In his youth, Greg Ousley was burdened with the tension that developed between his parents and himself. Due to being misunderstood by his parents, the tension simply built up within him until he had reached and irrational conclusion. In Scott Anderson’s article, “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is That Enough?”, Ousley revealed the details regarding the night he decided that he had no choice but to kill his parents (Anderson 7,8). At the young age of fourteen, Ousley was sentenced sixty years in prison for murdering his parents in 1993. The case was quite controversial as there was blatant evidence that his actions were premeditated , yet he was still a minor. However, the unique circumstances of his upbringing could have acted …show more content…
Occasionally, the disputes were between Ousley’s parents, Jobie and Bonnie, “but more frequently, they were between Bonnie and her two teenage daughters, squabble that occasionally escalated to slapping and hair pulling” (Anderson 31). These instances posed as a negative influence on Ousley, which changed his behavior. Because Ousley’s two older sisters eventually moved out of the house, he was left to deal with his parents alone. The main issue between Ousley and his parents appeared to be the lack of understanding between them at the time. This can be inferred when Ousley admits to his mother that he was in fear and, “always thought about suicide and murder” (Anderson 6). In response, his mother simply brushed it off and claimed that it was caused by the influence of movies. Ousley’s mother clearly neglected him as a child, which might have attributed to his unspeakable actions. Ousley’s personality took a sharp turn for the worst as he experienced more traumatizing events such as when he blackmailed his own mother when he caught her kissing his father’s best friend (Anderson 49-50). In this moment, Ousley displayed his manipulative personality by utilizing his own mother’s guilt for his personal gain. Ousley also expressed his deceptive personality as he lied to law enforcement officials about the events that took place the night he killed his parents (Anderson 11). All of these events demonstrated the catastrophic effect that the negative influences had on Greg Ousley’s