As 22-year old Elliot Rodger was preparing to carry out what would be a suicidal killing spree that left six dead and 13 wounded in the Californian college town of Isla Vista last Friday, his Malaysian-born mother was racing aggainst time to prevent him from making the worst mistake of his young life.
Ong Li Chin, born in Penang and now residing in Los Angeles, rushed to the University of California – Santa Barbara (UCSB), the home of a sorority house whose members her son had vowed to murder in a “retribution” video.
Ong, together with her ex-husband and Elliot’s father, film industry veteran Peter Rodgers, alerted local police and emergency services to their fears concerning their son’s mental state, but were too late to prevent what is now known as the Isla Vista Massacre.
Last Friday night, Rodger rammed his BMW through the streets of Isla Vista, a town adjacent to the UCSB campus, killing three people. As police investigated his apartment, they uncovered a horrific crime scene with three additional bodies, all brutally stabbed to death. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown described the case as “obviously the work of a madman,” according to NBC News.
In April, Ong had deep misgivings about the mental health of her son when she came across disturbing videos he had posted up on YouTube. She called Elliot’s therapists after failing to contact him, and police were alerted to the situation after a call was made to the Santa Barbara mental health hotline. However, they found nothing amiss when they visited Elliot at his home in Isla Vista on April 30.
In a 141-page document believed to be his autobiography, Rodger mentioned his mother’s Malaysian origins, and described two trips he and his family took to Penang, her mother’s hometown, once when he was three years old and another when he was 13, after his parents’ divorce.
“Sometime after my third birthday, we all went on a vacation to Malaysia, my mother’s home country. I have only flashes of memory of that vacation. I enjoyed it very much. We visited a few of my mother’s relatives,” he wrote in the document, entitled My Twisted World – The Story of Elliot Rodger, sent to several people, including his parents and therapist, shortly before going on his murder spree.
He also described his mother’s history and what to her current life in the States. According to his writings, she had gone to England to work as a nurse on several film sets, where she ingratiated herself to the international film industry.
“She became friends with important individuals in the film industry including George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. She even dated George Lucas for a short time,” he wrote.
His mother was 30 when she gave birth to him, he said.
Shortly after his seventh birthday. Elliot said his mother and his father Peter Rodger, who is an assistant director in Hunger Games, were divorced.
“I was absolutely shocked, outraged, and above all, overwhelmed. This was a huge life-changing event.”
Apparently, his mother had told him just a few months earlier that there would be no divorce.
Towards the end of his write-up, murder was on his mind.
Women, he said, must be punished for rejecting a gentleman like him. Chillingly, he spoke about a day of retribution.
According to The Star Online, Rodger was known to have Asperger Syndrome, which affects communication skills and the ability to interact socially with others. Despite living an affluent lifestyle, Rodger was plagued with intense feelings of loneliness and suffered from perceived rejection from women.
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