KEY POINTS:
Psychologist Nigel Latta's latest journey into the minds of our murderers turned out to be revealing in an unexpected way. He looked at Terry Clark, the 1970s drug dealer and murderer who led the Mr Asia crew that conquered the Australian and New Zealand heroin markets. He would
die, possibly murdered, in an English prison in 1983.
In a strong series with two more episodes to run, Latta quickly pinned Clark down as a classic psychopath, ignoring the feelings of others in a drive to become the most powerful, feared and richest.
He was in love with the thrill of achievement, crossing that with enjoying violence. Interestingly, once he had built his heroin empire the reality of managing it, with the predictable and inevitable staff problems, bored him. His solution to human resource issues was to order people killed, or do it himself, and that eventually brought him down.
No one knows exactly how many people died at his hands, or at his command, with an ex-policeman noting "Clark had these female couriers and he probably didn't pay them, but killed them instead".
He was also possessed of a certain swagger and style, using it to charm the more powerful. He had an eye to social standing, looking to associate with those better educated and higher on the social ladder, adding to that sense of power and status. But threatening, maiming and death were his first choice options.
Clark's rise, with its ruthless and single-minded need to compete and overcome, drifts close to the profiles of some of our business and bureaucratic legends. They will do whatever is required to get what they want, usually a quick improvement in profit or performance, ensure all credit and kudos flow to them before ducking the consequences, and the day to day tedium, by quickly moving on.
The traits Clark took to extreme can be seen in company collapses, the principals emerging with much of their wealth intact, shrugging their shoulders at others suffering, and blithely setting off on the next venture.
Last night's show was lighter on the moody atmospherics.
The makers had the most extensive and articulate line-up of interview subjects thus far in the series. As well as the ex-policemen, there were people growing up in Gisborne with Clark, whose recollections confirmed Latta's blunt statement "psychopaths are not made, but they are born".
The image of the young Clark holding court in that dairy, accepting gifts from terrified youngsters, went close to the truism of Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuits' founder, with his "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man".
Only, Clark was not in hand of a generous faith. Latta's premise is he was already lost to evil, to the need for power, and to coldly dominating others.
Given that crime and business can travel in similar ways, it might be interesting to turn Latta loose on the behaviour and the psyche of some of our commercial and political leaders, to establish whether the same personalities drive both.
* Beyond the Darklands, TV One, 9.30pm Wednesday.
