A Jigsaw Picture of an Accused Killer (long article on Loughner)

[jakeXT]

Leaving an Impression

At a small local branch of a major bank, for example, the tellers would have their fingers on the alarm button whenever they saw him approaching.

It was not just his appearance — the pale shaved head and eyebrows — that unnerved them. It was also the aggressive, often sexist things that he said, including asserting that women should not be allowed to hold positions of power or authority.

...

And employees at the Sacred Art Tattoo shop would not forget that day in November — the same month in which Mr. Loughner bought a Glock — when he walked in wearing jean shorts and a muscle shirt and holding up a 9-millimeter bullet that he said he wanted replicated on his right shoulder.

It took less than a half-hour and cost $60. And when it was done, Mr. Loughner insisted on shaking the artist’s hand.

Then, a week later, he returned to get a second bullet tattoo.

“I started talking to him about what he liked to do, hobbies, pastimes,” recalled Carl Grace, 30, who drew the second tattoo. “He said he dreamed 14 to 15 hours a day. He said he knew how to control his sleeping and control his dreams.” But when the artist asked about the meaning behind the tattoo, the customer just smiled.

“When he left, I said: ‘That’s a weird dude. That’s a Columbine candidate.’ ”

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/us/16loughner.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all