Shawn Hornbeck's biological father was ... wait for it ... a convicted sex offender. Will this just stop already?
And Michael Devlin finally opens his fetid, deranged mouth, telling the New York Post:
January 21, 2007 -- UNION, Mo. - The hulking pizza manager accused of snatching two boys in Missouri is so ashamed of his arrest, he can't face his own mom and dad. "I don't know how I'm going to explain myself to my parents," said Michael Devlin, who is accused of kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, in an exclusive interview with The Post.
"It's much easier talking to a stranger about these things than your own parents."
Devlin agreed to two 15-minute interviews in a holding area at the Franklin County jail here, during which he talked about his lack of interest in sex, his passion for poker and video games, the amputation of his toes and his solitary confinement in a 10-by-7 foot cell.
But he refused to talk about the criminal charges he's facing, squinting his eyes and fidgeting in his chair when asked about the four years he allegedly held Shawn captive at his apartment in Kirkwood, Mo., and his alleged snatching of Ownby on Jan. 8.
"I will not discuss anything related to the case," he said.
Devlin, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 300 pounds, came out in an orange prison jumpsuit for both interviews.
He said he has had no visitors other than his lawyers despite having a large family - five siblings and his parents, who adopted him and three of his brothers - nearby.
Life, he said, had been good for him over the last four years, during which he allegedly forced Hornbeck to live with him by threatening to kill the teen and his family if he fled.
"I guess I was relatively happy," he said.
During the first sit-down on Friday, Devlin appeared red-faced and bleary-eyed and seemed downcast.
"I feel nothing," he said. "I hide my emotions from other people. I hide the way I feel."
He declined to answer if he's ever had a girlfriend but said he doesn't care about romantic relationships. "I was never really interested in that," he said. Asked if he was attracted to women, Devlin said, "I can't talk about that because it has to do with the case." ...
Read the rest if you'd like, and there is much more, with Devlin talking about his family life, his love of video games, and the eventuality of his being beaten up or assaulted by other inmates ... by clicking here.
One suggestion in the piece is that Shawn may have pacified Devlin, who is seriously oddball, by playing video games with him:
Video games became a pastime. He said his favorite was "Final Fantasy," an involved role-playing game developed in Japan in the 1980s.
If he weren't in jail, he said, "I'd be in front of my computer screen playing 'Final Fantasy XI,' " he said.
"I like 'Final Fantasy' because it has a network that can connect to people all over the world, from Europe to Japan."
Police say Devlin and Shawn were avid video-game players and may have spent hours playing games together.
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dim url
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url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
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"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
