Meredith’s Fourth Annual Tyler Hadley’s Murder
Light the Night Walk Team Case Ends in Florida
Brings Hope
Matilyn Healy, Staff Writer
Statistics report that at least 43,000
people will develop leukemia this year.
Leukemia is one of the common types of
cancers that are diagnosed in the United
States of America. This potentially fatal
disease affects the blood due to the un
controllable cell division of blood cells in
the bone marrow. With no age, bound
ary, or biases, leukemia can affect the
lives of thousands. There will be 43,000
crushed dreams this year, but among
those crushed dreams there will be a ray
of hope that everything will be just fine.
Light the Night is one such ray of hope.
On Saturday October 15, 2011, a team of
enthusiasts from Meredith College will be
joining the Light the Night Walk in Ra
leigh, North Carolina. Light the Night is
a fundraising cause to give hope to those
with blood cancer by providing services
and offering leukemia and lymphoma
researchers with grants to find a cure for
blood cancer. Meredith College biology
professor. Dr. Karthik Aghoram, said,
“This is Meredith College’s 4th annual
team. Our inspiration is Dr. Walda Pow
ell’s (head of Meredith College’s chemis
try department) daughter, Courtney, who
passed away from leukemia. We have
always done it in memory of Courtney.”
The evening of the walk begins in a
place where walkers are provided with
refreshments prior to the walk. An hour
into the inspirational start to the event,
walkers start their walk in a relaxing
environment which takes about an hour.
Team captain Sarah Miller said, “My mom
did not have leukemia but breast cancer.
Providing a cure for any type of cancer
is always important, and it’s also a great
way to get back to the community.” A
prime part of this evening is the walkers
carrying illuminated balloons-white for
survivors of leukemia, red for supporters,
and gold in the memory of the honored
Ritika Seal, Staff Writer
heroes who lost the battle of blood cancer.
The number of students participat
ing from Meredith College has increased
over the years. Dr. Aghoram noted, “Last
year we had about 60 students join the
walk, while in the beginning years it was
just 20.” Meredith College’s team for this
year seems very optimistic about having a
larger crowd join the walk. Sarah Miller
said, “We are expecting a larger crowd
this year because we are in the process of
advertising and very soon we will be going
to classes to speak to our students about
the event.” There are currently three
organizations on campus that will partici
pate in this walk. These include MAPPS,
Beta Beta Beta and Students of AMF at
Meredith. Using tools such as advertise
ments and educational fliers regarding
this event has raised our team captain
Sarah Miller hopes for many supporters
from Meredith College. She added, “It is
a great cause because you get to exercise,
meet new people and provide a service to
the community.”
Currently $250 million has been in
vested in leukemia research all over the
world. Meredith College has always
raised $2,000 dollars for this cause. Peo
ple are encouraged to donate any amount
of money to this cause since every dollar
donated to the cause will be invested in
research and services. Also, a donation of
$1,000 can give the donor an opportunity
to sit face to face with health care provid
ers and talk about the treatment options
for patients and the current stage of their
cancer. Dr. Aghoram acknowledged that
“donating and raising money for the cause
is great, but the most important thing
for me to know is that our students are
participating.”
What’s Up in Raleigh; lo/s-io/i?
Collected by Ashleigh Phillips
5-9: Burning Coal Theater presents “Molly Sweeney” @ Murphey
School
10-17: Carolina Ballet presents “The Masque of the Red Death” @
Memorial Auditorium
14-15; North Carolina Symphony presents Tchaikovsky’s Fifth
Symphony @ Memorial Auditorium
6; Blind Boys of Alabama @ Lincoln Theater
Old Habits @ The Point
7: First Friday @ participating downtown venues
Canes vs. Lightning @ RBC Center
8: Triangle Run/Walk for Autism @ Moore Square
NC State vs. Central Michigan @ Carter Finley Stadium
11: The War on Drugs @ Kings
12: Canes vs. Bruins @ RBC Center
image via browardpalmbeach.com
Tyler Hadley, a seventeen-
year-old boy from Port St. Lucie,
Florida, was indicted on Septem
ber 14 of two counts of first-degree
murder for the brutal murder of
his parents, Blake and Mary Jo
Hadley. Hadley was convicted of
bludgeoning his parents to death
on July 17; he then threw a party
while the bodies of his parents
were locked inside the master
bedroom, having placed com
mon household items on top of
his parents as a means of hiding
their bodies. Examining this case
through a psychological perspec
tive sheds some light on why
Hadley would commit such an
unspeakable crime.
Tyler Hadley was known by
neighbors as a vandal and a
troublemaker, several neighbors
came forward to state after the
murder became public. Jason
Maerki, former neighbor of the
Hadley family, told reporters of a
time three years before the murder
when Hadley encouraged Maerki’s
children to set fire to an open field.
Dr. Caroline Mann, assistant pro
fessor of psychology at Meredith
College, believes that Hadley may
have antisocial personality disor
der. Antisocial personality disor
der is defined as “a mental health
condition in which a person has a
long-term pattern of manipulating,
exploiting, or violating the rights
of others; this behavior is often
criminal.” According to Dr. Mann,
“people who have this disorder do
a lot of things to seek thrills.” This
disorder could explain why Hadley
vandalized his neighborhood, initi
ated the fire setting, and murdered
his parents. Several other neigh
bors spoke anonymously of Had
ley as being distant and isolated
as he grew older, especially after
he dropped out of high school. If
Hadley does have this disorder.
then his actions before and after
the murder stimulate further psy
chological debate.
Hadley completed several tasks
before killing his parents on that
infamous summer night. Prior to
the killing, he created a Facebook
group inviting his friends to the
party, allegedly withdrew $5,000
from his parents’ bank account,
and took three Ecstasy tablets, a
drug that normally elicits positive
feelings. Tyler was simply go
ing through the •fnotions that he
believed were necessary before
committing murder, and his reac
tions to what he had done show
an obvious sign of psychologi
cal disturbance. Dr. Mann adds,
“When you have this disorder,
barriers between killing and not
killing get worn down and there is
no conscience in between. He had
an emotional disconnect with real
ity.” Hadley first shared his dark
secret with childhood friend Mi
chael Mandell, who told police that
Hadley believed that he was pos
sessed by the devil at the time and
did it because of financial problems
and constant arguments with his
parents. Mandell also added that
Hadley said that he would commit
suicide if he was found out. Sev
eral other partygoers said Hadley
was openly telling people about
his crime and did not seem at all
remorseful. According to Dr. Mann,
“He has an empathy deficit, and
that’s unusual.” She adds, “There
is no clear answer here for exactly
why that is.”
On Hadley’s psychological state
at the time of the murder. Dr.
Mann states that “Tyler seemed to
show no feeling or regard for what
he had done. We cannot imagine
what it feels like not to feel.” Tyler
Hadley was sentenced to life in
prison at his trial on September 14,
despite pleading not guilty.