Lying is an essential human activity—everybody does it sometimes. And there are a few different reasons people do it. Sometimes it’s an innocent attempt to spare somebody’s feelings: Y’know, “It’s not you, it’s me,” or “Oh no, Gramma, I loved that sweater you made me! It’s just um…it was stolen. Yeah, stolen!” Sometimes it’s to avoid accountability. “I didn’t kill that guy,” or “That vase was shattered when I got here.” Sometimes it’s to cause somebody else pain. “I never loved you.” And sometimes, it’s about creating a fantasy version of ourselves, because we don’t like who we see in the mirror. For a small percentage of these people, the big lie they build around themselves becomes their greatest treasure—something to guard with everything they have. And anyone who threatens it might not make it out alive. Join us for the story of "perfect son" Brian Blackwell, who built an elaborate web of lies to impress his girlfriend--that he was an up and coming professional tennis player, that he'd just closed on a 450,000 pound flat in the same complex as a famous footballer, that he could afford to give her anything and everything she wanted. When his parents threatened to put a stop to his fraud, he committed one of the most shocking crimes in British history.

Sources:
The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1493035/Psychological-time-bomb-that-turned-teenage-son-into-frenzied-killer.html
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/30/ukcrime.helencarter
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/4634401.stm
BBC's "Real Crime," episode "A Perfect Son"
BBC's "Killing Mum and Dad," episode "Brian Blackwell"

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