115 Law Enforcement Officers Killed by Mentally Ill
People with severe mental illness are being routinely abandoned by the mental health system. It forces Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) to step into a dangerous situation if the untreated become “danger to self or others”. This too frequently results in people with untreated severe mental illness being injured, incarcerated and sometimes killed by police. It also, too frequently, results in police being injured or killed by people with untreated severe mental illness.
Almost all these cases (below) might have been prevented if Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) laws were in place. Assisted Outpatient Treatment laws returns the care of the most severely mentally ill back to the mental health system. AOT laws allow courts to order people who have a severe mental illness and past history of violence to accept treatment as a condition of living in the community. The courts can also order the mental health system to provide care. A recent study found homicides are correlated to civil commitment statues. If the statue does not require dangerousness, there are fewer homicides. AOT dramatically reduces arrest, incarceration, homelessness, and suicide all of which take up police resources.
The enclosed incidents of Law Enforcement Officers being killed by people with untreated severe mental illness are taken from the Treatment Advocacy Center database of “Preventable Tragedies”. They are not presented to demonize people with mental illness, but to show Law Enforcement Officers the importance of working for AOT laws (like Laura’s Law in California, Kendra’s Law in New York, etc).. Those laws keep public, patients, and LEOs safer while saving money. The laws have been endorsed by organizations that advocate for people with mental illness (NAMI); organizations that advocate for public safety (National Sheriff’s Association); organizations that care about saving money and others.
July 5, 2017
Bronx, NY
On July 5, NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia was ambushed and killed by Alexander Bonds, who was in turn killed by responding officers. Bonds was an untreated schizophrenic with a criminal history. When he started to deteriorate, his girlfriend convinced him to go to St. Barnabus Hospital where he was discharged after just a few hours.
May 12, 2017.
Yell County, Arkansas
Mentally ill James Arthur Bowden, 42, gunned down Yell County Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin C. Mainhart during a traffic stop early that morning near the home, which is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west of Little Rock. He also killed two others.
January 16, 2017
Little Elm, Texas
On Jan. 16, 2017, 46-year-old Rudy Garcia, who had a history of schizophrenia and was off his medications, fatally shot Detective Jerry Walker during a confrontation with police. Garcia also died in the incident.
CBS 11: 1/19/2017
Nov. 4, 2016,
Bronx, NY
On Nov 4, 2016, 35-year-old Manuel Rosales, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, fatally shot 41-year-old NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo and shot and wounded Sgt. Emmanuel Kwo during a shootout before he was fatally shot by officers.
On Oct. 16, 2016
Alabama
On Oct 16, 2016, 27-year-old Demetrae Griffin, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, injured two Moulton police officers and two sheriff’s deputies during an altercation. (Officer Keith Pepper and Deputy Ashley Browning and Deputy Marcus Solomon)
Sept. 7. 2016
Detroit Michigan
On Sep. 7, 2016, Marquise Cromer, diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, shot and wounded his father, 62-year-old Sterling Cromer and then fatally shot 46-year-old Detroit police Capt. Kenneth Steil.
Aug. 25, 2016
Maryville, TN
On Aug. 25, 2016, 44-year-old Brian Keith Stalans, who had a history of mental illness, fatally shot 32-year-old Maryville Police Officer Kenny Moats.
July 17, 2016
East Baton Rouge, LA
On July 17, 2016, 29-year-old Gavin Long who suffered from PTSD was fatally shot after he ambushed and fatally shot Deputy Brad Garafola, Officer Montrell Jackson, and Officer Matthew Gerald
May 13, 2016
Manchester, MA
On May 13, 2016, 32-year-old Ian MacPherson, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, shot and wounded Manchester police officers Matthew O’Connor and Ryan Hardy
April 10, 2016
Columbus OH
On Apr. 10, 2016, 44-year-old Lincoln Rutledge, who had a history of mental illness, shot and critically wounded Columbus, OH S.W.A.T. Officer Steven Smith during a standoff.
March 16, 2016
Prince George’s County, MD
On Mar. 2016, 22-year-old Michael Ford, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, went on a shooting spree firing at officers outside a police station. Police Officer First Class Jacai Colson was fatally shot during the exchange.
February 13, 2016
Baton Rouge, LA
On Feb. 13, 2016, 22-year-old Calvin Smith, who had a history of mental illness, was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire with police that wounded two officers, Theodore Smith III and Sean Garic.
November 27, 2015
Colorado Springs, CO
On Nov. 27, 2015, 57-year-old mentally ill Robert Lewis Dear Jr. went on a shooting spree at a Planned Parenthood clinic killing three people including University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey, 44, and wounding nine others.
August 28, 2015
Harris County, TX
On Aug. 28, 2015, 30-year-old Shannon J. Miles, a homeless individual diagnosed with schizophrenia, fatally shot Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth outside of a gas station.
December 20, 2014
Brooklyn, NY
On December 20, 2014, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had a history of mental illness, fatally shot two police officers, 42-year-old Rafael Ramos and 32-year-old Wenjian Liu.
April 2, 2014
Ft. Hood, TX
On April 2, 2014, 34-year-old Spc. Ivan Lopez went on a shooting spree at Ft. Hood during which he killed 37-year-old Sgt. Timothy Owens, 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez, and Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ferguson,
March 19, 2014
Mendocino, CA
On March 19, 2014, 32-year-old Ricardo Antonio Chaney, who had a history of mental illness, went on a rampage that resulted in two deaths and his suicide. (Deputy Ricky Del Fiorentino)
March 12, 2013
Morgantown, NC
On March 12, 2013, Troy David Whisnant, who had a history of mental illness, went on a violent spree killing his parents and then fatally shot U.S. Forest Service officer Jason Crisp and his dog before he was killed by police.
December 15, 2012
Potosi, MO
On Dec. 15, 2012, Gary Sancegrow, diagnosed with schizophrenia, fatally shot 31-year-old Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Parsons.
January 27, 2012
Aiken, GA
On January 27, 2012, 26-year-old mentally ill Joshua T. Jones fatally shot Aiken Public Safety Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers.
August 26, 2011
O’Fallon, MO
On August 26, 2011, 29-year-old mentally ill Deonta Williamson crashed a stolen Escalade into a police car killing 28-year-old Officer Evan Burns. Authorities said Williamson was wanted by O’Fallon, MO, police for first-degree assault.
April 22, 2011
Eugene, OR
On April 22, 2011, 56-year-old mentally ill Cheryl Dawn Kidd fatally shot 43-year-old Eugene Police Officer Chris Kilcullen during a traffic stop.
January 5, 2011
Rainier, OR
On January 5, 2011, 21-year-old mentally ill Daniel Armaugh Butts fatally shot 55-year-old Rainier Police Chief Ralph Painter as he tried to stop Butts from stealing a car at a stereo shop.
July 7, 2010
Chicago, IL
On Jul. 7, 2010, 24-year-old Bryant Brewer, diagnosed with schizophrenia, fatally shot Chicago police Officer Thor Soderberg.
Date: 8/2009
Location: Tampa, Hillsborough, FL
Summary: On August 19, 2009, 36-year-oldHumberto Delgado Jr. was arrested and charged with the murder of Cpl. MikeRoberts. The incident began when Roberts stopped Delgado, who was pushing ashopping cart, for questioning. A struggle ensued, and Roberts tried to shockDelgado with a Taser. Delgado broke free and shot Roberts. Officers foundDelgado near the shooting scene. They said he yelled, “I’m sorry. I’mcrazy.” They also reported hearing him say, “I’m one of you.”Delgado worked as a police officer in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 1996 to2000. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in ’05 due to a kneeinjury and bipolar disorder. Delgados former girlfriend said the homelessDelgado declined to get help for his health issues.
Source Of Information: Tampa Tribune, 8/20/09, 12/9/09;St Petersburg Times, 7/16/11
RecordID:5161
Date: 8/2009
Location: Houston, Harris, TX
Summary: On August 21, 2009, SergioRobles, 24, was charged with capital murder and aggravated assault for theslaying of Pasadena police officer Jesse Hamilton, who was responding to adomestic disturbance call. Another officer later shot Robles, seriously injuringhim. Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center would not provideinformation on his status. Prior History: The day before the shooting, Robleshad been released from the Harris County Jail after serving a sentence fordriving while intoxicated. Police said Robles had an altercation with themother of his child that night. She then took their child and spent the nightat Robles’ mother’s house, where Robles arrived around 5 a.m., according topolice. His mother then called police. Hamilton responded, and while he wasthere, Robles came to the door and shot him in the head with a handgun. Anotherofficer then pulled up and saw Robles on the porch near Hamilton’s body.Assistant Police Chief Bud Corbet said Robles, with a gun still in his hands,turned toward the officer, who got out of his vehicle and shot Robles. PriorHistory: According to the Galveston County Daily News, Robles suffers fromschizophrenia and had once sued Santa Fe police, claiming two officers usedexcessive force against him. The newspaper said Robles had not been taking hismedication when he got into a struggle with two police officers on August 21,2006, on Texas 6 in Santa Fe. Robles was acquitted of a charge of resistingarrest in February. The city of Santa Fe settled Robles’ lawsuit for $125,000.Subsequent History: On September 22, 2009, police said even though SergioRobles had once been committed to a mental hospital, he somehow passed thebackground check and bought a Smith and Wesson handgun from a sporting goodsstore two weeks before the incident. Robles was able to walk out of thesporting goods store with the gun after apparently passing the instant federalbackground check. In that system, all potential gun buyers have to fill out aform and the seller sends the request to the National Instant CriminalBackground Check System run by the FBI. An answer comes in minutes from thesystem to the retailer.
Source Of Information: Houston Chronicle, 8/22/09;Houston KHOU.com, 9/23/09
RecordID:5223
Date: 10/2009
Location: Newport, Penobscot, ME
Summary: On October 26, 2009, 45-year-oldPerley Goodrich Jr. fatally shot his father, 76-year-old Perley Goodrich Sr.and attacked his mother, 64-year-old Sandra Goodrich at the home they shared.He eluded a massive police manhunt for more than three days but was recognizedby a waitress as he drank coffee at a truck stop on October 30, where localpolice arrested him without incident. Goodrich Jr. entered his mothers bedroomwhere she was asleep and asked to use her cellular telephone. He left the roomwith the phone. When she followed Goodrich Jr. to the living room he grabbedher, struck her with his fists and attempted to bind her hands together withduct tape. He then and struck her on the head five to six times with a handgunleaving her dazed and beaten. Goodrich Jr. then went to the bedroom where hisfather was sleeping and shot him. Sandra Goodrich told police she heard thegunshot from and her husband exclaim, He shot me. She ran to a neighborshouse where police were called. Police found Goodrich Sr. dead with a gunshotwound in his back. Goodrich Jr. had fled the home. Sandra Goodrich told policethat her son was crazy and that she had taken him to the hospital three timesthat week, where they had given him a new medication. She said there had beentalk about sending him to a psychiatric hospital in Bangor. Subsequent History:On March 28, 2011, jury selection began in the murder trial of 46-year-oldPerley Goodrich Jr. charged with fatally shooting his father. A separatehearing was to be held to determine whether Goodrich was competent enough tostand trial. Goodrichs mother said he suffers from Bipolar Disorder. She hadtaken him to a psychiatric hospital three times during the week leading up tothe incident, and that he had recently been injected with the drug Trazodone.At the time, Goodrich didn’t want to take the medication because he said itmade him feel “violent.”
Source Of Information: Bangor Daily News, 10/30/2009,10/31/2009, 11/4/2009, 11/19/2009; TheBostonChannel.com, 11/5/2009; KennebecJournal, 11/9/2009; Morning Sentinel, 3/29/11; WCSH6.com, 3/29/11
RecordID:5225
Date: 4/2005
Location: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Summary: On April 29, 2005, 47-year-oldWilliam Sadowski, diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive CompulsiveDisorder, killed 36-year-old Tommy Scott, a Los Angeles airport officer bydragging him along the side of his carjacked patrol car. Scott had spotted Sadowskiby the fence alongside the airfield. Witnesses saw Sadowski and Scott talkingbefore Sadowski ran to the patrol car and jumped in. Scott reached him beforeSadowski could close the door, and Sadowski began to drive dragging Scott. Thepatrol car veered onto the sidewalk, sheering off a fire hydrant and knockeddown trees eventually decapitating Scott. Sadowski drove about a quarter-mileat fast speeds before flipping the vehicle. Inside, the seat-belted Sadowskiwas uninjured, but slit his wrist with glass from the mangled car and toldemergency personnel he wanted to die. Sadowski pleaded not guilty by reason ofinsanity. Prior History: Sadowski had worked at Hughes Aircraft until he wasdiagnosed with a mental illness, and left on disability in the mid-1980s. Hetried or contemplated suicide several times around that time. In the lastcouple years before the 2005 incident, Sadowski was living in his car, spendinga lot of time at an Internet cafe in Venice and traveling to Russia and theUkraine, where he was involved with two young women. Subsequent History: OnNovember 16, 2009, a jury found Sadowski guilty of murder and three counts ofcarjacking. On November 24, 2009, the jury decided that the 51-year-oldSadowski was sane at the time of Scotts death. Subsequent History: OnSeptember 14, 2011 the California Supreme Court refused to review Sadowskiscase. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Athree-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal had upheldhis conviction on May 31, 2011.
Source Of Information: Daily Breeze, 11/2/09, 9/14/11;Contra Costa Daily Times, 11/16/09; Los Angeles Times, 11/25/09; The OrangeCounty Register, 1/15/10
RecordID:5254
Date: 11/2009
Location: Parkland, Pierce, WA
Summary: On November 29, 2009, policebelieve 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons fatally shot four police officers at aParkland coffee shop. Killed were Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers RonaldOwens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42. Police said they were notsure what prompted Clemmons to kill the officers as they worked on their laptopcomputers at the beginning of their shifts. He was described as increasinglyerratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on chargesthat he punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face. Pierce County Sheriff’s officespokesman Ed Troyer said that Clemmons indicated the night before the shooting”that he was going to shoot police and watch the news.” Authoritiessaid the gunman singled out the officers and spared employees and othercustomers at the coffee shop in a suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. Hethen fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of thedying officers. Subsequent History: On December 2, 2009, Maurice Clemmons, thesuspect wanted in the slaying of four Lakewood police officers, was shot andkilled in South Seattle by a Seattle police officer making a routine check of astolen car. The shooting occurred about the same time as Pierce County sheriff’sdetectives took into custody a man believed to have acted as a getaway driverin the slayings of the Lakewood officers. Police also booked three people intojail on suspicion of providing assistance to Clemmons, said sheriff’s spokesmanEd Troyer. Several other people also will be taken into custody for helpingClemmons, Troyer said. Clemmons, who was armed with a handgun taken from one ofthe officers he is accused of killing, was shot during a confrontation with aSouth Precinct Patrol Officer Benjamin L. Kelly. He refused commands to stopand was shot by the officer about 2:45 a.m., the officials said. Troyer saidClemmons had an older wound to his stomach believed to be the result of agunshot fired by one of the Lakewood officers who was killed. Troyer said hewas surprised Clemmons survived that wound. Clemmons had been the focus of amassive manhunt since 11/29/09, when he was accused of killing four Lakewoodpolice officers in a coffee shop in Parkland. Previous History: Clemmons, hadbeen in and out of the judicial system since he was 17. In 1989, he wassentenced to 95 years in prison in Arkansas for robberies, burglaries, thefts,and taking a gun to school, among other crimes. In 2000, after Clemmons hadserved 11 years, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence on therecommendation of the parole board, which had determined he had met all theconditions for early release. Huckabee also cited Clemmons age—17 at thetime of his sentencing—when he announced his decision. Within a year ofhis release, Clemmons was arrested for aggravated robbery and was back inprison on a parole violation. He was released again in 2004 but was nevercharged with the new crimes. His attorney successfully argued that the chargesshould be dropped because too much time had elapsed. Records indicate thatClemmons moved to Washington state after his 2004 release to be near relatives,who told authorities that in recent months his behavior had been increasinglyerratic. In one instance, he forced relatives to undress, telling them familiesneed to be naked for at least five minutes on Sunday. According to a reportwritten by a Pierce County deputy sheriff, who interviewed family members,Clemmons also believed he was Jesus and that he could fly. In May, he punched asheriffs deputy in the face and also was arrested for the second-degree rapeof a child. He had been in the county jail for months on those charges and hadbeen out on bail for six days when the killings occurred.
