Did Attractiveness Disparity Lead to Homicide? | Mark Castellano & Michelle Chaffin Case Analysis

hello this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Mark Castellano and Michelle shafen just a reminder I'm not diagnosing by this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoyed this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I will put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis Michelle Chapin was born on June 6 1981 in Humble Texas this is just North of Houston she lived with her parents Walter and Donna and had a younger brother named David the family eventually moved to Grapeland Texas which is about two hours north of Houston in high school Michelle met a fellow student named Chase Warren and they became romantically involved after graduating from high school in 1998 Michelle attended college and studied law she had dreams of being a lawyer someday Michelle became pregnant and moved into an apartment with Chase they lived in the Houston area she had a daughter named Haley on March 29 2001. not long after this Michelle and Chase Married at First the couple's relationship seemed to be fulfilling and productive people who knew them thought that they would stay together forever despite getting started a little bit early as far as the marriage part Over time however Michelle became bored with Chase she allegedly referred to him as too simple-minded for her Michelle thought that she could do better and separated from Chase the separation was amicable Michelle moved back to Grapeland to live with her brother Chase function as the primary caregiver for their daughter Haley after Michelle and Chase divorced Michelle lost her health insurance she had benefits with Chase and was no longer covered by his plan now that they were not together Michelle normally took medication to treat anxiety but could not afford it without insurance she turned to illegal drugs to alleviate her symptoms and became addicted over time Michelle's addiction grew out of control she was arrested in 2003 for theft in 2006 she was stopped for speeding when the police searched her vehicle they found cocaine Michelle was sentenced to eight months in jail as part of her sentence Michelle had to participate in a mental health counseling program designed to address substance use she completed the program in January 2008 and considered herself to be free from drugs Michelle moved to Houston and found a job as a secretary she started seeing her daughter on the weekends it sounds like Michelle was trying to rebuild her life after her substance use and her time in jail when working in a new job Michelle met a man named Mark Castellano he was an I.T consultant for the company where she worked the couple became romantically involved which was surprising to many people who knew Michelle they described Mark as socially awkward a misfit strange and physically unattractive they felt as though Michelle had lowered her standards drastically people referred to Michelle as being out of Mark Sleek Mark appeared to recognize the attractiveness differential and made it a point to tell his friends about the beautiful woman who he was dating one of his friends said that Mark showed him a picture of Michelle friend thought that Michelle was Mark's imaginary girlfriend despite the fact that many people did not approve of the relationship or were puzzled by it Michelle and Mark appear to get along very well they moved in together Michelle's daughter Haley liked Mark which was an important indicator to Michelle that he was a suitable partner in October 2009 Michelle and Mark had a son named Caden Mark did not adjust well to being a father in early 2010 just three months after Acadian was born Mark left Michelle and quit his job he moved almost 500 miles away to Odessa Texas and live with his parents Michelle was not too happy with Mark's behavior she struggled to care for Caden alone in 2012 Mark returned to the Houston area and took a job as a technician in a repair shop he re-established contact with Michelle and told her that he wanted to be a father again he started spending time with Kaden Michelle was pleased to have the assistance in the summer of 2012 Michelle found work as a paralegal at a law firm in Houston her employer was only 10 minutes from an apartment where Mark left Michelle asked Mark if she and Kaden could move in with him she wanted his help in taking care of Caden and knew that his apartment had two bedrooms Mark agreed to this Arrangement he and Michelle considered each other to be roommates as opposed to lovers now moving to the timeline of the crime on Sunday September 23 2012 Michelle's ex-husband Chase called her brother David and informed him that Michelle had not picked up Haley as scheduled this was out of the ordinary Michelle's family members tried to reach her on her phone but she did not answer they thought that perhaps she had resumed using substances David called Mark to find out what happened to Michelle Mark told him that he was with Kaden at his parents house in Odessa Mark said that he had last seen Michelle on Saturday September 22. she was using drugs they had an argument and she stormed off Mark decided to drive to his parents house because he could not care for Kaden by himself Michelle's family contacted the police who in turn contacted mark told the police that Michelle had relapsed on substances a month and a half ago and he supplied more details about the alleged altercation on Saturday night he said that they were arguing about something that Kaden had done during the course of the argument Michelle hitmark in the face she then walked into her bedroom and slammed the door Mark went in there to resume the argument but she was gone here's what the police found during the course of their investigation Michelle's purse and cell phone were missing but she had not used her phone since Saturday afternoon she was typically quite active on her cell phone Michelle's car was still in the parking lot for the apartment complex there was no sign of a struggle in Mark's apartment nothing was Disturbed there was no blood however the police did notice that somebody had been cleaning with bleach recently a business across the street from Mark's apartment had a surveillance camera that covered the front of the apartment complex Mark could not walk outside his front door without being caught on that camera the police reviewed video from the camera Mark could be seen arriving at his apartment on Saturday September 22 at 6 48 pm he made several trips back and forth to his vehicle Mark and Caden left the apartment at 9 28 PM presumably this is when Mark drove to his parents residence in Odessa Texas on Monday September 24 at 1 37 a.m Mark returned to his apartment he can be seen pulling a container down the stairs and putting it in his vehicle Mark appeared to be struggling with the weight of the container the police thought that Michelle's body must have been in there mark agreed to return to Houston to talk to the police but first he was interviewed in Odessa Texas by Phil McGraw during the interview with Phil McGraw Mark denied involvement in Michelle's disappearance but later told a producer at Phil McGraw's show that he was guilty when Mark was initially interviewed by the police he denied responsibility but then confessed to the murder here's what Mark told the place on September 22 he and Michelle were