Russell Williams: How Oedipus Complex Ruled Man's Life

In October 2009, Russell Williams being a 46 year old decorated colonel air force pilot and commanding officer of the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Trenton, Ontario. Williams being apart of the largest air forces base in Canada, he was known as “shining bright star,” model in the military in which he advanced through the ranks quicker than others. Further into 2010, Williams was convicted of murder which was followed by a series of sexual related crimes which includes 82 fetish break ins and burglaries, leading to serve two terms of life sentences, without parole eligibility for 25 years. He began at his cottage in Tweed in 2007 to break into home and near his Ottawa home in 2009, where he’d scoop out homes to ensure nobody being home then entering and stealing females underwear and families personal belongings. William would document these break ins; in one case: exposed himself in a 15-year old girls room; masturbating. Back in November 2009, Williams brutally raped and murdered Corporal Marie-France Comeau, who was also under his command at CFB Trenton; additionally, he recorded and took photographs of it all but even left a condolences to her father in doing what was done to her. This leading to William’s next victim, Jessica Lloyd. Jessica who was raped and abducted from her home and killed back at William’s cottage in Tweed. Additionally, William’s turn in behaviour was a huge surprise to the military but they country as well. However, according to the Globe and Mail during William’s undergrad years; he was known to be a young prankster, “he hid in dark closets so he could leap out and surprise unsuspecting roommates, and once woke at sunrise to slip a fertilized chicken egg into a friend’s carton”. One would think how on earth such accomplished military man that is so successful and married for 18 years with no criminal record would instantly start doing horrific crimes in his own community?

Negative Oedipus Complex

Russell Williams would meet the criteria for numerous different possible theories; one including Negative Oedipus Complex. According to the negative Oedipus complex as per Freud’s psychoanalytic theory which states that a male child possesses unconscious feelings of sexual desire for his father and as a result, feels possessive and angry at the mother for his relationship with his father. For Williams, the negative Oedipus complex can be applied to his relationship with his parents during his childhood. Williams was extremely close to his biological father and not so much close in relationship to his mother; the divorce of his parents furthered this distance between his mother and, in speculation, may be a cause for explanation for his intense and unnatural hatred or anger towards women as informed through his brutal murders. In addition to the reading of negative Oedipus complex in Williams’ childhood and youth, social isolation is known as a characteristic feature of sexual killers, and sexual killers are reported to possess higher levels of loneliness during their youth compared to adult rapists. In fact, there is evidence found that sadistic offenders such as sexual killers possessed great difficulties in relating to their favoured sex from early childhood, which again can be speculated to connect to the negative Oedipus complex that Williams may have possessed in early childhood and exacerbated after the divorce of his biological parents. The facts of childhood of Williams’ supported by his close friends and family does indeed describe him as a loner especially during his adolescence, this is highlighted with his lack of socializing and his obsessive behaviour such as his obsession with the film Top Gun.

Conclusion

Russell's actions and behaviour can be desribed within the theory of “Negative Oedipus Complex” as the result of negative way of development during his phallic phase. The main idea is in the powerful impact of childhood development and the society; how these factors can affect future adult and to what actions they can lead.