Source Of Information: Washington Post, 12/1/09; TheHuffington Post, 12/1/09; TheDailyBeast.com, 12/1/09; The Seattle Times,12/2/09
Date: 1/2010
Location: Cranberry Township, Venango, PA
Summary: On January 13, 2010, Michael J.Smith killed his wife, State Trooper Paul Richey, and himself at the couple’shome. State police had been called there to check on a possible domesticdispute, and Trooper Richey volunteered to handle the call because he knew Mr.Smith from his earlier spats with neighbors, state police Commissioner Col.Frank Pawlowski said. Mr. Smith, 44, arranged tables and stacks of blankets tocreate a sniper’s perch in his second-floor bedroom, where he waited andwatched from windows as troopers rolled up to his home. Around his waist,police said Mr. Smith wore an ammunition belt holding rounds for a .30-30Marlin rifle with a scope — the same gun he threatened police officers and hiswife, Nancy, with more than a decade ago. It also was the gun Mr. Smith hadsurrendered after his arrest in March 1997, but a judge agreed to return it tohim in 2000, when his probation was over. When Trooper Richey and Trooper JasonWhitman pulled up to the house, Mr. Smith lay in wait. They could hear Mr.Smith yell that they should return to their vehicle, the commissioner said, butthe troopers never saw him before he fired a single bullet at Trooper Richey,striking him in the neck, above his bulletproof vest. He was shot whileapproaching a side entrance, within steps of his patrol car. Mrs. Smith, 53,likely was dead before the troopers arrived, as officers heard neither gunshotsnor sounds of distress from her while at the residence, Col. Pawlowski said.When tactical officers entered the home more than six hours later, they foundthe couple dead in the bedroom; Mrs. Smith was slumped in a chair with agunshot to her head, while her husband lay near the foot of the bed clutching arifle. A gunshot wound to his head appeared to be self-inflicted. PriorHistory: Col. Pawlowski said he did not know why the Marlin rifle had beenreturned to Mr. Smith after it had been confiscated in March 1997, when he wentto Mrs. Smiths workplace, and threatened to kill her, himself and policeofficers. He pleaded guilty to a stalking charge and was sentenced to threeyears of probation, after which Judge H. William White ordered the riflereturned to him, saying in court documents that Mr. Smith was “permittedto hunt and to carry sporting weapons for the very limited purpose of huntingor training to hunt.” The judge forbade Mr. Smith from storing guns in hishome but said he could store them elsewhere. Mrs. Smith’s mother, Norma JeanFrey, was fearful for her daughter’s safety after the incident and also filed aprotection from abuse order against him after he called the family’s homedemanding to know where Mrs. Smith was, “threatening to go hunting forher,” court documents show. But in June 1997, less than four months later,Mrs. Smith asked Judge White to discontinue the protection order, saying shewas no longer in fear of her husband. Her request came after Mr. Smith agreedto take medication prescribed by his psychiatrist, attend marriage counseling,attend Alcoholics Anonymous and stay away from her work place. “My husbandhas been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, substance and alcohol addiction aswell as having a medical problem with his neck,” she wrote to the judge.”My husband and I have every intention of giving our 11-year relationshipevery chance possible of reconciliation.” In more than a decade thatfollowed, Mr. Smith had several other minor run-ins with police. Col. Pawlowskisaid troopers had been called to his home several times for disputes betweenMr. Smith and his neighbors that were “generally nonviolent” andnever led to his arrest.
Source Of Information: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/15/10
RecordID:5504
Date: 6/2010
Location: Lancaster, Dallas, TX
Summary: On June 20, 2010, 27-year-oldDavid Brown Jr., the son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown, fatally shot abystander, 23-year-old Jeremy McMillan, then killed 37-year-old LancasterPolice Officer Craig Shaw before being shot dead himself in an exchange of gunfirewith police. The incident began when police received 911 calls regarding ablack man with a gun and wearing only boxer shorts walking around an apartmentcomplex pool. Several minutes later, more 911 calls reported a shooting. Brownapproached McMillian as he drove into the complex with his girlfriend and theirtwo children. McMillian held his arms up and said, “I don’t knowyou,” before Brown shot him. Subsequently, Brown retrieved a rifle fromthe trunk of his blue Dodge Stratus and drove toward the front of the complex,where he was confronted by Lancaster officers. During the ensuing shootout,Shaw was struck in the head with a bullet from Brown’s assault rifle. Otherofficers fired numerous rounds killing Brown. Previous History: About seven hoursbefore incident, Brown, Jr.’s girlfriend told Lancaster officers that Brown wasexhibiting “psychotic behavior” and she suspected he might be high ondrugs. He was not arrested, but police took his girlfriend and her children tothe police station, where her father picked them up. She later told police thatBrown had “stopped taking his prescribed medication and decided toself-medicate by smoking marijuana.” Brown Jr. had struggled with mentalillness for years and was hospitalized for the first time at age 11 fordepression. In January 2006, he was hospitalized at Green Oaks Hospital underan emergency protective order. He’d been banging his head, suffering fromhallucinations and “hearing voices telling him he’s God.” The recordsindicate that Brown, diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, wasnt taking hismedication at the time. Additionally, he had taken a friends medications toget high and had been smoking marijuana regularly.
Source Of Information: WFAA.com, 6/20/10;DallasNews.com, 6/21/10; ABCNews.com, 6/21/10; The Dallas Morning News,11/06/10
RecordID:5527
Date: 1/2011
Location: Enon Beach, Clark, OH
Summary: On January 1, 2011, 57-year-oldMichael L. Ferryman fatally shot 40-year-old Clark County Deputy SuzanneWaughtel Hopper before he died in a shoot out with police. Also, GermanTownship Police Officer Jeremy Blum was shot in the incident and was in faircondition in a Dayton hospital. According to the trailer park manager whereFerryman lived, Ferryman had complained the day before about a neighbor’s doggoing to the bathroom in his yard. On January 1st, witnesses said he wasoutside yelling and shooting pellets through his front screen door. Hopper, oneof the responding officers, was looking around the yard for evidence andpreparing to take photographs when, Ferryman opened his door and killed herwith a single shot. Police from several departments arrived and a gun battleensued. It wasnt clear if Ferryman took his own life or was shot by police.Prior History: Ferryman was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2001,after a shootout with authorities in Morgan County, which occurred after hebecame upset with other campers over firewood. He shot at responding police butno one was injured in the incident. Subsequently, Ferryman stayed at variousstate facilities for over three years due to his mental illness. In March 2005,he was released and ordered to follow a treatment plan. He remained under thesupervision of mental-health caseworkers when Hopper was killed. SubsequentHistory: On June 27, 2011, 56-year-old Maria Blessing, Ferrymans girlfriend,pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection with the fatal shootout at EnonBeach Recreation Park in January. Blessing was accused of giving Ferryman, whohas a history of mental illness, the .12 gauge shotgun he used to injure GermanTwp. Police Officer Jeremy Blum and kill Deputy Suzanne Waughtel Hopper.
Source Of Information: DaytonDaileyNews.com, 1/3/11,6/28/11; The Columbus Dispatch, 1/4/11
RecordID:5050
Date: 4/2009
Location: Headland, Henry, AL
Summary: On April 24, 2006, Fred Davis,53, was shot and killed near his trailer as law officers swarmed to the scenein rural southeast Alabama following gunfire that killed Headland PoliceOfficer Dexter Hammond and wounded Deputy Ted Yost. Yost was listed as criticalat Southeast Alabama Medical Center following the incident. Davis apparentlyhad stopped taking anti-psychotic drugs. Bottles of a prescription drug forschizophrenia and bipolar disorder were found at the scene and severalneighbors said he had quit taking the medicine. Phillip Smothers, a neighbor inthe Granberry Crossroads community where the shootings occurred, said Davisfired a shotgun into the air around 2 p.m. at a nearby store when Smotherswife drove up to make a call. He said, Bad things are going to happen aroundDothan, said Smothers, whose frightened wife called him at work and told himof the encounter. When Smothers got home about two hours later, he calledauthorities. Yost, 38, was the first to arrive at Davis trailer, along withReserve Officer Mickey Gillis. When Yost got out of his car to knock on Davisdoor, David shot him with a shotgun. Gillis alerted authorities and lawenforcement throughout the area headed to the scene. With Gillis pinned downbehind Yosts car, Hammond was the first to arrive. Hammond sought cover at acorner of Granberry Store and, with shotgun raised, yelled Freeze! at whichpoint Davis shot him. Quitman County, Ga., officer Eddie Ingram and AbbevillePolice investigator Nowell Van Landingham arrived and began firing at Davisfrom the porch of a nearby home. Davis was shot and killed near a clotheslinein his back yard.
Source Of Information: Montgomery Advertiser, 4/26/09;Dothan Eagle, 4/26/09
RecordID:1364
Date: 10/1988
Location: , , MI
Summary: Charles Knowles, 50, used ahigh-powered rifle to shoot and kill two law enforcement officers and then waskilled by officer gunfire after an hours-long standoff with police. Early thatmorning, Knowles began harrassing other tenants in his apartment building. Heproceeded to splash gasoline around the building and then barricaded himselfinside his apartment. Police were then called to Knowles building and foundhim babbling incoherently upon their arrival. Knowles fired a shot through thedoor and killed 41-year-old Lt. James Schmit, a 20-year police veteran. Laterthat afternoon, police, who were backed up by an armored personnel carrier,forcibly entered Knowles apartment with tear gas. Knowles then shot39-year-old officer Frank Walls, a highly decorated 13-year veteran, who laterdied in the hospital. Other officers returned fire and killed Knowles. Knowleshad been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and had been previouslyhospitalized for mental illness at least six times. A psychiatrist who examinedKnowles several months earlier described him as delusional.
Source Of Information: United Press International,October 18, 1988
RecordID:2015
Date: 7/2003
Location: , Wilson, TN
Summary: Fallon Tallent, 21, faces apossible death sentence if found guilty of killing two Wilson County,Tennessee, police officers. Tallents grandmother, Cleva Carroll, said thatseveral years ago Tallent was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Carroll said her granddaughters mental illness has been exacerbated by drug use. Tallent wascharged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Mt. Juliet Police Sgt. JerryMundy and Wilson County Deputy Sheriff John Musice. The two were killed July 9,2003, while trying to stop a reportedly stolen Mercedes-Benz that had ledpolice on a chase at speeds of more than 100 mph. Police say Tallent wasdriving the Mercedes when it slammed into the police car. Carroll said she hadprayed that Tallent would someday receive a significant jail sentence so thatshe could get psychological help.
Source Of Information: The Tennessean, July 15, 2003
RecordID:1070
Date: 1/1975
Location: Summit, Waukesha, WI
Summary: On January 26, 1975, 16-year-oldAlan Randall shot and killed two police officers, 28-year-old Robert”Rocky” Atkins and 52-year-old Wayne Olson, while they were sittingin their squad car outside the Summit Town Hall. In 1977, a jury found Randall,who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, guilty of the two murders,burglary and auto theft, but a judge later found him not guilty by reason ofmental illness. Randall was acquitted in the January 11, 1975, murder of43-year-old Ronald Hoeft of Summit, from whom Randall stole a car. SubsequentHistory: On June 21, 2011, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the a lowercourts denial of Alan Adin Randalls 2008 request for conditional release froma mental institution. Randall filed three requests for conditional release inthe 1990s. All were denied on the basis that he was still considered a dangerto himself or others.
Source Of Information: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,9/28/00, 3/9/09; Post Crescent, 6/21/11
RecordID:1133
Date: 2/2001
Location: Centreville, Queen Anne’s, MD
Summary: Francis Mario Zito, 42, wascharged with murder in the shooting deaths of Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’sDeputy Jason C. Schwenz, 28, and Centreville Police Officer Michael Nickerson,26 on February 13, 2001.They were called to Zito’s home after a neighborcomplained about loud music. When the officers arrived at Zito’s home, Zitorefused to come out, rebuffing the pleas of both the officers and his motherwho lived in the same trailer park. Minutes later, Zito allegedly unleashed avolley of 12-gauge shotgun blasts through the screen door of his home. A thirdofficer who had arrived at the scene doused Zito with Mace, then handcuffedhim. Schwenz died at the scene and Nickerson was pronounced dead after beingtaken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Even after his arrest,Zito’s mother asked court officials to order an emergency psychiatricevaluation of her son because he had threatened her, according to a courtfiling. On May 30, 2002, Zito was sentenced to death. Prior History: At age 8or 9, Zito was treated with Thorazine, according to a psychiatric evaluationincluded in his court record. Schizophrenia and manic depression were diagnosedduring at least a dozen hospitalizations over the previous two decades, and hiscondition had worsened because he refused to take his medication, the reportstates.
Source Of Information: The Washington Post, February 15,2001 Christian Science Monitor, March 17, 2004,
RecordID:290
Date: 7/1991
Location: , , TX
Summary: Martin Harris, 40, who suffersfrom schizophrenia, held Jean Lino, in her 60’s, hostage in her home for nearlytwenty hours. Lino was not harmed. Harris, however, killed a police officer,Jeff Ginn, 29, after Ginn responded to a call about smoke coming from Lino’shome. Harris also killed himself.
Source Of Information: The San Francisco Chronicle, July12, 1991, p. A26
RecordID:299
Date: 5/1994
Location: , , NM
Summary: Three men — Joe Mercer (a formerNew Mexico legislator), Stephen Mercer (his son), and Sheriff’s Lieutenant BillSibrava — were killed in a shoot-out that erupted when sheriff’s deputiesattempted to serve papers on the younger Mercer to take him in for apsychiatric evaluation. The younger Mercer began the gunfire. He had had twostandoffs with the police in the two weeks before the shootings.
Source Of Information: The Post (Denver, CO), May 28,1994
RecordID:2328
Date: 12/2003
Location: Mishawaka, Saint Joseph, IN
Summary: Raymond Matthew Gilkeson, 30,shot and killed two Mishawaka officers as they attempted to arrest him. Policeshot him four times during the confrontation, but he was killed by a shot tothe head from his own gun. Gilkeson’s mother said that her son had beendiagnosed as bipolar, but he refused to take his medication and he drankalcohol. Cpl. Thomas Roberts and Patrolman Bryan S. Verkler were the firstMishawaka police officers to die in the line of duty in more than 70 years.Prior history: Gilkeson’s criminal history goes back nearly 10 years andincludes prison time in California. His record has several violent and drugoffenses and crimes against police officers. The week before the murders, hewas convicted of a misdemeanor battery charge after a jury trial for assaultinga man in December 2002. He was scheduled for trial in April 2004 for assaultingtwo other people.
