The Psychopath: A True Story(46)
During the first part of their relationship, someone was giving him money – large sums of cash at a time. Belle also wonders how on earth he got the St Christopher’s scrubs and the patient records. They looked very real and she wonders now if he stole them.
As for being stopped by the police, Will clearly knows exactly what to say and to whom – including how to deal with policemen so they don’t notice his lack of a driving licence. It doesn’t always work, I know, because he has numerous charges against him for driving without a licence and without insurance, but it is interesting to have a witness as to how he sometimes gets away with it. Even the police are fooled by this consummate con man.
The apartment Will Jordan was living in was just across the road from where he was arrested in April 2014, captured by the press photographer in the police sting set up by Mischele.
Belle rarely dates nowadays and is still single. She also feels bad for anyone she does date because she gets nervous and starts to fact-check them. No one wants a girlfriend who wants to take their fingerprints and starts investigating them, but how are we all supposed to do our ‘due diligence’ otherwise? When you meet someone for the first time, you simply have to go on trust – every relationship is based on that.
Belle said, ‘He’s the strongest punk I know.’ She described him as pure charisma, talking himself out of any situation. If you asked questions, he always had a ready and convincing answer, and there seemed to be evidence just lying around to verify what he was saying – like the patient records and bills on his office desk. She added, ‘I think I must have known somewhere deep down that he was no good, which is why I never introduced him to my children. Something, some kind of spider sense, was jangling in my subconscious.’ Gee would always play on her nursing and mothering instincts by accusing her of not trusting him, and this made her feel guilty.
Belle has not told her children about him yet, even though they are well into their teenage years now. She has kept it from most of her friends and family as well because she is embarrassed and not sure how to broach the subject. She has said that she will tell them all one day, and then laughed saying she might suggest they read this book first!
Our group of victims was growing, and the new Facebook group was very useful. It let us talk to each other from all over the world. We shared stories and experiences and talked about the ongoing issues of recovery, as well as sharing hopes and fears. It was hugely supportive for all of us to be able to talk without needing to explain ourselves – and specifically without any kind of judgement. We all knew exactly what we had been through.
From prison, Will Jordan applied for a special programme called the ‘Intensive Supervision Program’ or ISP. This was created to help those serving a minimum amount of jail time who could be released before being eligible for parole. It allows some offenders to serve the rest of their sentence outside the traditional prison setting but under strict supervision. The idea is that non-violent prisoners may be better served working as volunteers in churches or in schools rather than sitting in prison. It would mean that Will Jordan could carry out his sentence in the community instead of in jail.
Mischele told us that she had been informed of his application and was asked if she had anything she wanted the panel to know before they discussed the matter? We were all astonished that they were even considering his application, given his history and the paedophilia conviction in the UK.
We worried that if Mischele alone wrote about her objections to the judge in his case, it might be dismissed as being only one person’s perspective. So instead, we all wrote to the judge, from Scotland, England, Mexico and the USA. Eight of us wrote to the court – women standing together in unison to support Mischele’s testimony.
It worked and his application was denied.
As a group, it was incredibly validating to work together to stop him in his tracks.
The membership of our Facebook group has ebbed and flowed over the years with some members moving on when they felt the time was right. Each time we check with the members before inviting a new victim to join – and talk to them on video chat beforehand to make sure they are not Will Jordan himself posing as a victim!
All this time the other wife was still phoning me and we talked regularly. However, she was also keeping the lines of communication open with Will Jordan and his family. She could never seem to let go entirely. In 2014, her eldest son, who was now twenty-one, got in touch and asked if he could talk to me.
As an adult he had a right to the truth and I made a promise to my own children in 2006 that I would never lie to anyone. I told him that I was happy to speak to him and answer any questions he had, but that I would not lie to his mum if she asked me about it.
Enough damage had been done by lies and deceit and I wanted nothing further to do with Will Jordan’s lies.
The son wanted to know my side of things, so I answered every one of his questions honestly and completely, exactly as I had done with my own children. He asked each of his questions politely and listened calmly to the answers, asking in detail what Will Jordan had done to us and to others.
Then he asked, ‘Do you think he’s a sociopath?’
‘No, I think he’s a psychopath,’ I answered. ‘When I first wrote my book, the definitions were slightly different and seem to have changed over the years. A psychopath is born and a sociopath is made by their experiences in childhood. I think he was born this way, though possibly not improved by his upbringing. Either way, I don’t think he has any empathy or emotion for others. I don’t think he is capable of love.’