Final Project
Morgan Crenshaw
12/09/2021
PSY-310-H2622 Criminal Psychology 21EW2
Summary:
Frank Timmons, born in 1964 and second youngest child to his parents, Henry and Levetta.
Timmons grew up in an abusive household, which led to his mother leaving and father turning to
drinking excessively. Timmons mother passed away when he was 12 years of age. She was
reportedly a neglectful parent who put her oldest daughter, Margaret, to the tasks of raising
younger siblings. Margaret also abused alcohol and became verbally and sexually abusive to her
younger siblings. Margaret was also reported to be suicidal. Timmons played sports in school
and tried to be as studious as he could but failed to graduate. His family lived on welfare- they
were not financially stable and needed the use of subsidies such as food stamps and other
government assistance programs.
Frank had an arrest record of burglary, trespassing and driving while intoxicated. There was also
an arrest for abduction of a woman-where he was accused of beating her with a heavy object and
sexually assaulting her. Timmons claimed that he was innocent and blamed the sexual assault on
two other men. Frank Timmons wasn't charged with the rape but was charged for kidnapping and
robbery. Timmons served 13 years of his sentence due to good behavior, then was placed on
parole where he moved in with his wife, Jenny. His neighbors knew of his prior arrest history
but bypassed it because of his friendly demeanor. Shortly after Timmons began working as a
construction worker, the serial murders began.
Timmons had forced three teenage females behind a church where he sexually assaulted two of
the three. A month later, he reportedly committed his first murder, this led to a chain of robberies
and murders during an 11 month course. After his arrest, friends and family appeared as
character witnesses and insisted that officials had wrongly accused and arrested the wrong man.
In a comparison, on the FBI's most wanted for serial murderers is a man by the name of Kevin
Lamont Carter. Carter was previously arrested and charged for rape and currently wanted for the
murder of his late girlfriend. There is not much to access about Carter's past and early life
However, it is plausible that Carter had a similar upbringing or endured some of the same
things/abuse as Timmons. It is stated that one day after Carter's release he drove to his
girlfriend's home, where he shot her several times from his vehicle. It is apparent that both men
have struggled with coping and psychological issues. (I say that because to cause harm to another
person you have to be battling with your own unresolved issues).
Initial Hypothesis:
Early life has a great impact on our psychological welfare. Positive environments produce more
positive thinking and behaviors. Negative environments produce more malbehavior, criminal
concepts and erratic thinking.
Crime assessment comparison
The research about Frank Timmons sparked a deep interest in the case of Jeffrey Dahmer
Dahmer was a vicious serial killer who