Source Of Information: South Bend Tribune, December 16,2003
RecordID:2301
Date: 1/2004
Location: Athens, Limestone, AL
Summary: On January 2, 2004, Farron ClarkBarksdale, 29, killed Athens, AL police Sgt. Larry Wayne Russell, 42, andOfficer Tony Mims, 40. Barksdale shot the officers when they arrived in thedriveway of his mother’s house. Later, Officer Doug Duren handcuffed Barksdaleand read him his rights. During Barksdales trial, Duren testified thatBarksdale was calm and told him, “I shot them myself” and that he”threw the gun down by the cop.” Barksdale had called police twicethat day and asked dispatchers to send FBI agents or police officers to hismother’s house. Barksdale has paranoid schizophrenia and had been involuntarilycommitted to mental hospitals in the past. He was off his medication at thetime of the incident. Subsequent History: In August 2007, Barksdale pleadedguilty to five counts of capital murder and two counts of shooting into anoccupied vehicle for the deaths of officer Tony Mims and Sgt. Larry Russell.The defense said Barksdale has paranoid schizophrenia and also abused drugs. Ajury validated his guilty plea on August 6, 2007. He was sentenced to life inprison without parole. Subsequent History: On August 20, 2007, Farron Barksdaledied mysteriously after being incarcerated at Kilby Correctional Facility.Barksdale died 12 days after being transferred from the Limestone County Jailto Kilby, in Mount Meigs near Montgomery. An autopsy found that the 32-year-olddied of “complications of bronchopneumonia, with contributory factors ofhyperthermia and coagulopathy.” Coagulopathy is a blood-clotting disorder,hyperthermia is an abnormally elevated body temperature, and bronchopneumoniais a type of pneumonia. At the time of his death, authorities deniedallegations that Barksdale, who was imprisoned for the ambush killing of twopolice officers, had been beaten. Subsequent History: On June 6, 2008, MaryBarksdale, Farron Barksdales mother, sued Alabama prison officials, claimingher son died because he was left in a hot cell after being prescribed drugsthat made him susceptible to heat. In a civil rights lawsuit filed in U.S.District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Mary Barksdale claims prisonpsychiatrist Dr. Joseph McGinn prescribed drugs for her son’s psychologicalcondition including Navane, Cogentin and Triavil, all of which “createheat-intolerance in the human body.” Farron Barksdale had been diagnosedas schizophrenic, but had been treated without drugs at Limestone. On the dayof Barksdale’s death, the suit claims, the temperature in Montgomery reached106 degrees. The prison is not air conditioned. Prior History: Court recordsreveal Barksdale was a tormented man convinced that police, the government,gangsters and others were directing microwaves at his brain; a man who torecable out of his mother’s home because of his belief “they” wereusing the wires and television to tap into his brain. At the request ofBarksdale’s mother, Probate Judge Mike Davis had committed Barksdale to mentalinstitutions five times. The first commitment was in September 2001. The latestwas in June 2003. Each time, Barksdale’s medical diagnosis was paranoidschizophrenia. Municipal court records also document several times that policewent to Barksdale’s home. He told his mother “that he has wanted off this planetsince the age of 13 years and that he did not want to have to kill anotherperson to accomplish this task.” A family member said, “he’s heardvoices since he was 10 and we always referred to it as devils.”‘ Barksdalewas able to pass a background check and purchase a rifle and ammunition becausehis commitments didn’t show up in the federal database and because he did notadmit his mental disability on a form provided by the gun dealer. SubsequentHistory: In December 2008, the Alabama Department of Corrections reopened itsinvestigation into the death of inmate Farron Barksdale after a fellow inmateclaimed he saw correctional officers beating him. Prison system spokesman BrianCorbett said that department investigators were looking into the claims and thatCommissioner Richard Allen asked the Alabama Bureau of Investigations to reopentheir case as well. J.D. Bennett, who is currently serving a life sentence atHolman prison, wrote an October 24 letter to Montgomery County Circuit JudgeEugene Reese, saying he was at Kilby and saw four correctional officers beatBarksdale severely. Bennett said the four officers first beat Barksdale in anobscure group of cells, then continued the assault as they took him down a mainhall and put him in the cell where he was found. Subsequent History: InSeptember 2009, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Mary Barksdale was settledwith the state Department of Corrections for $750,000. Mary Barksdale wasrepresented by Sarah Geraghty, an attorney for the Atlanta-based Southern Centerfor Human Rights, and Huntsville attorney Jake Watson. The suit alleged thatinmate Farron Barksdale, who suffered from schizophrenia, died because of”the deliberate indifference, medical neglect and negligence” of theprison staff. “Mr. Barksdale was medicated with an unusually large dose ofpsychotropic medications that made his body unable to withstand hightemperatures, confined to an isolation cell with a medically dangerous degreeof heat and left there without adequate monitoring,” the complaint said.”He fell into a coma and died.” Subsequent History: In November 2009,the Department of Corrections announced that it would make available forviewing by the media all prison records concerning the death of FarronBarksdale. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in September 2009, following atwo-year court battle, that the DOC must make public incident reports and otherrecords relating to the death. DOC spokesman Brian Corbett said that the 795pages in the records were mailed to Southern Center for Human Rights attorneysand Jake Watson, the attorney representing Farron Barksdales mother, MaryBarksdale, on November 20. Although an autopsy determined Barksdale died ofhyperthermia after he was left in a single-inmate cell when temperaturesreached 100-plus degrees and that drug therapy exacerbated his condition,bruising on his body was unexplained. Sarah Geraghty, an SCHR attorney, saidMonday she was disappointed that in the entire 795 pages there was noexplanation for the bruising on Barksdales body. It is now clear that Mr.Barksdale died of hyperthermia after being highly medicated with anti-psychoticdrugs during a heat wave and unmonitored in a cell that was notair-conditioned, said Geraghty. But that still doesnt explain the bruising. Photographsof Mr. Barksdale show extensive bruising. EMTs found massive bruises the sizeof salad plates that had been newly sustained. It makes it clear that he didnot have the bruises when he entered the prison, but he had them before hedied. The Department of Corrections went through the motions, but wasultimately content to draw no conclusions about how Mr. Barksdale sustained thebruising to his body.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, 1/5/04,1/12/04, 1/25/04, 6/3/04;The Decatur Daily (AL), 1/9/04, 1/12/04, 2/7/07,8/7/07, 8/13/07, 8/14/07, 8/15/07, 8/16/07, 8/21/07, 8/22/07, 8/23/07, 8/28/07,9/21/07; News Courier (AL), 1/12/04, 1/26/04
RecordID:411
Date: 7/1998
Location: Washington, , DC
Summary: Russell E. Weston Jr., a man withparanoid schizophrenia, allegedly shot and killed two Capitol Police Officersat the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 1998. Weston, who spent20 years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, had told psychiatrists that hewas the inventor of a time machine that was being misused by “evil’cannibals'” in the Clinton administration and that this time machine wascontrolled in a room in the Capitol. A federal judge ruled on April 22, 1999that Weston was incompetent to stand trial and ordered him sent to the FederalCorrectional Institute in Butner, NC. If Weston’s mental state does not improvethrough medication, he could eventually be involuntarily committed on along-term basis to a secure hospital facility rather than a prison. In such asituation, he would not be found guilty of criminal responsibility for hisalleged actions. Subsequent History: On November 19, 2004, U.S. District JudgeEmmet Sullivan approved a court order to initiate civil commitment proceedingsagainst Weston and put criminal prosecution on hold indefinitely. Sullivanissued the order at the request of federal prosecutors, who acknowledged thatWeston was still not competent to stand trial despite nearly three years ofcourt-ordered medication. Psychiatrist Sally Johnson had previously testifiedat a March 2004 hearing that Weston’s mental state had “significantly”improved during the past two years, and noted that he had made advancementssince being prescribed a regimen of Clozaril. The U.S. Attorney’s Office hadpreviously filed an argument Feb. 24, 2004 in response to a memorandum seekingto have the medication order rescinded in light of the Supreme Court decisionon Sell vs. United States. Although Weston had been forcibly medicated sinceJanuary 2002, it was argued then that Weston’s mental state had notsignificantly improved during those two years. Prison psychiatrists had told ajudge on June 7, 2003 that Weston’s condition was improving as a result of themedication and he would eventually be competent enough to stand trial. Statingthere was “clear and convincing evidence” that Weston’s mental statushad improved, Judge ruled on July 15, 2004 to extend the court order requiringWeston’s forced medication.
Source Of Information: The Buffalo News, 9/24/98; APOnline, 12/4/98; The Washington Times – 4/23/99; AP Online – 9/9/99; LegalTimes – 6/23/03; Roll Call – 9/15/03; 10/2/03; 2/9/04; 2/11/04; 3/2/04;3/15/04; 7/19/04; 11/22/04
RecordID:1870
Date: 10/1983
Location: Sapulpa, Creek, OK
Summary: Charles Enoch Brown shot andkilled Oklahoma state trooper Leon Bench on October 5, 1983 after Bench stoppedhim for a routine traffic violation outside Sapulpa, OK. A psychologist atEastern State Hospital evaluated Brown and found that he was not competent toassist in his defense and was mentally ill, but could be restored to competencyin time. In 1984, Brown was convicted of murder and sentenced to life inprison. However, Brown’s mental competency again became an issue in 1999 whenU.S. Chief District Judge Terry Kern overturned Brown’s original convictionafter ruling that Brown was denied state funds for an independent psychiatristto assist with his insanity defense at trial. Kern issued an order in January1999 that Brown be re-tried for the slaying or be released within 120 daysbecause officials said he had not yet regained competency. Subsequent History:The judge issued another 120-day order in April 1999 when an Eastern Statepsychologist who evaluated Brown declared he was still not competent to assistin his defense. Brown himself testified at the competency hearing that he stillheard voices from a “machine at the welfare department”.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, November 3,1999; Tulsa World, September 11, 1999
RecordID:1887
Date: 5/2002
Location: , Pittsylvania, VA
Summary: Roy Douglas Inge Jr., 24, wassentenced to life in prison for slaying Deputy Frankie Betterton, 43, during atraffic stop that occurred on May 17, 2002. Inge shot Betterton once in thehead with a .380-caliber gun to avoid being served with a warrant fortrespassing at a veterinary clinic operated by Betterton’s wife. Betterton hadhelped her establish the business. Judge William Alexander ignored the jurysrecommendation to give Inge the death penalty. Just moments before Alexanderannounced his decision, Inge made a rambling speech in which he denied theslaying. As they did throughout the trial, defense attorneys Mark W. Claytorand Jeffrey L. Dorsey yesterday argued to Alexander that Inge suffers fromschizophrenia and is delusional and that his life should be spared. At trial,the defense called psychologist Evan Nelson, who testified that Inge did notbelieve Betterton was dead and saw the trial as a farce intended to develop anew identity for him. At one point during the trial, PittsylvaniaCommonwealth’s Attorney David Grimes played a three-hour recording of aconversation Inge had with state police investigators. Inge later took thestand and denied the slaying and claimed the voice on the recording was nothis.
Source Of Information: Richmond Times Dispatch, April25, 2003
RecordID:85
Date: /1993
Location: , , MN
Summary: Donald Polcyn, a person withparanoid schizophrenia, shot Officer Ervid Clemons to death. (Article providesno further details.)
Source Of Information: Mental Health Advocate, AMI MN,September/October 1993
RecordID:99
Date: 9/1994
Location: , , MT
Summary: On September 7, 1994, Bobby DeanMcDonald, 48, a person with paranoid schizophrenia, apparently shot to deathOfficer Shane Chadwick, 28, a policeman answering a noise disturbance call.Chadwick was married and had a four-year-old son from a previous marriage.McDonald’s difficulties began with his service in Thailand during the VietnamWar. According to relatives, he returned from the service prone to talk tohimself, walk in circles, and behave like a “zombie.” He wasdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in Canada and received mental healthtreatment there. He was also twice cited by the Canadian police for carryingconcealed weapons. After living in Canada for decades, McDonald returned to theUnited States, settling in Great Falls, Montana. In Great Falls, he was knownfor walking around town in concealing facial wraps and for spreading birdseedfor hundreds of birds near his apartment. The noise disturbance call was madeby one of McDonald’s neighbors. After McDonald allegedly shot Chadwick, anextended standoff ensued between McDonald and the police. McDonald ultimatelysurrendered after being wounded in three places. McDonald then died a few weekslater after suffering an apparent heart attack in his jail cell before he couldbe fully arraigned or psychologically examined.
Source Of Information: Great Falls Tribune, October 2,1994 Great Falls Tribune, October 8, 1994 Great Falls Tribune, October 26, 1994
RecordID:107
Date: 5/1997
Location: , , MD
Summary: Baron Michael Cherry, 41, shotLieutenant Owen E. Sweeney Jr. to death through a closed wooden door.Lieutenant Sweeney was trying to coax Cherry into leaving his apartment at thetime of the slaying. Cherry suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. According tohis wife, Denise Cherry, Cherry suffered a breakdown seven years ago, hearingvoices and saying that white worms were crawling on his head. Cherry’s wifecommented that he had started refusing to take his medication three weeksbefore the shooting because one of the two drugs prescribed for him made himtired. According to the article, Denise Cherry repeatedly took Cherry to acommunity mental health center. The doctors there wanted to give himinjections, but he refused. The doctors there would not admit him to ahospital. On May 7, 1997, Denise Cherry finally called the police. The standoffthat led to the shooting followed their arrival.
Source Of Information: The Sun (Baltimore, MD), May 9,1997, p. 1A
RecordID:7
Date: 7/1996
Location: New Orleans, Orleans, LA
Summary: On July 17, 1996, Salvador Perezshot police officer Chris McCormick to death in New Orleans after the officerand his partner responded to a call about a suspicious person in a back yard.When Perez was confronted, he pulled a handgun and shot McCormick in the chest.Perez was charged with first-degree murder but plead not guilty by reason ofinsanity. In pre-trial proceedings, seven doctors, three hired by the state,testified that Perez was psychotic and delusional at the time of the shooting.Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Perez, 50, afarmer from Seguin,Texas who only speaks Spanish and is described as having”limited intelligence”, had driven over 500 miles from his home toNew Orleans with his 13-year-old son because he believed he was being pursuedby killers. Until he received anti-psychotic medication in jail, he could notrecall the killing or understand why he was imprisoned. Perez had no priorcriminal history.
Source Of Information: The Times-Picayune, March 12,1998, p. A1; The Times-Picayune, May 28, 1998, p. B7
RecordID:14
Date: 7/1996
Location: Meiners Oaks, Ventura, CA
Summary: Michael Raymond Johnson shotSheriff’s Deputy Peter Aguirre to death in July 1996 when the officer respondedto a domestic disturbance call at the home of Johnson’s estranged wife. Johnsonwas a Vietnam veteran and volunteer addiction counselor at a Salvation Armytreatment center at the time of the shooting. However, he had a long history ofparanoid schizophrenia and of suffering from delusions. Two years prior to theshooting, he thought people were trying to poison the world with multimedia andthat his parents were Nazi agents. He had also committed several previouscrimes, including robbery and assault. While serving time in prison for robbinga McDonald’s, Johnson showed evidence of mental illness but did not receivetreatment or further evaluation. At the time of the murder, the police found anempty bottle of the antipsychotic Haldol in his car. At trial, Johnson wasfound guilty of first-degree murder and four other criminal charges and wasdeemed eligible for the death penalty.
Source Of Information: Los Angeles Times, February 18,1998, p. B1 Los Angeles Times, February 27, 1998
RecordID:50
Date: 10/1996
Location: , , IL
Summary: Eric Lee, 23, killed policeofficer Anthony Samfay, 26, during a routine traffic stop on October 17, 1996.Lee emerged from his car with a .357 Magnum and shot Samfay six times. Leestated in a taped confession that he killed Samfay because he was enraged over”things at home,” not over the traffic stop. Lee’s attorney said inhis opening statement that Lee suffers from mental illness. The attorney saidthat Lee was hospitalized at the age of 16 and diagnosed as “dangerous andin need of a structured environment,” yet Lee never received furthertreatment.
Source Of Information: Chicago Tribune, December 4,1997, p. 1
RecordID:68
Date: 2/1992
Location: Jackson, Hinds, MS
Summary: David Smith, 30, who has paranoidschizophrenia, has been sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years afterpleading guilty to capital murder and to burglarizing his mother’s house. OnFebruary 4, 1992, he came to his mother’s house to get some money, but no onecame to the door. At that point, he crawled through a window to get in, and hisrelatives called the police. Officer Rickey Joe Simmons arrived at the scene.Smith and Simmons wrestled for Simmons’ gun. Smith, who gained control of it,shot Simmons to death with it.
Source Of Information: Clarion-Ledger, July 10, 1993
RecordID:847
Date: 10/1999
Location: Madison, Dane, WI
Summary: Jason Friske, who suffered fromdepression and psychosis, ended his life and that of Sgt. Robert Kimberling onOctober 6, 1999 in a murder-suicide. Prior History: In high school, Jasonexcelled in academics and sports, but his mental illness became apparent incollege. He started abusing drugs and alcohol and frequently got in troublewith the law. His parents said they tried to get him hospitalized, but haddifficulty because he had no insurance. On the day of the killings, Jason stolehis father’s Chevy Blazer and filled the tank with gas at a truck stop withoutpaying. At his father’s request, Wisconsin authorities had alerted lawenforcement throughout the country to be on the lookout for Friske’s truck andwarned that he might be armed. Sgt. Kimberling, who stopped Jason for what hebelieved was a routine traffic stop, had not yet heard this alert. Jason shotand killed Sgt. Kimberling and then killed himself. His parents speculated thathe had stopped taking his medication prior to the incident.
Source Of Information: Capital Times (Madison, WI),January 20, 2000, p. 1A The Kansas City Star, October 9, 1999, p. B1 TheAssociated Press, October 8, 1999
RecordID:245
Date: 7/1991
Location: Bethesda, Montgomery, VA
Summary: Sergeant Major Howard McAllister,47, has been charged with murder for shooting Albee Forney, 57, a Department ofDefense police officer on July 24, 1991. McAllister also shot Army SergeantRichard Myer; he, however, survived. The shootings occurred when Forney andMyer arrived to evict McAllister from his barracks room on the grounds ofWalter Reed Army Medical Center. Prior History: According to records in afederal suit, McAllister had been diagnosed earlier in 1991 with delusions anda persecution complex. McAllister had received psychiatric treatment at WalterReed.
Source Of Information: The Washington Post, August 1,1991, p. C6
RecordID:280
Date: 9/1986
Location: Indianapolis, Marion, IN
Summary: Mike Wayne Jackson, 40, acriminal with convictions going back twenty years and a history of psychiatricproblems, shot Tom Gahl, his probation officer, without provocation as Gahlcame to his door. The shooting launched a robbery and killing spree duringwhich Jackson murdered two other people with a sawed-off shotgun, and kidnappedand terrorized numerous others. It ended when Jackson killed himself in aMissouri barn after an eleven-day manhunt by police. Prior History: Jackson wasa drifter who had been in and out of jails and mental institutions in thetwenty years before the murder. Jackson was first arrested in the 9th grade forarmed robbery, and subsequently was arrested more than 30 times on such chargesas rape, robbery, assault with intent to kill and auto theft. He had beenhospitalized for drug and alcohol addiction, chronic paranoid schizophrenia,and anti-social personality disorder. His mother had asked authorities the yearbefore the killings to have Jackson committed permanently after he broke two ofher ribs. In April, 1985, Jackson was indicted on federal firearms charges andsent to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, where psychiatristsdeemed him competent to stand trial but reported that he had a “violentnature” and “chronic paranoid fears”.
Source Of Information: The New York Times, February 8,1993 United Press International, September 23, 1986 The Plain Dealer, June 7,1993
RecordID:300
Date: 11/1994
Location: , Madison, AL
Summary: On November 1, 1994, Sheriff’sDeputies Thomas Lewis, 42, and Bill Thrower, 41, arrived at the home DavidZmyewski, 31, shared with his mother to serve commitment papers on him.Zmyewski opened fire on them, killing Lewis and wounding Thrower. He was thenhimself killed in the fire returned by the deputies. Prior History: Zmyewskihad a history of extended psychiatric hospitalization, medicationnoncompliance, and violence. He had been hospitalized in 1988, when he tried toshoot his father with a shotgun. After five years of treatment, Zmyewski hadbeen released and had returned home. Zmyewski’s brother, Mark Zmyewski, saidthat mental health workers had indicated that his brother had been releasedbecause he would not take his medication or cooperate in his treatment. Oncehome, Zmyewski had struck his mother. According to Sheriff’s InvestigatorDannie Curtain, Zmyewski’s sister Tamara Pearson had filed the commitmentpetition after Zmyewski chased her and her children from the home he sharedwith his mother with a shotgun. Madison County Sheriff Joe Patterson commented,”‘The most dangerous part of our job is picking up mental patients.'”
