage, and his house. He descended into a life of heavy drug abuse and alcoholism and died in 1995 from liver failure as a homeless, jobless vagrant, aged just 37. He is buried next to the dead son he mourned.
The Danger of Envy: Why the Harper Case Should Serve as a Warning
Steven Harper's case is one that should serve as a warning to all of us. The social problems that drove Steven Harper to commit murder were by no means unique to him. All across the world, there are thousands of young men who feel rejected and unwanted by girls, and who have no proper place to vent their anger.
Steven Harper's burn injuries scarred him for life and ruined his ability to socialize with people, especially during his adolescence, when he began becoming interested in girls. This set him down a very dangerous, self-destructive path of bitterness and anger.
Unrealized adolescent sexuality can be extremely dangerous. While pretty much everyone experiences a breakup with a significant other, especially during the tumultuous years of adolescence, some of these people cannot deal properly with these situations.
Steven Harper in particular was in a very unfortunate situation. He was paranoid and self-conscious about his disfigured appearance, and was timid in social situations. At the same time, he desperately wanted a girlfriend, but no girls approached him and he was too scared to ask any of them out.
This purgatory that Harper was stuck in was torturous. It must have been incredibly depressing and painful for the young Harper to see other boys his age courting with girls and enjoying their young lives, while Harper was left to rot in loneliness, too scared and insecure to talk to girls.
While Harper tried to drown his sorrows in studying, it only worked for so long. He couldn't escape the mental and physical scars that haunted him.
When Sandy Johnson came along and began dating Harper, he finally felt happy. He felt that someone finally loved him. But when Sandy left Harper for Duane Johnson, it broke the young man's heart, and turned the intelligent, aspiring animal doctor into an angry, bitter criminal hell-bent on exacting terrible vengeance for his anguish.
Harper is by no means the only person to have suffered from romantic and social rejection. A vast number of today's criminals are hormonal young males who have had serious problems interacting with girls.
The Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, both had problems with their female peers. Harris hated girls and fantasized about raping them, and Klebold was upset that his classmates had girlfriends even though he himself did not.
The Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, likewise had a history of stalking female students and, in a series of self-pitying videos, blamed girls for not "accepting" him.
Mass shooter George Hennard, who murdered over two dozen people at a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, likewise had problems interacting with women, and his victims were primarily female.
And Elliot Rodger, the young man who murdered six people in a shooting attack in Isla Vista, California, harbored a deep, festering hatred of women and young couples. Rodger wrote a self-pitying manifesto in which he vented his rage and hatred of girls and young couples into long, arduous screeds, and made videos in which he fantasized about committing a mass murder of "hot sorority girls" in revenge for being rejected and not losing his virginity.
This is a pattern few people are talking about. I believe the cause behind so many crimes perpetrated by angry young men is their problems with women. The attack that just took place in Toronto was not the first act of violence perpetrated by an angry, involuntarily celibate young man, nor will it be the last one.
Now, I do not know exactly how one would go about solving this problem. Sex is not a commodity, nor should it be. But the incel movement is a real problem, and the cure isn't just sex. An incel isn't just a young man angry at being a virgin - it goes way beyond that. An incel is someone who is deficient of social skills and has a warped, distorted perception of how society and the world functions.
We shouldn't dismiss so-called "incels" as losers or morons. They can be unnaturally intelligent, like Harper was. They can be very resourceful, as Harper was. And, most importantly, they can be very, very dangerous, like Harper was.
Dismissing incels as basement-dwelling losers will only drive them further and further away from society. It will only further convince them that society is, in fact, the sinister, hostile world they have been led to believe it is. They will not seek treatment for their troubles. They will nurture their mental wounds, congregate with other incels who share their pain and dissatisfaction with girls, and develop a dangerous, seething hatred of women and young couples.
Unless we do something to address this issue now, the lives of more and more bright people like Steven Roy Harper will fall into ruin, and they will inevitably destroy their lives and the lives of many more innocent people.
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A previous version of this article stated that Sherrie Johnson had died of liver complications in 2014 as the result of DMN poisoning. I now understand this not to be true; as of 2023 Sherrie Johnson is still alive, though she still struggles with chronic liver problems. This article has been updated to correct my previous error.
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