arguing she tried to strike him with her hand he responded by grabbing her neck and throwing her to the ground he fell on top of her and crushed her windpipe with his hands he did this for up to two minutes during the struggle he heard a pop and noticed that Michelle's tongue was sticking out he thought that he had broken her neck or choked her after killing her Mark dumped her body in an oil field in Midland Texas he supplied the police with written instructions to her location they found Michelle's body half buried where Mark had indicated Mark told the police that he wanted a death penalty he said quote I deserve it my life is over anyway unquote he was arrested and charged with murder Mark went to trial in May of 2014 and was found guilty of murder during the punishment phase of the trial the jury was asked if Mark was under the influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause they concluded that he was not yet they only sentenced him to 27 years in prison he mouthed the words thank you to the jury when the judge sentenced him Mark will be eligible for parole after serving 13 and a half years now moving to my analysis here are my thoughts in a few areas that stood out to me in this case item number one the state argued that Mark had strangled Michelle and therefore he was guilty of murder Mark's defense argued that Mark was under the influence of sudden passion which would have made him eligible for a reduced sentence a medical expert for the states said that Michelle had been strangled which makes mark look guilty of murder however the state conceded that Michelle had insulted and yelled at mark this makes it seem like Mark was provoked Beyond Michelle's verbal mistreatment the state argued that Mark provided no additional evidence of provocation a medical expert for the defense said that Mark could have fallen on Michelle and broken her neck in the way that he stated as I mentioned the jury did not believe sudden passion was involved but there is this sense that they felt compassion for Mark 27 years in prison is a light sentence for murder in Texas it's like the jury was trying to split the difference it's possible that you reviewed Michelle as an aggressor and believed that Mark was genuinely sorry for his behavior item number two before Mark confessed he made many derogatory comments about Michelle he said that she went missing before used drugs always carried narcotics and had a gym bag containing at least 11 cell phones I think he was implying that she kept those phones for the purposes of obtaining drugs contrary to Mark's claims no drugs were found in Michelle's system Mark described Michelle as having a princess attitude she believed that she could get anything she wanted based on her physical attractiveness Mark implied that Michelle controlled him and frequently mistreated him he talked about how she had physically attacked him on several occasions one time she threw an ashtray at him Mark said that he responded to previous attacks with violence noting that one time he had choked Michelle this is the kind of statement that might have led the jury to believe Mark was telling the truth he may have made derogatory statements about Michelle but he also admitted that the violence went both ways after confessing to the murder Mark placed an emphasis on the well-being of a son by saying that Caden was better off with his mother Michelle being dead Mark appears to be hypocritical he abandoned Caden at least for a while yet he thought so little of Michelle that he believed that her death was a better option as far as Cadence well-being item number three this case involved a differential in physical attractiveness that was so pronounced people who were interviewed about the murder felt compelled to mention it usually if a small difference in attractiveness exists in a couple people won't say anything but here it was shocking it left people stunned what does the research tell us about romantic relationships that involve a high level of disparity and physical attractiveness the idea that this disparity should not exist is based on the theory of social exchange this states that romantic partners are essentially social economists who barter their own valuable qualities to obtain the best possible partner the most common type of trade is a character specific Exchange that is one type of relational benefit is given in exchange for an equal measure of the same benefit for example a man who is good looking finds a woman who is considered beautiful or a woman who is well educated marries a man with a college degree not all trades of course are character specific Partners can trade benefits of different types as well for example a wealthy but ugly man may be able to attract a partner better looking than he is because of his money this compensates for his undesirable appearance in this instance the benefits being traded are of equal value but Society tends to view these types of relationships as unhealthy for the most part only character-specific exchanges are socially acceptable people tend to view the more attractive partner in a couple as less committed to the relationship regardless of other benefits being traded like money applying this to the case of Mark and Michelle one might look at their situation and think that Michelle would have been less committed to the relationship but that is not what happened instead it was Mark who was less committed he actually left the relationship even when he resumed communication with Michelle it wasn't for the purposes of romance now moving to my final item number four what do I think happen in this case this is just a theory my opinion when Michelle was young her self-esteem wasn't particularly High this resulted in her getting involved with Chase even though she felt as though he was not complex enough for her Michelle left Chase and ran into problems with drug use distract her self-esteem even lower she felt unattractive and desperate this led her to become romantically involved with Mark a partner who was described as having a distinctive and unsightly facial structure she may have rationalized the decision because the unequal attraction gave her a lot of power in the relationship so she was not with somebody who was good looking but at least she could control him when Mark left her this shattered her understanding of the world and annihilated her self-esteem when Mark reappeared in her life Michelle gained confidence and once again tried to exert control over mark she moved in with him for an economic benefit right away Michelle fell back into the old habit of mistreating Mark verbally and maybe even physically on the night of the murder Michelle tried to strike Mark and he killed her in a moment of rage his behavior was not only motivated by Michelle's alleged attack but from years of resentment over his belief that she was controlling him he once said that Michelle owned him when Mark attacked Michelle he was trying to assert dominance he wanted to show that he was powerful he was trying to prove that he was not undesirable but he ended up demonstrating that on another dimension he was hideous those are my thoughts in the case of Mark costellano and Michelle shafen please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

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Length: 16min 40sec (1000 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 18 2023