Source Of Information: Huntsville News, November 2, 1994The Huntsville Times, November 27, 1994
RecordID:301
Date: 2/1995
Location: Winston-Salem, Forsyth, NC
Summary: George Franklin Page, whosuffered from bipolar disorder, shot Police Officer Steven Levi Amos in thechest with a sniper’s rifle in February 1995 outside Page’s apartment complexin Winston-Salem, NC. Amos, 24, later died of his wound. The shooting occurredwhen Amos came with Senior Officer John Pratt to investigate a report of shotsfired from Page’s apartment building. Page, then 54, shot Amos as the policeofficer got out of his car. Page was convicted of murder in 1996 and wasscheduled to be executed by injection Feb. 27, 2004 at Central Prison.According to his attorney, Walt Jones, Page suffers from post-traumatic stressdisorder and bipolar disorder, Jones said, but a judge wouldn’t grant defenseattorneys $3,000 to $5,000 to hire an independent expert to examine him.”We have had a mental-health evaluation done on Mr. Page that the juryshould have heard,” Jones said.
Source Of Information: Winston-Salem Journal, March 1,1995 Winston-Salem Journal (NC), February 19, 2004 Winston-Salem Journal,February 24, 2004
RecordID:304
Date: 9/1990
Location: Elsmore, Allen, KS
Summary: A mental patient who had been along-term voluntary admittee at the Veterans Administration Medical Center inChillicothe, Missouri, shot an Elsmore, Kansas, police officer in September1990. The officer ultimately died.
Source Of Information: Dayton, Ohio News, November 17,1991
RecordID:307
Date: 8/1995
Location: Chatsworth, Los Angeles, CA
Summary: Daniel Allan Tuffree, a mentallydisturbed Chatsworth teacher, killed Police Officer Michael Clark on August 4,1995. Clark had been sent to check on Tuffree.
Source Of Information: Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1995
RecordID:1500
Date: 8/2000
Location: , Clallam, WA
Summary: Thomas Martin Roberts, 53, ischarged with first-degree murder for shooting Sheriff’s Deputy Wallace”Wally” E. Davis, 48, in the head August 5, 2000, on the porch ofRoberts’ home in Clallam County. Davis had responded to a disturbance call atRoberts’ address and – as deputies had many times in the past – had gone tocalm the man down. After the shooting, he holed up in his house for 25 hoursuntil tear gas drove him out. A loaded shotgun was found inside. A search laterturned up a small arsenal and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Clallam CountySheriff W. J. “Joe” Hawe said, “This is a guy who’s supposed tobe on medication. Why didn’t he take it?”
Source Of Information: The Seattle Times, August 13,2000
RecordID:1507
Date: 6/2002
Location: Newcastle, King, WA
Summary: Ronald Keith Matthews, whoserelatives say is mentally ill, was accused of fatally shooting King CountyDeputy Richard Herzog on June 22, 2002. Matthews has since been diagnosed withbipolar disorder. Matthews’ mental problems were apparent that day, when he rannaked from his Newcastle, WA apartment and screamed that he was God. Witnessessay Herzog was trying to calm him when they began to struggle and Matthewsgrabbed Herzog’s gun and shot him once, knocking him to the ground. Matthewsthen stood over him and shot him ten more times. Court documents suggestedMatthews suffered from paranoia and depression, and Matthews later tolddetectives he had smoked crack earlier that day. Matthews was charged withaggravated first degree murder, but prosecutors weren’t seeking the deathpenalty because they believe Matthews is mentally ill. Subsequent History: Ajury found Matthews guilty of aggravated first-degree murder on August 19,2004. King County Superior Court Judge Michael Hayden then sentenced him tolife in prison without parole. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng earlier haddecided not to seek the death penalty because of Matthews’ past mentalproblems. Matthews had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In one court document,defense attorneys Russell V. Leonard and Steven Witchley said Matthews, 46 ,has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder worsened by psychosis, organic braindysfunction and chronic chemical dependency. In August 2004, Dr. Pablo Stewarttestified for the defense that Matthews was legally insane during the shootingbecause of a blend of bipolar disorder, crack cocaine and the wrong medication.Dr. Park Deitz, psychiatrist for the prosecution, said Matthews was psychoticwhen he shot Herzog, but only because he had smoked crack earlier in the day.Prior History: Eleven days before Herzog was killed, Matthews had been releasedfrom the state prison in Monroe after serving time for assaulting a policeofficer. In that incident, Matthews had run out of his apartment in September2001, and three officers responding to a domestic-violence call were waitingwith guns drawn. They quickly put their weapons away once they realizedMatthews was unarmed, but he charged at an officer anyway, punching her in theface. Matthews was wrestled to the ground by several officers, but not beforehis face was covered with pepper spray and he was shot at least twice with aTaser gun. He received a psychiatric evaluation while in prison for that crimethat alluded to mental illness.
Source Of Information: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July9 & October 4, 2002; King County Journal, June 5, 2004; Seattle Times, June22/July 27/August 3/August 13, 2004; Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 24,2004
RecordID:646
Date: 6/1998
Location: Meridian, Ada, ID
Summary: Scott Yager, 35, a man sufferingfrom paranoid schizophrenia, has been convicted of first-degree murder forshooting Idaho State Police Trooper Linda Huff to death at the state policeheadquarters. The article recounts that, in a television news interview, Yagerindicated that he went to the headquarters intending to provoke a gunfightbecause he was fed up with his life and that he fired the first shot in theparking lot shootout with Huff. At the time of the article, Yagers trial wasin the penalty phase.
Source Of Information: Idaho Statesman, May 22, 1999, p.4B
RecordID:1133
Date: 2/2001
Location: Centreville, Queen Anne’s, MD
Summary: Francis Mario Zito, 42, wascharged with murder in the shooting deaths of Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’sDeputy Jason C. Schwenz, 28, and Centreville Police Officer Michael Nickerson,26 on February 13, 2001.They were called to Zito’s home after a neighborcomplained about loud music. When the officers arrived at Zito’s home, Zitorefused to come out, rebuffing the pleas of both the officers and his motherwho lived in the same trailer park. Minutes later, Zito allegedly unleashed avolley of 12-gauge shotgun blasts through the screen door of his home. A thirdofficer who had arrived at the scene doused Zito with Mace, then handcuffedhim. Schwenz died at the scene and Nickerson was pronounced dead after beingtaken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Even after his arrest,Zito’s mother asked court officials to order an emergency psychiatricevaluation of her son because he had threatened her, according to a courtfiling. On May 30, 2002, Zito was sentenced to death. Prior History: At age 8or 9, Zito was treated with Thorazine, according to a psychiatric evaluationincluded in his court record. Schizophrenia and manic depression were diagnosedduring at least a dozen hospitalizations over the previous two decades, and hiscondition had worsened because he refused to take his medication, the reportstates.
Source Of Information: The Washington Post, February 15,2001 Christian Science Monitor, March 17, 2004,
RecordID:1205
Date: 9/2001
Location: Detroit, Wayne, MI
Summary: David Daniel Serra, 29, shot andkilled Ron Sheffield, a federal police officer, at the McNamara FederalBuilding in downtown Detroit on September 21, 2001. Police have stated thatSerra shot Sheffield in the chest when the officer tried to check his bag.Other officers then shot Serra several times in the crowded office tower lobby,and police later found bullets, shooting paraphenalia and a handgun receipt inhis nearby car. Serra’s father stated that Serra was diagnosed two years priorwith paranoid schizophrenia and depression and, at the time of the shooting,was “under a doctor’s care, was taking his medication and was progressingwell.” Serra pled guilty to second-degree murder under a plea agreementand was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Source Of Information: The Detroit News, September 23,2001 The Detroit News, December 24, 2002 CNN, March 21, 2003
RecordID:372
Date: 6/1997
Location: Cheyenne, Laramie, WY
Summary: Richard Dowdell, 27, a mansuffering from psychosis and clinical depression, participated in an attempt tobreak out of the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Cheyenne, WY on June 26, 1997that resulted in the death of Cpl. Wayne Martinez. Although Dowdell had beengiven antipsychotic medication, he had stopped taking it at the time of themurder due to its side effects (drowsiness and painful muscle cramps). Apsychiatrist quoted in the article asserted that Dowdell would not haveparticipated in the murder had he not been psychotic.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, September9, 1998 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, WY), April 15, 2003
RecordID:410
Date: 9/1998
Location: , , GA
Summary: Byron Fleming, 32, allegedly shotDeputy Kenneth Lee Wimberly, 32, to death in September 1998 at an apartmentcomplex where Wimberly was working security. According to police, Flemingshouted, “I am the Lord” and “You can’t fight me, Satan” atthe time of the shooting. Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Tom Davissuggested that Fleming’s mental state may be at issue in his trial for theshooting.
Source Of Information: The Atlanta Journal andConstitution, September 24, 1998 The Associated Press, Sept. 24, 1998
RecordID:411
Date: 7/1998
Location: Washington, , DC
Summary: Russell E. Weston Jr., a man withparanoid schizophrenia, allegedly shot and killed two Capitol Police Officersat the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 1998. Weston, who spent20 years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, had told psychiatrists that hewas the inventor of a time machine that was being misused by “evil’cannibals'” in the Clinton administration and that this time machine wascontrolled in a room in the Capitol. A federal judge ruled on April 22, 1999that Weston was incompetent to stand trial and ordered him sent to the FederalCorrectional Institute in Butner, NC. If Weston’s mental state does not improvethrough medication, he could eventually be involuntarily committed on along-term basis to a secure hospital facility rather than a prison. In such asituation, he would not be found guilty of criminal responsibility for hisalleged actions. Subsequent History: On November 19, 2004, U.S. District JudgeEmmet Sullivan approved a court order to initiate civil commitment proceedingsagainst Weston and put criminal prosecution on hold indefinitely. Sullivanissued the order at the request of federal prosecutors, who acknowledged thatWeston was still not competent to stand trial despite nearly three years ofcourt-ordered medication. Psychiatrist Sally Johnson had previously testifiedat a March 2004 hearing that Weston’s mental state had”significantly” improved during the past two years, and noted that hehad made advancements since being prescribed a regimen of Clozaril. The U.S.Attorney’s Office had previously filed an argument Feb. 24, 2004 in response toa memorandum seeking to have the medication order rescinded in light of theSupreme Court decision on Sell vs. United States. Although Weston had beenforcibly medicated since January 2002, it was argued then that Weston’s mentalstate had not significantly improved during those two years. Prisonpsychiatrists had told a judge on June 7, 2003 that Weston’s condition wasimproving as a result of the medication and he would eventually be competentenough to stand trial. Stating there was “clear and convincingevidence” that Weston’s mental status had improved, Judge ruled on July15, 2004 to extend the court order requiring Weston’s forced medication.
Source Of Information: The Buffalo News, 9/24/98; APOnline, 12/4/98; The Washington Times – 4/23/99; AP Online – 9/9/99; LegalTimes – 6/23/03; Roll Call – 9/15/03; 10/2/03; 2/9/04; 2/11/04; 3/2/04;3/15/04; 7/19/04; 11/22/04
RecordID:656
Date: 7/1998
Location: Sanford, Seminole, FL
Summary: On July 8, 1998, 43-year-old AlanSingletary, a man suffering from mental illness, killed Deputy Eugene Gregoryduring a landlord-tenant dispute that evolved into a 13-hour standoff betweenSingletary, Seminole sheriff’s deputies, and SWAT team members. Singletary alsowounded two other law enforcement officers before being killed himself duringthe ensuing gunbattle. Singletary’s family had tried for years to get him helpfor his paranoid schizophrenia, but were not successful. Following herhusband’s death, Ms. Gregory joined Sheriff Don Eslinger and Alice Petree, AlanSingletary’s sister, in a task force studying ways to treat mentally ill peoplewho break the law.
Source Of Information: The Orlando Sentinel, 7/8/98;12/12/99; Seminole Chronicle, 4/23/08; Seminole Voice, 7/13/11
RecordID:557
Date: 10/1997
Location: , , NJ
Summary: Samuel Shipps, a formerpsychiatric patient, shot and killed Scott Gonzalez, 29, a New Jersey statetrooper, in a gun battle on a deserted road. Shipps then shot himself in thehead as police units closed in on him and died of his injuries five days later.His mother reported that he had stopped taking his medication. Prior History:Shipps had been arrested by Gonzalez previously on January 2, 1995 after hestabbed himself in the stomach during a domestic dispute with hisbrother-in-law. Shipps subsequently served 186 days in the Warren County Jail,the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital and two residential drug treatmentprograms. At the time of the shooting, Shipps was still on probation forassaults and weapons charges stemming from the 1995 incident, and was scheduledto be sentenced after pleading guilty to a subsequent charge of cocaine use.Shipps had also been arrested in 1989 and 1991 for leading police on chases.
Source Of Information: The Record (Bergen County, NJ),March 16, 1999 The Record (Bergen County, NJ), October 30, 1997
RecordID:564
Date: 4/1998
Location: , , KY
Summary: Timothy R. Doyle, 41, a man whosuffers from manic depression and paranoid schizophrenia and has a history ofpsychiatric hospitalization, has been found guilty but mentally ill offirst-degree manslaughter in the death of Alcoholic Beverage Control AgentBrandon Thacker. Thacker was shot while driving in a convoy with other agentsdown the Western Kentucky Parkway on April 16, 1998. According to Doyle’sattorney, Mark Stanziano, Doyle decided he had stumbled on an attempt byThacker to kidnap Jennifer Shearer, a female agent driving in front of him.Doyle pulled alongside Thacker’s unmarked cruiser and shot him. Doyle testifiedthat he thought Thacker had pointed a gun at him, and he had feared for hislife. But prosecution counsel G.L. Ovey said that no one but Doyle had believedthat Thacker was brandishing a gun. The jury has recommended a prison sentenceof twenty years. Formal sentencing is scheduled for May 3, 1999.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, March 9,1999 The Associated Press, March 25, 1999
RecordID:583
Date: 12/1998
Location: Goshen, Elkhart, IN
Summary: Frankie Allen Salyers, 20, a manwho, according to a defense psychologist, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia,including symptoms of delusions and hallucations, allegedly shot Goshen PoliceOfficer Thomas Goodwin, 31, to death on December 11, 1998. Police say Salyershas confessed to the killing. Family members also testified at the hearing thatSalyers experienced hallucinations and said that they had tried unsuccessfullyto secure him mental health treatment at a local mental health facility. Two ofthe experts who testified at Salyerss competency hearing found him incompetentto stand trial but a third found him competent.
Source Of Information: South Bend Tribune, March 11,1999, p. D1
RecordID:605
Date: 4/1998
Location: Millbrae, San Mateo, CA
Summary: Marvin Patrick Sullivan, 44, aman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, was charged with murdering MillbraePolice Officer Dave Chetcuti, 43, a motorcycle officer, during a routinetraffic stop on Californias Highway 101 in April, 1998. Sullivan was chargedwith first-degree murder, attempted murder, possession of explosives, and thekilling of a police officer. On June 29, 1999, two court-appointed expertsdetermined that Sullivan was not competent to stand trial, and he was sent toAtascadero State Hospital. Medication restored him to competency in September2001, but after he was returned to jail his condition worsened and he refusedto take his medication. Since Sullivan did not restart his medications, he wasconfined to a state mental hospital in Napa by Superior Court Judge Dale Hahnin 2002, who sent him there for three years or until he regains his competency.His attorney, Vincent O’Malley, said Sullivan remains medicated but is stillnot fit to assist in his defense. Subsequent History: On January 25, 2005,Sullivan, 50, was officially certified as competent, and plans were made totransfer him from the hospital to jail to prepare for trial. In order toprevent Sullivan’s decompensation in prison while awaiting trail, DeputyDistrict Attorney Martin Murray planned to introduce as a precedent the 2003Supreme Court case Sell vs. United States, which set guidelines for when acourt may order a defendant awaiting trial to be involuntarily medicated. PriorHistory: Sullivan had a history of threatening and violent behavior. In 1995,he was hospitalized for five months after sending a threatening letter toMunicipal Court clerks in Tracy, California. Hospital officials eventuallyfound him competent to stand trial for charges arising out of the incident, butthe judge subsequently dismissed the case. In 1997, he was again foundincompetent to stand trial after it was discovered that he had concealed abayonet during a shoplifting incident. He pleaded no contest to twomisdemeanors and was committed to a psychiatric unit.
Source Of Information: The San Francisco Chronicle,6/30/99; San Jose Mercury News, 10/6/03; San Mateo County Times, 1/7/04,1/27/05; San Mateo Daily Journal, 1/25/05; San Francisco Examiner, 1/28/05;Examiner.com, 4/25/08
RecordID:722
Date: /1984
Location: Orlando, Orange, FL
Summary: Thomas Provenzano won his fourthreprieve from the electric chair in September, 1999 with a stay of executionfrom the Florida Supreme Court. Provenzano had been scheduled to be executedfor walking into an Orlando courtroom in 1984 and opening fire, killing abailiff and paralyzing two others. Provenzanos attorney claims that he wasmentally ill before the killings and still suffers from mental problems.Provenzanos current symptoms include drafting letters signed Jesus Christand stuffing his mouth with rags to keep out demons. His attorney requested thestay of execution based on Provenzanos mental illness. Retired Judge E.Randolph Bentley ruled that, while Provenzano is technically sane enough to beexecuted under Florida law, it would be impossible for the state to prove thisbeyond a reasonable doubt given Provenzano’s “delusional belief that he isJesus Christ”.
