Earlier this week I was contacted by the editor in chief at Vice Magazine in Amsterdam to give my thoughts on a “mystery” handwriting sample.  All I was told is that this was the writing of a famous Dutch person (no gender or any other information was given)  and it would not be revealed who it was until after I gave my analysis.

I was game.

As it turns out, the mystery person is Joran van der Sloot and the article just came out.  However the article is in Dutch and much of what I said was lost in translation in the article so I’m posting my original thoughts here.

Here is the letter: 

 

Here were my findings, some of which were left out of the article:

When I looked at the writing of this “mystery” person,  several things jump off the page at once.   I’m focused on “how” he (or she) writes far more than “what” he writes.  The writing indicates he is going to be very careful with what he is saying and how he comes across.  Control is very important to this person; it is as important as breathing. Much is at stake.   Multiple indicators reveal he is coming across one way, but much is going on behind the scenes that he is concealing.

He will go bonkers if he is thrown into a cell with even one other person.  He must have, craves, personal space around him to hold it together, and yes he is thinking a lot, absorbing everything.  He is a planner- one wonders if he is planning an escape route.  He is cerebral, logical, head oriented, mental activities are important – he prefers to be perceived as poised, calm and collected but is prone to impulsive and erratic mood swings.  Although much of the writing appears to be written with a vertical slant (revealing poise, objectivity, reasoning abilities, and a reserved nature) upon closer inspection there will be sudden thrusts to the right in the slant of the writing, showing bursts of emotion and impulsiveness. At those times he will express warmth and the desire to connect with others.  However the personal pronoun I is often written with a left slant, revealing what is going on deeply personally with him is anyone’s guess.  He won’t be revealing it.   These multiple slants reveal mood swings that could give someone whiplash, ultimately.

Much more is going on beneath the surface, including some anger as is revealed in the t, where the t-bars are crossed to the right of the t-stem only.  The precisely planted i-dots reveal this writer has a memory like an elephant.

The printing and other structures reveal the need for control is a very high priority and will come before the need for intimacy and relationships.

You can read the full article here along with 2 of my esteemed colleagues comments.  That is, if you can read Dutch.  http://www.vice.com/nl/read/ook-uit-zijn-handschrift-blijkt-dat-joran-van-der-sloot-een-psychopaat-is

More about this young man at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joran_van_der_sloot

Kathi McKnight is a certified master graphologist.

For free weekly tips and more information visit her website at www.TheHandwritingExpert.com