The Psychology of John Lutter

[Dazinho]

Saw this one, and it seemed an awful lot of distress for someone to go to in order to gain very little. Being a pilot is hardly an un-sexy job, and it got me thinking about the nature of pathological liars.

In UM terms, perhaps he and Louis Carlucci would be classed in the same bracket, but they were immensely different characters IMO. With Carlucci, there was at least a motive of financial gain, whereas with Lutter it seems a whole lot more complicated.

A pal (now ex-pal) of mine from my days growing up, was, to all intents and purposes, one of those fellas who got his kicks essentially from the execution of a lie, even if there 'was nothing in it for him'. It was the tangled web, fictional life and the fact that others were unknowing participants in it from where satisfaction was derived.

Strange guy, but would think Lutter was very similar. Thoughts on this case and the man himself much appreciated...

[crystaldawn]

I have always found this case intriguing. That is the question...what was in it for him? I guess the obvious might be to have all these adoring females who were clearly devoted to him. His ego probably got some kind of a boost to know all the children he had fathered as well. It seems as though he had a real problem with self esteem and had some need to prove that he could charm and win over all these females. He seemed to be somewhat selective in whom he chose. They mentioned that his girlfriends/wives were mainly from male dominated cultures where females were far less likely to question or challenge their husbands if something seemed amiss and just kept quiet. As far as I know he didn't get much, if any, jail time so you can't help wondering if he's still out there doing the same thing.

[RobinW]

Strangely enough, my boss personally knew an airline pilot just like this who had his own wife and family in his hometown in Peru, and had another family someplace in America whom he would live with whenever he went on trips. Neither family knew that the other one existed and the guy basically lived two separate lives for years. However, his facade completely fell apart when he was forced to retire and without the opportunity to travel so often, he had to choose which family he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

I agree that there's no other logical reason for someone to do this other than ego and the thrill of living a lie since no one can possibly keep up this facade forever. Even if John Lutter had not been caught, he still would have had to retire from being a pilot someday and never would have been able to travel between his multiple wives so frequently.

[MegtheEgg86]

I think maybe John Lutter was a lot like people who get a kick out of petty shoplifting. It's not actually obtaining the object--it's the excitement of recognizing an opportunity to steal and subsequently getting away with it. I think he might have been the same way with all these marriages and "lives", like it gave him some sort of thrill.

[rzombie1988]

I think he just enjoyed having alot of different women, particularly ethnic ones. I think it was more of an image thing of being a playboy and having many girls want him. He seems to also have been the type that "just can't choose one" and I think he enjoyed only having to see each girl for a short time span each week. You just have to realize that this was about John and his fragile ego.

[justins5256]

Interesting topic.

I wonder if Lutter suffered from low self esteem and needed all these relationships to build up his fragile ego. I think the fact that he pursued the type of women that he did - women from male dominated cultures - may fit the rubric as well. Such women would be a lot less likely to ask questions and more likely to submit to Lutter and "need" him, both as a bread winner and a companion, which probably fed his ego further.

On the other hand, I am reminded of something a member on my wife's side of the family told me awhile back. He was an airline pilot for over 30 years until the airline he worked for went bankrupt about 5 years ago. I once asked him about this sort of behavior and he said he knew a man who engaged in similar shenanigans and had two families along his route. Apparently neither family knew of the other. So, this sort of thing may not be entirely uncommon, yet Lutter took it to an extreme.

I often wonder if Lutter continued this behavior over the years as it seems he was never seriously taken to task for any of it.

[smoothvirus]

After World War II and up till his death Charles Lindburgh had three secret families in Europe. Two of his "girlfriends" were sisters and knew about each other, the other one was his personal secretary. All three of them had children by him.

[killgas20]

IIRC in another thread, wasn't there an update that he had been caught and that the statute of limitations had run out on filing bigamy and/or other charges?

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by killgas20

IIRC in another thread, wasn't there an update that he had been caught and that the statute of limitations had run out on filing bigamy and/or other charges?

Sorta. He was picked up at LAX in the fall of 2000. He was in jail for some time awaiting trial on the bigamy charges but no witnesses or victims could be located so the charges were dropped and he was released some time in early 2001.

I actually found a woman on Facebook who I believe was one of Lutter's ex's from the UM segment. One has to wonder just how diligently the authorities searched for these women and also if any were located yet refused to testify. A lot of time had passed since Lutter dropped out of sight in the mid-eighties and his arrest in 2000. Many of the women may have moved on with their lives and not wished to open old wounds.