Source Of Information: St. Petersburg Times, August 25,1999 The Orlando Sentinel, September 24, 1999 Unknown publication, December 14,1999
RecordID:814
Date: 4/1975
Location: Mount Holly, Burlington, NJ
Summary: In New Jersey, James Carhart wasfound not guilty by reason of insanity in the sniper killing of Mount Hollypolice officer Donald Aleshire and Hainesport policeman William Wurtz on GoodFriday 1975 after he barricaded himself at his home. Mount Holly officer JohnHolmes was also seriously injured during the three-hour stand-off and died in1992. Carhart has been held at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital ever since and hasbeen diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Superior Court Judge MarvinSchlosser had previously granted Carhart’s request to be taken out of Ancoraevery six weeks or so and escorted to visit his sick mother, infuriatingmembers of the law enforcement community. However, in a November 2003 closedhearing, Schlosser ruled that Carhart, now 51, was still a danger to himselfand society after learning that Ancora staff had discovered Carhart with a toolbox containing a screwdriver in April, and with a letter opener in September.He could not explain how he obtained them or where they came from, Brennansaid. Based on the assessment of Ancora psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Liberatore,Carhart was returned to the lowest privilege level, at least temporarily,although his privileges could be returned at a later time. Carhart wasdescribed as a cooperative patient who takes his medication. SubsequentHistory: In March 2008, a state appeals court ruled that James Carhart, 55, wasstill “mentally ill, a danger to himself and others and is still in needof continued hospitalization.” The ruling upholds a November 30, 2006,decision by Superior Court Judge Thomas Smith Jr., who concluded that hospitalrule violations by Carhart precluded him from leaving the grounds or gettingmore privileges while there. Carhart appealed that decision. At that hearingthe patient’s own doctors testified he should not be released because he hadbeen found in possession of a razor-like instrument and gave a friend keys topart of the facility. They also testified he was still mentally impaired fromschizophrenia despite medication and had thoughts that were inconsistent withreality.
Source Of Information: Cherry Hill Courier-Post,11/8/03; Vineland Daily Journal, 3/27/08
RecordID:907
Date: 10/1993
Location: , , KY
Summary: Peter F. Bard, 35, is accused ofkilling Sheriff’s deputy Floyd Cheeks on October 27, 1993 while the deputy wastrying to serve court papers on Bard’s brother. Bard has been diagnosed withparanoid schizophrenia and it is not clear whether he will be found competentto stand trial. He has been found incompetent for six years and treated at amental hospital. According to a past evaluation, Bard believes he is a ruler ofsome other land, that he is a king who commands an army of thousands.Psychologist Steven Simon has testified that Bard believes Cheeks is stillalive.
Source Of Information: The Courier-Journal (Louisville,KY), March 29, 2000, p. 3B
RecordID:1148
Date: 3/2001
Location: Independence, Jackson, MO
Summary: Officer Terry Foster had beencalled to Jeffrey R. Keith’s home three times since the summer before and wasable to calm him down on all three occasions. When another call came from theman’s family, Foster, a 32-year-old veteran who was three weeks from retirement,thought he would be able to help again, police said. But this time, both menended up dead when Keith shot Foster and then died in a fire that he started inhis bedroom. “Terry was familiar with the situation, knew the man, knewhis family,” said police spokesman Bill Pross. “Everybody there knewTerry.” Keith’s family told police that he suffered from paranoidschizophrenia and was delusional, Pross said. But the police said he had notbeen violent during previous calls to the house, which he shared with hisparents in southeast Independence, Missouri.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, March 19,2001
RecordID:1182
Date: 3/1999
Location: Atlanta, Fulton, GA
Summary: Kimani Atu Archie pleaded guiltyin order to avoid the death penalty for murdering an Atlanta police officer inMarch 1999. Archie will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance ofparole. Archie, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, admittedshooting Officer Stalnaker during a struggle. Four police officers were tryingto subdue Archie after he became agitated and abusive during a traffic stop. Hepulled a 9 mm pistol from his waistband and fired three times, killingStalnaker. The state and defense doctors who saw Archie all agreed that hesuffered from mental illness. He was so paranoid and delusional he believedgovernment agencies were monitoring and destabilizing his mind as part of aprogram called “Experiment X.”
Source Of Information: The Atlanta Journal andConstitution, May 3, 2001
RecordID:1014
Date: 5/1999
Location: Westminster, Worcester, MA
Summary: On May 10, 2009, after beingstopped for questioning along a deserted road, Jason Rivers, a man with paranoidschizophrenia, shot Westminster, MA, Police Officer Lawrence Jupin three timeswith a .357 Magnum handgun. The policeman fell into a coma and died on November29, 2002. Rivers got the firearm from a makeshift cabinet where his father,Willis, stored more than 30 handguns and rifles in a house the father lived infor 15 years with its owner, Sharon Kask. While the storage unit was locked,Rivers was able to unscrew the cabinet door and take the weapon. Rivers wasalso shot but recovered. Subsequent History: Rivers was originally charged withassault with intent to murder, but was initially found unfit to stand trial andwas committed to Bridgewater State Hospital. Shortly after Jupin’s death in2002, Rivers was found competent to stand trial and was charged with Jupin’smurder. Jupin’s mother, Joanne, filed a civil suit on May 3, 2002, seekingdamages from Kask. The document noted that the homeowner was aware Jason Rivershad a history of violent criminal activity and accused her of not doing enoughto keep her live-in boyfriend’s weapons secure. Subsequent History: The highestappellate court in Massachusetts ruled that Homeowners must safely storefirearms in their residence or they may be held liable for shootings with theirstolen guns. The decision by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in thecase of Jupin v. Kask is the first of its kind in the state and “sends aclear message that guns must be stored locked and unloaded,” Daniel Vice,staff attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said Friday.Subsequent History: On September 1, 2009, Jason Rivers, 37, was found notguilty by reason of insanity in the fatal shooting of Westminster PoliceOfficer Lawrence M. Jupin. Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. found Mr. Rivers not guiltyby reason of insanity after determining that he was suffering from a mentalillness at the time of the shooting and lacked criminal responsibility for hisactions. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Mr. Rivers was committed toBridgewater State Hospital for 40 days of psychiatric observation.
Source Of Information: Worcester Telegram & Gazette,7/7/00, 12/10/09; Fitchburg Sentinel (MA), 11/15/03
RecordID:1070
Date: 1/1975
Location: Summit, Waukesha, WI
Summary: On January 26, 1975, 16-year-oldAlan Randall shot and killed two police officers, 28-year-old Robert”Rocky” Atkins and 52-year-old Wayne Olson, while they were sittingin their squad car outside the Summit Town Hall. In 1977, a jury found Randall,who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, guilty of the two murders,burglary and auto theft, but a judge later found him not guilty by reason ofmental illness. Randall was acquitted in the January 11, 1975, murder of43-year-old Ronald Hoeft of Summit, from whom Randall stole a car. SubsequentHistory: On June 21, 2011, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the a lowercourts denial of Alan Adin Randalls 2008 request for conditional release froma mental institution. Randall filed three requests for conditional release inthe 1990s. All were denied on the basis that he was still considered a dangerto himself or others.
Source Of Information: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,9/28/00, 3/9/09; Post Crescent, 6/21/11
RecordID:1364
Date: 10/1988
Location: , , MI
Summary: Charles Knowles, 50, used ahigh-powered rifle to shoot and kill two law enforcement officers and then waskilled by officer gunfire after an hours-long standoff with police. Early thatmorning, Knowles began harrassing other tenants in his apartment building. Heproceeded to splash gasoline around the building and then barricaded himselfinside his apartment. Police were then called to Knowles building and foundhim babbling incoherently upon their arrival. Knowles fired a shot through thedoor and killed 41-year-old Lt. James Schmit, a 20-year police veteran. Laterthat afternoon, police, who were backed up by an armored personnel carrier,forcibly entered Knowles apartment with tear gas. Knowles then shot39-year-old officer Frank Walls, a highly decorated 13-year veteran, who laterdied in the hospital. Other officers returned fire and killed Knowles. Knowleshad been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and had been previouslyhospitalized for mental illness at least six times. A psychiatrist who examinedKnowles several months earlier described him as delusional.
Source Of Information: United Press International,October 18, 1988
RecordID:1400
Date: 9/2001
Location: Norfolk, Norfolk, VA
Summary: Jeremy Todd Seifert, 21, anelectronics technician 3rd class in the Navy, died September 27 after shootingNorfolk police Officer James B. Gilbert. Police were notified that Seifertplanned to commit suicide and went to Seifert’s unit, where they found him inhis bedroom motionless clutching a .45-caliber handgun. He suddenly beganshooting at them, police said. Officer Gilbert was shot in the head and diedfrom his injuries later that day. Gilbert’s partner returned fire, killingSeifert, police said. Seifert was hospitalized twice for depression, and wassupposed to take medication for his condition. His wife of several months hadrecently left him.
Source Of Information: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk,Virginia), October 1, 2001
RecordID:1405
Date: 7/2001
Location: Stirling City, Butte, CA
Summary: Two sheriff’s deputies who wentto a remote mountain cabin to question Richard Gerald Bracklow, 46, aboutthreats and stolen guns were found shot to death in the cabin, along withBracklow. When the deputies did not respond to radio calls, CHP officers andadditional deputies arrived 45 minutes after the two deputies were firstdispatched to Bracklow’s cabin. A SWAT team that entered the cabin after firingtear gas in it found all three men dead. Bracklow, a self-styled survivalistwho had lived by himself in the cabin for about three years and who was oftenseen armed, according to neighbors, either turned a gun on himself or died fromwounds obtained during the shootout with the deputies. His father said Bracklowhad been diagnosed two years ago with manic-depression but hadn’t takenmedication for a year.
Source Of Information: The Houston Chronicle, July 28,2001 Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2001 The San Francisco Chronicle, July 28,2001
RecordID:1451
Date: 11/1993
Location: McKeesport, Allegheny, PA
Summary: Andre Harper, 48, was sentencedon May 17, 2002, to life in prison, the second time in six years that hereceived the same sentence for the 1993 shooting death of McKeesport policeOfficer Frank Miller. Harper, 48, initially was convicted in 1996 for Miller’sNovember 10, 1993 death. State Superior Court ruled in 1999 that Harper wasentitled to a new trial because the defense attorney at his 1996 trial failedto raise mental illness as an issue. Harper has been diagnosed withschizophrenia, but his late attorney, Foster Stewart, failed to mentionHarper’s mental state and relied instead on a self-defense claim.
Source Of Information: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 18,2002
RecordID:1452
Date: 5/2002
Location: Fresno, Fresno, CA
Summary: On May 19, 2002, Mark CharlesVolpa Jr., 21, shot twice at a parking-lot sweeper in the loading area, policesaid. Shortly after, Fresno County sheriff’s deputy Dennis Phelps, 47, pulledVolpa over for a routine traffic stop and was shot in the face and killed. Alsoinjured was deputy Jason Hollins who suffered cuts when Volpa shot at thedriver’s-side window of Hollins’ Ford Expedition during a chase. After asix-day manhunt, police surrounded Volpa in a camper shell. When he jumped outwith an AR-15 assault rifle assuming a combat position, police shot and killedhim. Volpa’s relatives said he suffers from manic depression and had stoppedtaking medication. About two weeks prior to his death, Volpa was admitted tothe county’s psychiatric assessment center and transferred to Four West, anadult psychiatric ward at Community Medical Center-Fresno, said his cousin,Gina Tavares. Tavares said Volpa was held for 72 hours and was released eventhough his mother wanted him to stay longer. “They said he was no longer adanger to himself,” Tavares said. His family said he’s been off work andreceiving disability checks because of his mental illness.
Source Of Information: The Fresno Bee, May 21, 2002
RecordID:1535
Date: 4/1992
Location: , DuPage, IL
Summary: Ronald Alvine, 39, was convictedtwice in DuPage County for killing Officer Michael Browning, 23, in 1992, afterBrowning interrupted a burglary at a car dealership. Alvine struck and killedBrowning with a stolen Corvette during the botched burglary. A judge twicesentenced Alvine to death, but the state supreme court reversed the sentenceboth times after citing legal errors. Three out of four mental health experts,including one prosecutors hired, agreed Alvine suffers from bipolar disorderand myriad delusions. For example, he refused to cooperate with his attorneys,who he argues are part of a conspiracy to frame him for a murder that neverhappened. Alvine has said Browning is alive and living under an assumed name inthe witness protection program. Subsequent History: On August 24, 2006, DuPageCounty Judge Robert Anderson cited sentenced Ronald Alvine to natural life inprison for running down West Chicago patrolman Michael Browning with a stolencar in 1992. In court, Alvine rambled erratically on a variety of topics,including offering legal critiques on the job done by his court-appointedattorneys and denying he is mentally ill. “There’s nothing crazy about me.I’ve read law books,” Alvine said at one point. Subsequent History: Alvinewas twice sentenced to death, but both sentences were overturned by theIllinois Supreme Court. Gov. George Ryan’s decision in 2003 to commute thesentences of all Death Row inmates effectively barred Alvine from beingsentenced to death a third time. Browning died April 20, 1992, while answeringa call about a burglary at a West Chicago car dealership. Speeding away fromthe dealership in a stolen Corvette, Alvine hit and killed Browning, who hadjoined the department only five months earlier. Defense attorneys have longargued that Alvine is mentally ill. At times, Alvine has claimed that Browningis still alive and that he is being framed. In 2002, he was ruled mentallyunfit to be sentenced and spent more than three years in a mental hospital,being treated for bipolar disorder.
Source Of Information: Chicago Daily Herald, August 22,2002
RecordID:3503
Date: 3/2005
Location: Boston, Suffolk, MA
Summary: Francis “Kicker” Lang,31, fatally stabbed deputy sheriff Richard Dever, 35, outside a Boston pub ashe was being ejected for causing trouble on March 19, 2005. Prior History: Langhad been released from federal prison only 22 days before he killed Dever.Court papers said Lang suffers from bipolar disorder. In 2002, Lang asked afederal judge to sentence him to a prison hospital, saying his April 29, 2001gun possession arrest stemmed from having no medication. Boston police saidLang was cruising around Charlestown with two men in a black Saab, randomlyfiring a silver pistol. He was charged with being a federal felon in possessionof ammunition and sentenced to 46 months under a plea agreement inked byfederal prosecutors. The judge recommended he serve time in a federal medicalprison. But prison officials deemed him too dangerous and sent him to ahigh-security prison.
Source Of Information: Boston Herald, March 22, 2005
RecordID:3555
Date: 3/2005
Location: Louisville, Jefferson, KY
Summary: Travis Ballard, a 17-year-oldwith a lengthy criminal and psychiatric history, shot and killed Metro PoliceOfficer Peter Grignon, then shot and killed himself in Louisville, KY. Eightdays earlier, two teenage girls had reported that Ballard fired a gun at theircar. Prosecutors in Kentucky and Indiana declined a juvenile worker’s requestthat they take Ballard into custody, saying they preferred to wait until he wascharged in the shooting case. Eight days later, on March 23, Ballard shotGrignon, then killed himself. As a young teen, Ballard was diagnosed withbipolar disorder, depression and other emotional problems, according to medicalrecords. Juvenile court records showed that, despite a history of violatingprobation, bond and home incarceration, Ballard was repeatedly allowed toremain free. Prior History: Between ages 12 and 17, Ballard was charged with 31offenses in Jefferson County and five in Indiana. In January 2003, he wasarrested on charges that he and another youth robbed and shot a teenager inJefferson County. Although he was indicted as an adult, Ballard was released byJefferson Circuit Judge Tom Wine, who said he didn’t have any information aboutBallard’s extensive juvenile history. In subsequent months, Ballard was chargedwith 16 juvenile offenses in Kentucky and two in Indiana.
Source Of Information: Lexington Herald-Leader, April11, 2005
RecordID:3586
Date: 4/2005
Location: Providence, Providence, RI
Summary: Esteban Carpio, 26, was chargedwith murder for fatally shooting Providence Police Detective Sgt. James L.Allen with the officer’s own gun in a police department conference room onApril 17, 2005. Authorities said Allen, 50, was questioning Carpio about hispossible involvement in the stabbing of an 84-year-old woman, who was expectedto recover. Carpio was not under arrest at the time and had been taken out ofhandcuffs. After the shooting, Carpio broke a window in an adjacent office andjumped out. He was captured a few blocks away, authorities said. The murdercharge carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison without parolebecause it involves the killing of an on-duty police officer. Prior History:Carpio’s family said he had been acting strangely for several weeks before theshooting, and that they had taken him to the hospital emergency room twice buthe refused treatment and was not admitted. Carpio’s girlfriend, Samein Phin,also called the community mental health center to get him help, but he killedthe detective before the scheduled appointment date. Phin said that the daybefore the shooting, Carpio hadn’t slept in three or four days, had turned onevery light in the house, and was convinced someone was trying to break in.Earlier in the month, Carpio’s mother called police and had her son taken byambulance to a hospital. He was released that night. “We were trying toget him help, and it didn’t seem to be there,” said his brother, DavidCarpio.
Source Of Information: CNN, April 19, 2005; ProvidenceJournal, April 29, 2005
RecordID:3597
Date: 8/1998
Location: Bradshaw, McDowell, WV
Summary: In August 1998, Charlie Vance ofBradshaw Mountain, WV, killed Frankie Stanton, Bradshaws police chief.According to court records, Vance rode his horse into town, drunk and high onbarbiturates. Stanton brought him to town hall and was about to release him tohis niece when he pulled a derringer from his pack and shot Stanton in thehead. Later, Vance was treated in prison for severe depression.
