Jerks. There’re way too many of them in the world. In fact, jerks are so numerous, that it’s almost impossible to go for more than a couple of weeks without colliding (perhaps literally) with at least one.  In my opinion, jerks include, but are not limited to, reckless drivers, bullies (including cyberbullies), malicious gossipers, porch pirates, bigots, identity thieves, and sports fans who get into fights with other sports fans.  Jerks often break the law, but even when they don’t, you wish you’d never crossed their path.

I’m not here today to defend jerks, but I would rather encounter a jerk than a truly evil person. That thought came to me while following news stories about the horrible, heartbreaking murder of the four Idaho University students. Everything I’ve read and heard about Xana, Ethan, Madison, and Kaylee makes it clear they were all young people of great promise who were deeply loved by their friends and family. When I see pictures of their happy, smiling faces, I see my own grandchildren six or seven years from now, and I shudder. Because when evil people cross your path, your chances of survival are slim indeed.

Evil people are human beings only in the narrowest biological sense. They have flesh, blood, bones, and internal organs just as you and I, but that’s where the similarity ends. Because evil people have no conscience and not even the most-rudimentary moral compass. They have no sympathy, much less any empathy, for others. Psychologists use the term “psychopathic” to describe people who lack a conscience and the ability to empathize with others. But there are two qualities an evil person has that go beyond psychopathy; they are predators as well as cowards.

A cowardly predator with no semblance of a conscience. That would describe the unknown murderer, known today as Jack the Ripper, who eviscerated five helpless prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of east London in the autumn of 1888. It would describe Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, who believing themselves to be intellectually superior beings and therefore above the laws of ordinary people, murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in the spring of 1924 out of curiosity.  It would be an apt description of J.W. Milam and Ray Bryant, who dragged Emmet Till (another 14-year-old) from his uncle’s home in the summer 0f 1955 and then tortured and murdered him for allegedly whistling at Bryant’s wife. It would describe the members of the “Manson Family” cult who slaughtered actress Sharon Tate, over eight months pregnant at the time, and three of her friends in the summer of 1969.

As of now, a suspect in the Idaho student murders has been identified, captured, and charged.  This individual may or may not be guilty of the murder of the four Idaho students. Whoever committed those crimes displayed the same evil characteristics of the Manson family, Jack the Ripper, and the other killers mentioned earlier.  He intruded into their home and stabbed them while they slept. You can’t get much more cowardly than that.

The scariest thing, though, is the fact that whoever killed the students almost certainly didn’t know them, had never been wronged by them in any way. That’s scary because you can be a law-abiding, morally upright person yourself with no enemies and no ax to grind with anyone. But if you cross paths with an evil person, it won’t matter. You could well end up like Bobby Franks, Emmet Till, or Sharon Tate.

I am no big fan of the death penalty. I have doubts about its ability to deter crime, and I know it has been used unfairly against minorities and low-income people. But if the suspect in the Idaho student murders is guilty and sentenced to death, I may pass on raising any objections.