The Innocent and the Psychopath, Part Two

Photo by Marek Szturc

Jasmin, one afternoon, knowing when the neighboring field workers would pass her house after finishing work for the day, timed her plan perfectly. After throwing gasoline on her house, she lit it on fire. She’d wanted the insurance money but didn’t want all her belongings to go up in smoke; thus, her evil-minded plan to have immediate help. When she saw the dust billowing on the dirt road from the vehicles heading toward her, she started screaming for help. She knew that when seeing a damsel in distress, as well as the smoke and the flames, the men would stop and assist. They did.

After someone called 911, the fire department came quickly, and the fire, with the help of the field hands using Jasmin’s hose, contained the blaze. The men were happy to help and console, and Jasmin was happy her plan worked so well, so far.

However, she didn’t think things through too thoroughly, as the fire chief saw the cans of accelerant and immediately suspected arson. He reported Jasmin to the authorities.

She was arrested but was able to get out on bail while awaiting a court appearance. But her hearing kept getting postponed.

In the meantime, she’d told Will that she needed to move away, and told him that he either had to go with her or sever their ties completely.

He chose to go. With that decision, she convinced him to put his property into his wife’s name so that she would have someplace to live when they divorced, which he did, and she also convinced him to sell his sister’s share of the other half to a family she knew who was interested in settling in that area. He did that, too. He was too smitten by the woman to see that she had a very devious plan. He’d never conceived of the notion that Jasmin was encouraging the sale to relatives of hers, or that Chawna was in on the whole plot.

The two moved away from Arizona to Northern California where the weather was cooler and not so dry. Will had put the money from the sale of his property, after giving his sisters their share, into a savings account. He would withdraw money when needed, not wanting a checking account. Because he needed help filling out the application for a credit card, he couldn’t apply for one on his own. Jasmin, on the other hand, got a credit card for herself and told Will that he didn’t need one anyway, that hers was sufficient. When purchases were made, she would use her credit card and Will would reimburse her in cash. That worked out just fine, Will thought, while living in a motel as they searched for a house to buy.

The house Will bought was low cost, because it was in need of a lot of work. That was okay with him because he was not averse to work and knew a few things about construction. While he proceeded to fix it up so they could move in, they used the same procedure to pay for things: Jasmin using her credit card and Will paying her back in cash. Unfortunately, Will saw no need to get a receipt from Jasmin or make note of those monetary exchanges himself, since they were in love, and all was wonderful.

When the house was finally finished, and Will thought they would live happily ever after in this small community that he’d fallen in love with, Jasmin could no longer hide her true self. She began an affair with one of the contractors they’d hired to help finish areas beyond Will’s own skills and would entertain the man in their home while Will was at work out of town and suspected nothing.

Then she began belittling him for small things and turning into someone he didn’t recognize. Will tried to talk to her about the problem, but she didn’t want to talk, she just wanted out of there, and she didn’t mind raising her hand to him whenever he was near her, slapping him, or kicking him to stay away. But when she would deliberately smack herself to show bruises or cut herself and then call the cops on Will, Will was totally confused. How could this woman who had professed to love him do these things?

Photo by Liza Polyanskaya

Not knowing what to do, Will called his closest sister, Marta, for advice. Marta came running. She’d never liked Jasmin and was fearful for her brother. After arriving, she demanded that Jasmin leave the premises. She then went to the police station to explain to the cops why Will could never do the things Jasmin had accused him of.

When Will was young, because he seemed ‘slow’, teachers suggested to their parents that Will get evaluated with psychological tests. Besides the dyslexia, the tests showed no ability to stand up for himself in any situation. He was kind-hearted, trusting, and had no concept of what a ‘lie’ was or why anyone would cause harm to any living thing.

Marta, knowing Jasmin throughout the years Will had been with her, had felt there was something very wrong with Jasmin and didn’t trust her. She couldn’t put a finger on exactly what bothered her, but she just knew she wasn’t the person she’d portrayed herself to be. Something ‘clicked’ inside Marta’s head one day, like an ‘ah hah’ moment, when she happened to see cuts all up and down Jasmin’s arms as she was taking off a sweater. Jasmin didn’t realize Marta was standing nearby. Seeing the cuts, Marta knew then that the woman had psychological issues.

When Marta asked Will if Jasmin had explained about the cuts, since it was unlikely that Jasmin had hidden them from Will all those years together, he said, “Oh sure. She got those when she worked for a berry-picking crew one year and got the cuts from the brambles.”

Marta began adding, in her mind, that explanation to the many others Will had told her that Jasmin had said, and things Jasmin had told Marta herself, which she knew to be untrue. And so, pathological liar seemed obvious to Marta. She added that to the list of the many things Will had succumbed to without realizing it. Marta felt bad for her kind-hearted, gullible brother. What to do?

When they received notice that Jasmin was suing Will for all the money she’d said he owed her, and he didn’t have a thing to counter that with, Marta called an attorney in their nearby city. But after the appointment, they went away feeling frustrated and angry when the attorney told them there wasn’t anything he could do for them without some kind of proof that Will had actually paid her back.

Feeling dejected and scared, Will talked to his friend Jonah, who he worked for, telling him his frustrations and anguish. Jonah told him that he had a friend who worked for a pro bono office of attorneys who wanted to help people that couldn’t afford normal legal fees. “I’ll talk to her and see if she would be interested in talking to you,” he told Will, who was suddenly elated and hopeful.

Will’s sister was staying the week, so when the attorney that Jonah had told Will about called back that afternoon, Marta talked to her and summarized the situation. The attorney said she’d make time to see them before Marta was to leave.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions

The counselor’s name was Helen Richter, a woman who was willing to shake things up like an earthquake measuring high on the Richter scale, according to what they were told. The woman’s humor, and seeming determination, bolstered both Marta and Will’s hopefulness. If Ms. Richter would take the case, they knew she would do all she could to win it, no matter how much ‘shaking-up’ she had to do.

Marta had all of the old records from Will’s appointments with counselors and psychologists in his youth that detailed their determination regarding Will’s incapability to stand up for himself and being unable to see someone’s ulterior motives. She gave copies to Will’s possible new attorney.

Listening to Marta tell the whole story from the time Will met Jasmin to the present, and Helen reading over the conclusions made by the psychologists, she told them that she would gladly take the case.

“To me, listening to what you’ve had to say, and reading about Will’s situation from professionals, I see this as a blatant case of a con artist taking advantage of an easy target. I would like to get names to contact to get more information about that fire the woman started, especially the insurance company, if you know it, and the county in which it happened. My investigator can do the rest. It’s a pure case of arson, I’d say, and that’s a jailable offense within itself. We’ll get this woman off your back, I’m pretty certain.”

Will and Marta left feeling much lighter than what they’d been feeling for the past few weeks.

“Do you really think Ms. Richter can help me?” Will asked his sister.

“If she can’t do it, no one can, and I’m putting money on her turning the bitch Jasmin’s life upside down, right where it belongs.”

Read Part Three now by clicking HERE. Learn what earthquake Attorney Richter has in store for Jasmin as she gathers evidence for court.

If you missed Part One, click to read it now.