Source Of Information: Charleston Gazette (WV), January17, 2005
RecordID:4259
Date: 1/2005
Location: Alexandria, Alexandria, VA
Summary: Ossie LaRode stuck and killedJames Feltis on January 11, 2005, while being chased by police in a stolen car.LaRode struck a 65-year-old man and stole his car. After the carjacking, LaRodeled Alexandria Police officers on a chase toward the Pentagon. Feltis, a10-year-veteran of the Pentagon Police Department, was working a securitydetail when LaRode steered the stolen car directly at the officer. Feltis wasthrown 78 feet from the point of impact. After being struck, James Feltis clungto life for five weeks. Prior History: LaRode came to America from Trinidad in1999, living in New York with his girlfriend and their children. He becameestranged from his family as his paranoid schizophrenia became more pronounced.The troubles began when he would retreat to the basement to read thedictionary. Eventually, the voices in his head led him to drift from town totown. LaRode, 23, pleaded guilty in June to murdering Officer James Feltis, 41,and was scheduled for sentencing on September 19, 2006. Defense attorneys forLaRode called two forensic experts into the courtroom to testify that hebelieves he is a prophet sent from above who can influence the weather with hismind. Nevertheless, Judge Leonie Brinkema denied their request to send LaRodeto a prison hospital. Citing the need for justice and retribution, Brinkemasentenced LaRode to almost 32 years in federal prison. Prior History:
Source Of Information: Connection Newspapers, September22, 2006
RecordID:4296
Date: 10/2006
Location: Hoxie, Sheridan, KS
Summary: Sheridan County Sheriff James L.Johnson was shot and killed in his office on October 27, 2006 by Steven PaulReitcheck, a 36-year-old man he was interviewing, the Kansas Bureau ofInvestigation said. Reitcheck was then fatally shot by a deputy. Johnson wastalking to Reitcheck about a possible commitment to a mental health facilitywhen Reitcheck pulled a handgun and fired, KBI deputy director Kyle Smith said.
Source Of Information: AP, October 27, 2006; WichitaEagle, October 26, 2006
RecordID:1582
Date: 1/1990
Location: St. Stephen, Berkeley, SC
Summary: Carlos V. Morant was found notguilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of St. Stephen policeofficer Joshua C. Milligan. The officer had responded to a domestic call atMorant’s home in St. Stephen on January 6, 1990. After stabbing Milligan with asteak knife, Morant drove away in the officer’s patrol car. Morant was laterarrested in Andrews. South Carolina Department of Mental Health officials toldJudge Markley Dennis that Morant no longer requires in-patient care becausemedications have controlled his paranoid schizophrenia. Because of his improvedcondition, Morant will be transferred to a supervised mental health facility inSummerville, where he will receive his medications and counseling for drug andalcohol abuse.
Source Of Information: The Post and Courier (Charleston,SC), September 18, 2002
RecordID:1769
Date: 8/2002
Location: Adelphi, Prince George’s, MD
Summary: On August 29, 2002, James Logan,then 23, shot and killed two sheriff’s deputies, Elizabeth Magruder, 30, andCpl. James V. Arnaud, 53 in Adelphi, MD when they came to his home andattempted to take him for an emergency psychiatric evaluation. Logan’s motherhad tried to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital that month becauseshe thought he was exhibiting signs of paranoid schizophrenia. But because hehad not done anything dangerous, he was never hospitalized. The day before theshootings, Logan’s mother had called the police to report Logan’s aggressivebehavior, but the responding officers didn’t witness any dangerous behavior andleft. As a result of this incident, a new Maryland state law was designed tomake it easier for families and friends to get help for people suffering fromsevere mental illness, mental health advocates said. Subsequent History: OnNovember 10, 2003, Logan was found guilty of second-degree murder and of usinga handgun in commission of a felony, sparing him the death penalty. Instead,Logan faced up to 100 years in prison. At trial, Logan pleaded not guilty. Hisattorneys mounted an insanity defense. But prosecutors claimed Logan’s mentalhealth problems were due to his use of marijuana and cocaine. On September 7,2005, the Court of Special Appeals ordered a new trial, ruling that the judgewho presided over Logan’s first trial did not adequately question potentialjurors to determine their suitability. Defense attorney Fred Bennett, whodefended Logan and sought his initial appeal, said that prosecutors’ failure tohave the county’s psychiatrist correctly diagnose Logan’s paranoidschizophrenia in his murder trial was critical in the case. Bennett said Loganwill plead insanity in a new trial. Subsequent History: In September 2006,James Logan who was convicted of killing two Prince Georges County sheriffsdeputies was granted a new trial. In 2003, a jury found James Logan guilty ofsecond-degree murder in the deaths of Elizabeth Magruder and James Arnaud.During his trial, his attorney said he shouldnt be held criminally responsiblebecause he was schizophrenic. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled lastyear that Logan should have a new trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals agreedin part, based on what the States Attorney describes as a technicalityinvolving the interrogation of the defendant. Subsequent History: On June 15,2007, James Ramiah Logans retrial ended with a hung jury, after the groupdeliberated for two days. Logan, 28, was on trial for the second time in nearlyfour years, for killing deputies James Arnaud and Elizabeth Magruder on August29, 2002. He was originally convicted on two counts of second-degree murder in2003, and sentenced to 100 years imprisonment, but the Maryland Court ofAppeals ordered a retrial, ruling that the court erred in jury selection.There will be a retrial, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for county StatesAttorney Glenn F. Ivey, after the jury returned afternoon without a verdict. Hesaid a retrial could be scheduled in three to four months. During closingarguments June 14, defense attorneys did not dispute that Logan committed thecrimes. They asked the jury to find that Logan was not criminally responsiblefor his actions, claiming that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
Source Of Information: The Baltimore Sun, 2/26/03; TheWashington Post July 29, 2003; Montgomery County Gazette, 10/8/03, 6/18/07;Wash. Post, 10/28/03;The Baltimore Sun, 11/10/03; Wash. Post, 11/11/03; WJZ-TV,9/8/05; DC Examiner, 9/7/05; WUSA Channel 9, 9/8/06
RecordID:1795
Date: 12/1984
Location: Seattle, King, WA
Summary: A mentally ill man who killed aSeattle police officer in 1984 will not be released from prison as planned, butwill for now remain confined at a state mental hospital. Michael Trott, now 51,killed Officer Nick Davis on December 18, 1984, after the officer confrontedhim for skipping out on a $4.55 restaurant bill. The two struggled, and Trottmanaged to get Davis’ gun and fire it. A jury found Trott guilty ofsecond-degree murder. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. With time off forgood behavior, he was set to be released March 3, 2003. However, the stateDepartment of Corrections had been trying to find a way to ensure that Trottcontinues to get mental health treatment and medications. He was diagnosedyears ago with paranoid schizophrenia and was deemed a “dangerouslymentally ill offender”. A Corrections Department spokeswoman would sayonly that Trott was sent to a state mental hospital and would not be returningto prison. Under state law, those who are deemed a danger to themselves orothers, or are gravely disabled, can be confined and treated even after they’vefinished serving their sentences.
Source Of Information: Seattle Post Intelligencer, March7, 2003
RecordID:1966
Date: 5/2003
Location: La Quinta, Riverside, CA
Summary: Kevin W. Diabo, who is accused ofkilling Riverside County Sheriffs Deputy Bruce Lee, was fatally shot by DeputyRobert Burbach on May 13, 2003. Three phone calls to 911 were made that morningfrom the La Quinta home where Diabos parents lived. His mother made two of thecalls. She asked police to come and remove her son who suffered fromschizophrenia. Diabo made one of the calls, telling the dispatcher that policeassistance was unnecessary. According to sheriffs department reports, Lee andDiabo got into a physical confrontation as the deputy was attempting to arrestDiabo. Lee was knocked down, and then was struck repeatedly in the head withhis own baton. Burbach arrived a few minutes later, saw Lee on the floorthrough the open front door and yelled to him but got no response. Diabo thencame out the front door, swinging the baton in a threatening manner at thebackup deputy. After ordering Diabo to put down the baton, Burbach drew hisweapon and fired two rounds, striking Diabo in the chest. Diabo had a historyof bizarre behavior and criminal charges, including battery on a policeofficer, resisting arrest and misdemeanor hit-and-run. He was on probation atthe time of his death.
Source Of Information: The Desert Sun, June 4, 2003 ThePress-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), May 14, 2003
RecordID:1975
Date: 6/2000
Location: Flagstaff, Coconino, AZ
Summary: Eric Clark was convicted offirst-degree murder for the June 21, 2000, shooting death of Flagstaff policeofficer Jeff Moritz, who was shot while making a traffic stop. He was sentencedto life in prison with the possibility for parole in 25 years. Superior CourtJudge H. Jeffrey Coker rejected Clark’s insanity plea, stating that the illnesswasn’t so severe that Clark didn’t know the difference between right and wrong.Clark’s attorney, Bryon Middlebrook, contended that Clark, who was 17 at thetime of the shooting, should have been found guilty but insane because of hisdiagnosis of schizophrenia. Clark waived his right to trial by jury, but thedefense’s experts testified Clark was incompetent because he suffered fromschizophrenia. Judge Coker determined him incompetent to stand trial in March2001 and sent him to Arizona State Hospital to restore his competency. Thedefense contended Clark was delusional when he shot Moritz, but the prosecutionsaid evidence suggested Clark deliberately ambushed the police officer. Clarkclaims to not have killed Moritz and refused to assist in his own defense. Attrial, Clark’s family testified that he had been exhibiting symptoms of severeparanoia for years before the shooting, and that they had been unable to accesslong-term treatment for him, despite many attempts. Subsequent History: Clarkwas sent to prison on October 3, 2003, for a minimum of 25 years. Once inprison, Clark refused his psychiatric medications. Prison staff had to waituntil he decompensated before a hearing in front of the Psychotropic MedicationReview Board was conducted in October 2004 to legally force Clark to take hismedication. Clark’s mental state improved on the medication. The board canreview his status every six months to determine if forced medication continuesto be necessary. In February 2005, the Court of Appeals upheld Clark’sconviction. His attorney then requested the Arizona Supreme Court hear the casein an attempt to get Clark out of prison and into the state mental hospital.Subsequent History: In June 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona’slaw on the insanity defense is not too restrictive in limiting evidencedefendants can present at trial. By a 6-3 vote, justices affirmed the murderconviction of Eric Clark, who thought he was being pursued by space aliens whenhe killed an Arizona police officer. Clark, a paranoid schizophrenic who was ateenager at the time, is serving 25 years to life in prison. Under Arizona’slaw, defendants “may be found guilty except insane” if they provethey were so mentally ill that they did not know what they did was wrong. Manyother states also allow insanity findings for defendants who can show they didnot understand the nature of their criminal acts. Critics had said thatArizona’s standard for proving insanity is almost impossible to meet, violatingthe constitutional rights of mentally ill defendants. Writing for the majority,Justice David Souter disagreed. “Arizona’s rule serves to preserve thestate’s chosen standard for recognizing insanity as a defense and to avoidconfusion and misunderstanding on the part of jurors,” he wrote. Soutersaid the state can limit psychiatric testimony to avoid such confusion, giventhe often dueling opinions of experts and inability of anyone to truly knowwhat is in someone else’s mind. But Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said in adissent that restricting expert testimony deprived jurors of evidence theyneeded to “make sense” of Clark’s claims of mental illness. “Insum, the rule forces the jury to decide guilt in a fictional world with undefinedand unexplained behaviors,” Kennedy wrote on behalf of himself andjustices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It was the first time thecourt has dealt with a direct constitutional challenge to insanity defense lawssince lawmakers nationwide imposed new restrictions following John Hinckley’sacquittal by reason of insanity in the March 1981 shooting of President Reagan.Clark had a trial before a judge in which he was found guilty of first-degreemurder. Part of Clark’s appeal turned on whether the judge should haveconsidered mental illness in weighing whether Clark intentionally killed theofficer. Before Clark started acting bizarrely the year before the killing, hewas a standout football player and popular student. He began obsessing aboutthe millennium, and ran up his parents’ credit cards buying survival supplies.He became convinced that aliens had taken over his town and that his ownparents were aliens. Subsequent History: On March 15, 2007, Coconino CountySuperior Court Judge Dan Slayton rejected Eric Clarks argument that the lawyerwho represented him at his 2003 trial provided an insufficient legal defense.
Source Of Information: Arizona Daily Sun – 6/16/03,8/6/03, 8/9/03, 8/21/03, 8/23/03, 10/2/03, 10/3/03, 2/27/05; The ArizonaRepublic – 9/4/03, 10/3/03, 6/30/06; Arizona Daily Herald – 2/27/05; WashingtonPost, 6/30/06; Reuters, 6/30/06; New York Times, 6/30/06; UPI, 6/30/06
RecordID:1992
Date: 6/2003
Location: Encanto, San Diego, CA
Summary: Kevin Gerard Williams, then 37,was charged with murder after running over and killing San Diego motorcycleofficer Terry Bennett on June 26, 2003 in Encanto, CA. Williams, who washomeless, was driving a stolen truck at the time and was attempting to avoidarrest. Williams initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and was heldwithout bail. On October 1, 2003, he was found mentally incompetent to standtrial and sent to a state mental hospital. Three psychiatrists who examinedWilliams each concluded he was so mentally ill he couldn’t fully comprehend thecharges against him, assist in his defense and understand the nature of thecourt proceedings. The incompetency ruling halted all criminal proceedingsagainst Williams for up to three years. If doctors at Patton State Hospital inSan Bernardino determine his competency has been restored, Williams will returnto court and the criminal case against him will resume, attorneys said. Hecould face the death penalty if convicted. If, after three years, doctors findhe is not competent, Williams could be placed under a conservatorship and sentto a state hospital under a civil committment. Williams also has a history ofsubstance abuse, and told police that he had smoked marijuana laced withmethamphetamine the day of the incident. Subsequent History: On March 14, 2005,Williams was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He had pleaded guiltyto second-degree murder on February 7, 2005 to avoid a possible death penaltysentence. Williams had previously entered a plea of innocent by reason ofinsanity. Williams mental capacity is estimated to be that of a 12-year-old.Prior History: Court records show that Williams had six previous felonyconvictions and nine misdemeanor convictions, and he has served three prisonterms. He has been institutionalized at least twice, the first time at age 13,when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, psychosis and mild mentalretardation. In March 2003, Williams was taken to the emergency unit when hewent to the North Gate at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station and told guards hewas hearing voices, had aliens inside him and could “smell evil andelectricity.” He was released after less than a day. On June 21, five daysbefore he ran down Bennett, Williams was arrested at Lindbergh Field aftertrying to walk past the ticket counter security area and board a flight withouta ticket. When arrested, he told police he was God and said, “Let me onthe street and I’m going to kill people”. He was taken to the countyemergency psychiatric unit and held overnight, but released the next morning.Court records show he is also a longtime drug and alcohol abuser.
Source Of Information: Copley News Service, 6/28/03; SanDiego Union-Tribune, 9/12/03 & 10/1/03; City News Service, 9/11/03 &10/1/03; City News Service, 6/30,10/25,10/28/04; San Diego Union-Tribune, 8/8,9/27/04; San Diego Union Tribune, 2/9/05; KTLA-TV, 3/15/05
RecordID:2015
Date: 7/2003
Location: , Wilson, TN
Summary: Fallon Tallent, 21, faces apossible death sentence if found guilty of killing two Wilson County,Tennessee, police officers. Tallents grandmother, Cleva Carroll, said thatseveral years ago Tallent was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Carroll said hergranddaughters mental illness has been exacerbated by drug use. Tallent wascharged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Mt. Juliet Police Sgt. JerryMundy and Wilson County Deputy Sheriff John Musice. The two were killed July 9,2003, while trying to stop a reportedly stolen Mercedes-Benz that had ledpolice on a chase at speeds of more than 100 mph. Police say Tallent wasdriving the Mercedes when it slammed into the police car. Carroll said she hadprayed that Tallent would someday receive a significant jail sentence so thatshe could get psychological help.
Source Of Information: The Tennessean, July 15, 2003
RecordID:2032
Date: 3/2002
Location: Toulon, Stark, IL
Summary: Curtis Thompson, 61, shot andkilled a sheriff’s deputy on March 22, 2002, when Stark County Sheriffs DeputyAdam Streicher attempted to arrest him on an old warrant at his home in Toulon,IL. After shooting the officer, Thompson then went to the nearby home of Jamesand Janet Giesenhagen and shot and killed them as well. Moments later and twoblocks away, Thompson himself was shot in a gun fight with deputies who hadresponded to emergency calls. Thompson, who was on probation for an assaultconviction involving a friend of James Geisenhagens, was charged with multiplecounts of murder and other charges stemming from the three shotgun slayings. Attrial, Dr. John Day testified that Thompson suffered for much of his life froma delusionary disorder and paranoid suspicions that the whole town of Toulonhas been out to get him. “He sees the entire community as beingadversarial,” Day said. “There are key people in that system. TheGiesenhagens were among those key people.” “My father would alwayssay that Curt would kill someone someday,” one resident said. “Anypoliceman who knew him knew he had the capability of doing this,” saidanother man familiar with Thompson. “One of his favorite pastimes wasgoing around, intimidating people.” Said a third: “This whole townknew he was crazy enough to do this.” He was sentenced to death.
Source Of Information: Copley News Service, July 25,2003 Copley News Service July 29, 2003
RecordID:2109
Date: 10/2002
Location: Ferris, Ellis, TX
Summary: On October 6, 2002, Kent WilliamSprouse, then 30, shot and killed police officer Harry Marvin Steinfeldt IIIand an innocent bystander in Ferris, Texas, and was indicted on two charges ofcapital murder. A forensic psychiatrist for the defense testified that, duringthe shooting, Sprouse was “psychotic” and “out of contact withreality He believes he is God and that there are conspiracies to killhim.” Although no definitive diagnosis was made, the doctor believesSprouse is most likely schizophrenic, or has organic brain damage due toseveral years of drug use. A psychiatrist for the state disputes thisdiagnosis, and instead gave Sprouse a diagnosis of substance-induced psychoticdisorder in remission. A family friend testified at trial that she found Sprouseagitated and paranoid while visiting the Sprouses in April 2002. I said, Heneeds help. Hes mentally ill, Stella Gayler said, noting Sprouse washospitalized for the second time after she returned home. They were going tocourt after I left to get him committed. Sprouses mother, Cojean Sprouse,also testified. She said she tried to get her son help but was told bycounselors that he had to hit bottom”. If convicted, Sprouse could facethe death penalty or a capital life sentence of which he would have to serve atleast 40 years before becoming eligible for parole. Sprouse remains in custodyon $5 million bond on each of the two capital murder charges.
Source Of Information: Waxahachie Daily Light, September10, 2003 Waxahachie Daily Light, February 22, 2004
RecordID:2179
Date: /1981
Location: Nashville, Davidson, TN
Summary: Richard Taylor, a man with mentalillness, killed 21-year-old prison guard Ronald Moore in 1981 by repeatedly stabbinghim with a homemade knife while serving time at Turney Center prison inTennessee on robbery and joyriding charges. In October 2003, he was convictedand sentenced to die for the second time, after his initial conviction anddeath sentence was overturned and a second trial was ordered. Although Taylor,now 43, was a patient at Deberry Special Needs psychiatric facility prior tothe murder and a diagnosed schizophrenic, he was not allowed to enter aninsanity defense in his first trial, despite the fact that he was unmedicatedat the time of the murder. He was ruled competent and convicted of capitalmurder in 1984. In 1997, however, a judge threw out the original conviction andruled Taylor was entitled to a new trial, though ineligible based on hisincompetency. Taylor was then committed to the Middle Tennessee Mental HealthInstitute (MTMHI). In July, 2003, Williamson County Judge Russ Heldman ruledTaylor competent and ordered the retrial. Heldman also granted Taylor’s requestto represent himself at trial. In a report issued in early 2003, a psychiatristaffirmed Taylors previous diagnoses of schizophrenia, saying Taylor sufferedfrom delusions and other traits associated with borderline personalitydisorder. But recent rulings by mental health officials at MTMHI claimed thatTaylors treatment with anti-psychotic medication has been successful. Taylorhad also asked that his execution be carried out. A conservator who wasappointed for Taylor made a request during the second trial that Taylors medicationsbe stopped, but the court superseded this action. Taylor’s attorneys maintainthat they do not believe he understands his conviction and sentencing.
Source Of Information: Nashville City Paper, October 13,2003 Nashville City Paper, October 15, 2003 Nashville City Paper, October 16,2003 The Tennessean, October 17, 2003
RecordID:2210
Date: 5/2002
Location: Chattanooga, Hamilton, TN
Summary: Isaac Eugene Jones III was chargedwith capital murder and denied bond for the May 6, 2002 shooting death ofChattanooga, TN, police officer Julie Jacks. Jones, a former college student,had just fled a hospital where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation aftercausing a disturbance at a campus library when he encountered Jacks. Defenselawyers argued that Jones was unarmed and suffering from a psychologicalbreakdown before the confrontation with Jacks, and that he should be chargedwith second-degree murder. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. Defenselawyers called medical social worker, who testified that Jones had symptoms ofschizophrenia for much of his life, and that he was showing increasing symptomsduring the 24 hours leading up to the incident. Hamilton County Criminal CourtJudge Doug Meyer said Jones was found competent to stand trial despite hisapparent mental illness. Subsequent History: A Nashville jury brought in toChattanooga to hear Jones’ case convicted Jones of second-degree murder on June17, 2005. He was on August 15, 2005 to 25 years in prison with no parole.Prosecutors argued he was faking mental illness and had said they would seek adeath sentence if Jones were convicted of first-degree murder. Dr. PamelaAuble, a psychologist testifying on Jones’ behalf, said she diagnosed Joneswith schizophrenia based on medical and police records, along with her ownobservations and Jones’ family history. Barbara Hobson, a case manager whoexamined Jones in the Hamilton County Jail, said Jones frequently stripped offhis clothes, bathed his head in the cell’s toilet and smeared feces on his bodyand head hair. She said Jones told her he wasn’t wearing clothes because”it made him invisible.” Prior History: Jones had a juvenile criminalrecord that included charges of auto theft when he was 14 years old and a laterweapons violation.
Source Of Information: Chattanooga Times Free Press,October 28, 2003; April 6 & 12, 2004; Chattanooga Chattanoogan, June 11,2005; WTVC-TV, June 11, 2005; Douglas County Bank News, June 21, 2005;Chattanooga Times Free Press, August 16, 2005
RecordID:2301
Date: 1/2004
Location: Athens, Limestone, AL
Summary: On January 2, 2004, Farron ClarkBarksdale, 29, killed Athens, AL police Sgt. Larry Wayne Russell, 42, andOfficer Tony Mims, 40. Barksdale shot the officers when they arrived in thedriveway of his mother’s house. Later, Officer Doug Duren handcuffed Barksdaleand read him his rights. During Barksdales trial, Duren testified thatBarksdale was calm and told him, “I shot them myself” and that he”threw the gun down by the cop.” Barksdale had called police twicethat day and asked dispatchers to send FBI agents or police officers to hismother’s house. Barksdale has paranoid schizophrenia and had been involuntarilycommitted to mental hospitals in the past. He was off his medication at thetime of the incident. Subsequent History: In August 2007, Barksdale pleadedguilty to five counts of capital murder and two counts of shooting into anoccupied vehicle for the deaths of officer Tony Mims and Sgt. Larry Russell.The defense said Barksdale has paranoid schizophrenia and also abused drugs. Ajury validated his guilty plea on August 6, 2007. He was sentenced to life inprison without parole. Subsequent History: On August 20, 2007, Farron Barksdaledied mysteriously after being incarcerated at Kilby Correctional Facility.Barksdale died 12 days after being transferred from the Limestone County Jailto Kilby, in Mount Meigs near Montgomery. An autopsy found that the 32-year-olddied of “complications of bronchopneumonia, with contributory factors ofhyperthermia and coagulopathy.” Coagulopathy is a blood-clotting disorder,hyperthermia is an abnormally elevated body temperature, and bronchopneumoniais a type of pneumonia. At the time of his death, authorities deniedallegations that Barksdale, who was imprisoned for the ambush killing of twopolice officers, had been beaten. Subsequent History: On June 6, 2008, MaryBarksdale, Farron Barksdales mother, sued Alabama prison officials, claimingher son died because he was left in a hot cell after being prescribed drugsthat made him susceptible to heat. In a civil rights lawsuit filed in U.S.District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Mary Barksdale claims prisonpsychiatrist Dr. Joseph McGinn prescribed drugs for her son’s psychologicalcondition including Navane, Cogentin and Triavil, all of which “createheat-intolerance in the human body.” Farron Barksdale had been diagnosedas schizophrenic, but had been treated without drugs at Limestone. On the dayof Barksdale’s death, the suit claims, the temperature in Montgomery reached106 degrees. The prison is not air conditioned. Prior History: Court recordsreveal Barksdale was a tormented man convinced that police, the government,gangsters and others were directing microwaves at his brain; a man who torecable out of his mother’s home because of his belief “they” wereusing the wires and television to tap into his brain. At the request ofBarksdale’s mother, Probate Judge Mike Davis had committed Barksdale to mentalinstitutions five times. The first commitment was in September 2001. The latestwas in June 2003. Each time, Barksdale’s medical diagnosis was paranoidschizophrenia. Municipal court records also document several times that policewent to Barksdale’s home. He told his mother “that he has wanted off thisplanet since the age of 13 years and that he did not want to have to killanother person to accomplish this task.” A family member said, “he’sheard voices since he was 10 and we always referred to it as devils.”‘Barksdale was able to pass a background check and purchase a rifle andammunition because his commitments didn’t show up in the federal database andbecause he did not admit his mental disability on a form provided by the gundealer. Subsequent History: In December 2008, the Alabama Department ofCorrections reopened its investigation into the death of inmate FarronBarksdale after a fellow inmate claimed he saw correctional officers beatinghim. Prison system spokesman Brian Corbett said that department investigatorswere looking into the claims and that Commissioner Richard Allen asked theAlabama Bureau of Investigations to reopen their case as well. J.D. Bennett,who is currently serving a life sentence at Holman prison, wrote an October 24letter to Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eugene Reese, saying he was at Kilbyand saw four correctional officers beat Barksdale severely. Bennett said thefour officers first beat Barksdale in an obscure group of cells, then continuedthe assault as they took him down a main hall and put him in the cell where hewas found. Subsequent History: In September 2009, a wrongful death lawsuitfiled by Mary Barksdale was settled with the state Department of Correctionsfor $750,000. Mary Barksdale was represented by Sarah Geraghty, an attorney forthe Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, and Huntsville attorneyJake Watson. The suit alleged that inmate Farron Barksdale, who suffered fromschizophrenia, died because of “the deliberate indifference, medicalneglect and negligence” of the prison staff. “Mr. Barksdale wasmedicated with an unusually large dose of psychotropic medications that madehis body unable to withstand high temperatures, confined to an isolation cellwith a medically dangerous degree of heat and left there without adequatemonitoring,” the complaint said. “He fell into a coma and died.”Subsequent History: In November 2009, the Department of Corrections announcedthat it would make available for viewing by the media all prison recordsconcerning the death of Farron Barksdale. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled inSeptember 2009, following a two-year court battle, that the DOC must makepublic incident reports and other records relating to the death. DOC spokesmanBrian Corbett said that the 795 pages in the records were mailed to SouthernCenter for Human Rights attorneys and Jake Watson, the attorney representingFarron Barksdales mother, Mary Barksdale, on November 20. Although an autopsydetermined Barksdale died of hyperthermia after he was left in a single-inmatecell when temperatures reached 100-plus degrees and that drug therapyexacerbated his condition, bruising on his body was unexplained. SarahGeraghty, an SCHR attorney, said Monday she was disappointed that in the entire795 pages there was no explanation for the bruising on Barksdales body. It isnow clear that Mr. Barksdale died of hyperthermia after being highly medicatedwith anti-psychotic drugs during a heat wave and unmonitored in a cell that wasnot air-conditioned, said Geraghty. But that still doesnt explain thebruising. Photographs of Mr. Barksdale show extensive bruising. EMTs foundmassive bruises the size of salad plates that had been newly sustained. Itmakes it clear that he did not have the bruises when he entered the prison, buthe had them before he died. The Department of Corrections went through themotions, but was ultimately content to draw no conclusions about how Mr.Barksdale sustained the bruising to his body.
Source Of Information: The Associated Press, 1/5/04,1/12/04, 1/25/04, 6/3/04;The Decatur Daily (AL), 1/9/04, 1/12/04, 2/7/07,8/7/07, 8/13/07, 8/14/07, 8/15/07, 8/16/07, 8/21/07, 8/22/07, 8/23/07, 8/28/07,9/21/07; News Courier (AL), 1/12/04, 1/26/04
RecordID:2328
Date: 12/2003
Location: Mishawaka, Saint Joseph, IN
Summary: Raymond Matthew Gilkeson, 30,shot and killed two Mishawaka officers as they attempted to arrest him. Policeshot him four times during the confrontation, but he was killed by a shot tothe head from his own gun. Gilkeson’s mother said that her son had beendiagnosed as bipolar, but he refused to take his medication and he drankalcohol. Cpl. Thomas Roberts and Patrolman Bryan S. Verkler were the firstMishawaka police officers to die in the line of duty in more than 70 years.Prior history: Gilkeson’s criminal history goes back nearly 10 years andincludes prison time in California. His record has several violent and drugoffenses and crimes against police officers. The week before the murders, hewas convicted of a misdemeanor battery charge after a jury trial for assaultinga man in December 2002. He was scheduled for trial in April 2004 for assaultingtwo other people.
Source Of Information: South Bend Tribune, December 16,2003
RecordID:681
Date: 7/1999
Location: , Cobb, GA
Summary: Greg Smith, 40, a man sufferingfrom mental illness, barricaded himself in his home with his mother aftergetting into an altercation with neighbors, then shooting and wounding a policeofficer who attempted to pat him down for weapons. During the standoff, twoSWAT team police officers were shot and killed by Smith as they attempted toenter the home. The team then used tear gas to dislodge Smith, who waseventually shot to death by police.
Source Of Information: Atlanta Journal and Constitution,August 27, 1999, p. 4C Atlanta Journal and Constitution, August 30, 1999
RecordID:814
Date: 4/1975
Location: Mount Holly, Burlington, NJ
Summary: In New Jersey, James Carhart wasfound not guilty by reason of insanity in the sniper killing of Mount Hollypolice officer Donald Aleshire and Hainesport policeman William Wurtz on GoodFriday 1975 after he barricaded himself at his home. Mount Holly officer JohnHolmes was also seriously injured during the three-hour stand-off and died in1992. Carhart has been held at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital ever since and hasbeen diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Superior Court Judge MarvinSchlosser had previously granted Carhart’s request to be taken out of Ancoraevery six weeks or so and escorted to visit his sick mother, infuriatingmembers of the law enforcement community. However, in a November 2003 closedhearing, Schlosser ruled that Carhart, now 51, was still a danger to himselfand society after learning that Ancora staff had discovered Carhart with a toolbox containing a screwdriver in April, and with a letter opener in September.He could not explain how he obtained them or where they came from, Brennansaid. Based on the assessment of Ancora psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Liberatore,Carhart was returned to the lowest privilege level, at least temporarily,although his privileges could be returned at a later time. Carhart wasdescribed as a cooperative patient who takes his medication. SubsequentHistory: In March 2008, a state appeals court ruled that James Carhart, 55, wasstill “mentally ill, a danger to himself and others and is still in needof continued hospitalization.” The ruling upholds a November 30, 2006,decision by Superior Court Judge Thomas Smith Jr., who concluded that hospitalrule violations by Carhart precluded him from leaving the grounds or gettingmore privileges while there. Carhart appealed that decision. At that hearingthe patient’s own doctors testified he should not be released because he had beenfound in possession of a razor-like instrument and gave a friend keys to partof the facility. They also testified he was still mentally impaired fromschizophrenia despite medication and had thoughts that were inconsistent withreality.
Source Of Information: Cherry Hill Courier-Post,11/8/03; Vineland Daily Journal, 3/27/08
RecordID:1211
Date: 2/2001
Location: Jennings, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA
Summary: On February 5, 2000, Phil Karam,a former police officer, allegedly shot to death two of his longtime friends,and an officer responding to a 911 call from the house. Karam, a Vietnamveteran, has a history of mental problems and alcohol abuse. He has pled notguilty by reason of insanity to three charges of first-degree murder forkilling Kenny Guidry, 48; Christine Guidry, 32; and Jennings police OfficerBurt LeBlanc, 30. Two other responding officers also were shot but not killedin the incident. Karam surrendered after a 2-hour standoff. The jury rejectedKaram’s insanity defense and convicted him of killing the three people. Thesame jurors prescribed three consecutive life sentences the next day afterreporting they could not unanimously recommend the death sentence thatprosecutors wanted.
Source Of Information: The Advocate – August 1, 2001 TheAdvocate – August 18, 2001
RecordID:1259
Date: 3/2000
Location: Memphis, Shelby, TN
Summary: On March 8, 2000, FrederickWilliams shot and killed his 32-year-old wife, set their Memphis, TN house onfire, then ambushed a deputy and two firefighters as they responded toemergency 911 calls, killing all three. He was then shot four times by police officersand sheriff’s deputies, but survived. He was charged with four counts offirst-degree murder and one count each of attempted murder and aggravatedarson. Williams had received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and was takingmedication. Subsequent History: Williams was in criminal court in September2005. His attorneys tried to prove that he is mentally incompetent to standtrial. In court, Williams says a spirit visited him the year of the murders,telling him that was the “grand Mufdi of Israel.” Williams has beenin a mental hospital since 2002. He claimed the New World Order had been spyingon him, through an implanted Micro chip, the food he eats, even the paint onhis cell walls. Williams also accused a sheriff’s deputy of placing a tennisball inside him. On the stand Williams seemed nervous and confused andcontradictory, but was certain when he said he should not be found guilty.”Because the things that I did I was not in control of,” Williamssaid. Prosecutors said with treatment and medication, Williams improved enoughto participate in his own defense. Testimony continues tomorrow morning.
Source Of Information: The Commercial Appeal (Memphis,TN), March 12, 2000; Memphis WMC – September 13, 2005
RecordID:1490
Date: 3/2000
Location: , East Feliciana, LA
Summary: A state district judge ruled thatFrank Bernath, 56, who is accused of murdering a sheriff’s deputy, is notmentally competent to assist in his trial defense and will be moved from theEast Feliciana Parish Jail to the Feliciana Forensic Facility, a state hospitalfor the criminally insane near Jackson. Police said Bernath was stalking hisex-girlfriend and her new husband when he rammed their car with his vehicle onMarch 16, 2000. Sgt. Nolan Williamson, along with another deputy and a Clintonpolice officer, were unaware the collision was more than a routine trafficaccident until Bernath shot Williamson in the neck at close range. The Clintonofficer returned fire, seriously wounding Bernath. Williamson later died. Two psychiatristswho examined Bernath in June and July said in a written report that Bernathsuffers from clinical depression “of a severe level,” has difficultyfocusing on complex, content-related questions and appears to have genuineemotional grief.
Source Of Information: The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA),August 25, 2000
RecordID:4319
Date: 9/1995
Location: Nashville, Davidson, TN
Summary: On September 22, 1995, DavidsonCounty Sheriffs Deputy Jerry Newson Jr. was killed and Deputy Johnnie Spears wasseverely injured when Richard Arriola, a mentally ill man, opened fire with asemi-automatic pistol and later a shotgun on the two officers who wereexecuting an eviction notice. Subsequent History: On November 28, 2006, Arriolawas found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, aswell as two counts of attempted second-degree murder for additional shots hefired at Metro police officers. The first-degree murder conviction carries withit an automatic life sentence. Tennessee does not allow for a judge or a juryto find a defendant guilty but mentally ill, so Arriola will have to serve thatsentence in a state correctional facility as opposed to a mental hospital. Hisdefense team, led by Davidson County Public Defender Ross Alderman, had askedCriminal Court Judge Monte Watkins to find Arriola not guilty by reason ofinsanity. As a result of his mental illness, Arriola had spent the last 10years confined to a mental hospital after his doctors and a judge agreed he wasnot mentally competent to stand trial for the shootings. In June 2005, a decadeafter he last appeared before a judge, Arriolas psychiatrists at the MiddleTennessee Mental Health Institute said that treatment, as well as a new type ofantipsychotic medication, Seroquel, had helped Arriola regain his legalcompetency. The four experts in forensic psychiatry who testified aboutArriolas mental state maintained that Arriola remained a very ill man, andthey doubted that when he opened fire on law enforcement officers he fullyunderstood the wrongfulness of his actions. Since 1988, when Arriola was firstdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, he has been increasingly unable tofunction in the world around him, his doctors testified during the tiral. Hebegan to suffer from several kinds of delusions of grandeur, said Dr. RokeyaFarooque, who worked on Arriolas case since 1996. Those delusions led Arriolato believe that he was going to become the next pope, that certain governmentagents were out to get him while others, including CIA agents, would ultimatelysave him, and that he was in constant danger of infection by computer virusesthat possessed the ability to jump from computers to humans and ultimately ontohim, multiple experts said. Watkins ultimately agreed that the defense hadproven that Arriola was mentally ill, but rejected their claim that Arriolaunderstood neither the nature nor the wrongfulness of his actions and foundArriola guilty. According to Watkins, the defense failed to meet its burden ofproving that Arriolas mental state prevented him from understanding the natureof his actions.
Source Of Information: Nashville City Paper, November29, 2006
RecordID:681
Date: 7/1999
Location: , Cobb, GA
Summary: Greg Smith, 40, a man sufferingfrom mental illness, barricaded himself in his home with his mother aftergetting into an altercation with neighbors, then shooting and wounding a policeofficer who attempted to pat him down for weapons. During the standoff, twoSWAT team police officers were shot and killed by Smith as they attempted toenter the home. The team then used tear gas to dislodge Smith, who waseventually shot to death by police.
Source Of Information: Atlanta Journal and Constitution,August 27, 1999, p. 4C Atlanta Journal and Constitution, August 30, 1999
RecordID:1769
Date: 8/2002
Location: Adelphi, Prince George’s, MD
Summary: On August 29, 2002, James Logan,then 23, shot and killed two sheriff’s deputies, Elizabeth Magruder, 30, andCpl. James V. Arnaud, 53 in Adelphi, MD when they came to his home andattempted to take him for an emergency psychiatric evaluation. Logan’s motherhad tried to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital that month becauseshe thought he was exhibiting signs of paranoid schizophrenia. But because hehad not done anything dangerous, he was never hospitalized. The day before theshootings, Logan’s mother had called the police to report Logan’s aggressivebehavior, but the responding officers didn’t witness any dangerous behavior andleft. As a result of this incident, a new Maryland state law was designed tomake it easier for families and friends to get help for people suffering fromsevere mental illness, mental health advocates said. Subsequent History: OnNovember 10, 2003, Logan was found guilty of second-degree murder and of usinga handgun in commission of a felony, sparing him the death penalty. Instead,Logan faced up to 100 years in prison. At trial, Logan pleaded not guilty. Hisattorneys mounted an insanity defense. But prosecutors claimed Logan’s mentalhealth problems were due to his use of marijuana and cocaine. On September 7,2005, the Court of Special Appeals ordered a new trial, ruling that the judgewho presided over Logan’s first trial did not adequately question potentialjurors to determine their suitability. Defense attorney Fred Bennett, whodefended Logan and sought his initial appeal, said that prosecutors’ failure tohave the county’s psychiatrist correctly diagnose Logan’s paranoidschizophrenia in his murder trial was critical in the case. Bennett said Loganwill plead insanity in a new trial. Subsequent History: In September 2006,James Logan who was convicted of killing two Prince Georges County sheriffsdeputies was granted a new trial. In 2003, a jury found James Logan guilty ofsecond-degree murder in the deaths of Elizabeth Magruder and James Arnaud.During his trial, his attorney said he shouldnt be held criminally responsiblebecause he was schizophrenic. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled lastyear that Logan should have a new trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals agreedin part, based on what the States Attorney describes as a technicalityinvolving the interrogation of the defendant. Subsequent History: On June 15,2007, James Ramiah Logans retrial ended with a hung jury, after the groupdeliberated for two days. Logan, 28, was on trial for the second time in nearlyfour years, for killing deputies James Arnaud and Elizabeth Magruder on August29, 2002. He was originally convicted on two counts of second-degree murder in2003, and sentenced to 100 years imprisonment, but the Maryland Court ofAppeals ordered a retrial, ruling that the court erred in jury selection.There will be a retrial, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for county StatesAttorney Glenn F. Ivey, after the jury returned afternoon without a verdict. Hesaid a retrial could be scheduled in three to four months. During closingarguments June 14, defense attorneys did not dispute that Logan committed thecrimes. They asked the jury to find that Logan was not criminally responsiblefor his actions, claiming that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
Source Of Information: The Baltimore Sun, 2/26/03; TheWashington Post July 29, 2003; Montgomery County Gazette, 10/8/03, 6/18/07;Wash. Post, 10/28/03;The Baltimore Sun, 11/10/03; Wash. Post, 11/11/03; WJZ-TV,9/8/05; DC Examiner, 9/7/05; WUSA Channel 9, 9/8/06
RecordID:1405
Date: 7/2001
Location: Stirling City, Butte, CA
Summary: Two sheriff’s deputies who wentto a remote mountain cabin to question Richard Gerald Bracklow, 46, aboutthreats and stolen guns were found shot to death in the cabin, along withBracklow. When the deputies did not respond to radio calls, CHP officers andadditional deputies arrived 45 minutes after the two deputies were firstdispatched to Bracklow’s cabin. A SWAT team that entered the cabin after firingtear gas in it found all three men dead. Bracklow, a self-styled survivalistwho had lived by himself in the cabin for about three years and who was oftenseen armed, according to neighbors, either turned a gun on himself or died fromwounds obtained during the shootout with the deputies. His father said Bracklowhad been diagnosed two years ago with manic-depression but hadn’t takenmedication for a year.
Source Of Information: The Houston Chronicle, July 28,2001 Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2001 The San Francisco Chronicle, July 28,2001
RecordID:3423
Date: 9/2000
Location: , Nicholas, WV
Summary: In September 2000, David Morris,a man with paranoid schizophrenia, shot and killed Deputy William Giacomo asGiacomo processed him on a drunken driving charge in Nicholas County, WV. Asecurity video showed that Morris pulled a gun out of his boot. Giacomo grabbedhis arm and wrestled with him. They fell behind a counter, and Morris shot andkilled Giacomo. Morris ran away after the shooting, but was apprehended threedays later hiding in the woods. Subsequent History: Morris was evaluated formental problems and placed under 24-hour surveillance. But two months after theshooting, Morris was found dead, hanging by a bed sheet from a writing desk. Astate investigation ruled the death a suicide. Morris left no suicide note.Jailers said they found the paperback Deadly Pursuit propped open on his bedto a passage about a hanging. Prior History: Morris began having hallucinationsas a teenager, according to his mother, Mona Jean Butler. He drank heavily andin 1989, he lost his license for drunken driving. The police told Butler tocommit her son to a mental hospital, and a general practitioner who did notagree that hospitalization was necessary evaluated him. In 1996, Morris wasconvicted of shooting a man in the hand and shoulder in a dispute over a weedtrimmer. He was sentenced to Mount Olive Correctional Facility in Fayette County.There, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He received medication andtherapy and his behavior improved. In 1999, he was released and moved in withButler. Two prison officials tried to persuade a judge to commit Morris to amental institution, but the judge refused. Butler tried to persuade her son togo, but he wouldnt, she said. He became paranoid, and began carrying a gun.Butler tried to get him admitted to the hospital, but before they had a bedopen, Morris was arrested on the drunk driving charge and shot Officer Giacomo.
Source Of Information: The Charleston Gazette, January17, 2005
RecordID:2878
Date: 8/2003
Location: Grant, Marshall, AL
Summary: Brian Butler, 17, shot and killedGrant Police Chief Verlon Lemaster on August 15, 2003 in a home in Grant,Alabama. Lemaster and Madison County Deputy Mark Adams had come to the home topick up Butler as a runaway. Butler and his friend Jerid Eldridge, also 17,ambushed the officers by hiding in a closet as they arrived. Butler allegedlyfired a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol several times, striking Lemaster twiceand fatally wounding him, and narrowly missing Adams. At Butler’s hearing, apsychologist testified that Butler had several mental illness episodes anddescribed him as suffering from schizophrenia and depression since he was veryyoung. Butler pleaded not guilty on the grounds of mental defect. SubsequentHistory: On February 8, 2008, during the trial of Brian Butler, Prosecutionwitness Ashli Chaffin testified that Butler believed that the government wasbuilding “spy stuff” in silos on Keel Mountain near Gurley. Chaffin,19, of Huntsville said her friends, Butler and co-defendant Jerid Eldridge, hadstayed at her former home in Grant and that they were smoking marijuana in herbedroom just before Grant Police Chief Verlon Lemaster was shot and killedthere on August 15, 2003. She told jurors that when she left the bedroom Butlerand Eldridge, both 17 at the time, were armed, but that she didn’t tellLemaster when she met him as she was leaving her room. Former Madison CountySheriff’s Investigator Mark Adams previously told the jury that Butler shotLemaster and then tried to shoot him. Chaffin testified that she knew thatButler and Eldridge were runaways and that Butler had been released from apsychiatric hospital in Birmingham shortly before the shooting. She saidButler’s mother had told her that Butler was not taking his anti-psychotic medicationthat was prescribed to him before he left the hospital. Chaffin also toldjurors that Butler believed government agents were after him and that they hadinjected chemicals into him.
Source Of Information: Al.com (Alabama), 7/7/04;Huntsville Times, 2/7/08, 2/8/08, 2/12/08
RecordID:2991
Date: 8/2004
Location: Indianapolis, Marion, IN
Summary: Kenneth Charles Anderson, 33,shot and killed his 66-year-old mother, Alice Marie Anderson, in herIndianapolis home, then gunned down a city police officer and wounded fiveothers before being killed by one of the injured policemen on August 18, 2004. Earlythat morning, Indianapolis Police Department squad cars sped to Anderson’sneighborhood, answering 911 calls from awakened neighbors who saw Andersonwalking up the street indiscriminately firing an assault rifle. Anderson, armedwith the assault rifle, a .357-caliber pistol and .22-caliber derringer,ambushed police before an injured SWAT team member gunned him down. In theweeks leading up to the incident, Anderson stopped taking medication for hisschizophrenia, family and friends said, and began telling acquaintances hefeared for his safety. He would often drive around the street late at night,apparently checking to see if anyone was spying on his house, said LenThompson, 33, a neighbor. “Everyone around here thought he was sick,”Thompson said. Neighbors said Anderson had been behaving irrationally theafternoon of the shooting and was spotted driving his pickup truck on thegrass. Subsequent History: Dr. Steven Fekete, a psychiatrist enlisted by thecity, said that the two hospitals that treated Anderson in the months beforethe shootings made inadequate assessments of the risk he posed. Feketeconcluded that he would have sought to have Anderson committed. Instead,Anderson — diagnosed as delusional with drug and alcohol problems by onehospital — was discharged from the facility after 10 days with no discernable,or legally mandated, follow-up care. Prior History: Anderson’s mental conditionbegan to deteriorate in 2004, said his half-brother, David Mosby. He beganthreatening to kill his family, Mosby said, and told friends he thought thepolice were “trying to get him.” Indianapolis police, responding to acomplaint of a combative person, came to Anderson’s home on Jan. 20, 2004. Theyseized nine guns and more than 200 bullets and brought him to St. FrancisHospital for evaluation. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, Mosby said.On March 8, despite warnings from officers who knew Anderson, the departmentreturned his guns because it had no legal grounds to keep them. Family memberssuspected that illegal drugs helped fuel Anderson’s unstable behavior. Mosbysaid police officials found marijuana in Anderson’s system.
Source Of Information: Indianapolis Star, August 19,2004 Indianapolis Star, August 20, 2004 IndyStar.com, September 24, 2004
RecordID:3027
Date: 8/2004
Location: Phoenix, Maricopa, AZ
Summary: On August 28, 2004, Douglas M.Tatar, a man with mental illness, shot and killed two Phoenix, AZ policeofficers and shot and wounded a third before killing himself. Before theofficers were shot, Tatar wounded a man, Side Williams, 25, who had come to hisapartment to collect a $100 bet. Tatar called his sister, Lori, and told her tohave their mother turn on the television, then dialed 911 to report Williams’shooting. Officers Jason Wolfe, 27, and Eric White, 30, were killed when theyresponded and kicked in the door to his apartment. A third officer, ChrisParese, 26, also was shot. Tatar, 29, then put a gun into his mouth andcommitted suicide, police said. Tatar’s family said that, at the time of hisdeath, he was in the throes of a mental illness that had taken over his life inthe past two years, making him paranoid and delusional. Tatar thought thatpolice were following him and that his sister was poisoning him. He complainedto Glendale, Phoenix and Peoria police. Co-workers had heard him say he “wouldn’tthink anything” of shooting a cop. And in the past year, Tatar traveled tofive FBI offices to ask for help. Tatar even insisted police burglarized hisapartment weeks before his death. His mother, Jean, said Tatar was “cryingfor help.” “It was all in his mind,” she said. “He wasdelusional, but he didn’t really know that.” Prior History: Tatar had nohistory of violence. However, in April 2004, family members thought Tatar mighthurt himself and scheduled a mental-health evaluation. They canceled theappointment when Tatar appeared to be doing better. They later triedunsuccessfully to get Tatar committed for a 72-hour mental-health evaluation inJune 2004. Mental-health workers spent about an hour with Tatar, determined hewasn’t a danger and declined to commit him for evaluation.
Source Of Information: The Arizona Republic, August 31,2004 The Arizona Republic, September 3, 2004
RecordID:3027
Date: 8/2004
Location: Phoenix, Maricopa, AZ
Summary: On August 28, 2004, Douglas M.Tatar, a man with mental illness, shot and killed two Phoenix, AZ policeofficers and shot and wounded a third before killing himself. Before theofficers were shot, Tatar wounded a man, Side Williams, 25, who had come to hisapartment to collect a $100 bet. Tatar called his sister, Lori, and told her tohave their mother turn on the television, then dialed 911 to report Williams’shooting. Officers Jason Wolfe, 27, and Eric White, 30, were killed when theyresponded and kicked in the door to his apartment. A third officer, ChrisParese, 26, also was shot. Tatar, 29, then put a gun into his mouth andcommitted suicide, police said. Tatar’s family said that, at the time of hisdeath, he was in the throes of a mental illness that had taken over his life inthe past two years, making him paranoid and delusional. Tatar thought thatpolice were following him and that his sister was poisoning him. He complainedto Glendale, Phoenix and Peoria police. Co-workers had heard him say he”wouldn’t think anything” of shooting a cop. And in the past year,Tatar traveled to five FBI offices to ask for help. Tatar even insisted policeburglarized his apartment weeks before his death. His mother, Jean, said Tatarwas “crying for help.” “It was all in his mind,” she said.”He was delusional, but he didn’t really know that.” Prior History:Tatar had no history of violence. However, in April 2004, family membersthought Tatar might hurt himself and scheduled a mental-health evaluation. Theycanceled the appointment when Tatar appeared to be doing better. They latertried unsuccessfully to get Tatar committed for a 72-hour mental-healthevaluation in June 2004. Mental-health workers spent about an hour with Tatar,determined he wasn’t a danger and declined to commit him for evaluation.
Source Of Information: The Arizona Republic, August 31,2004 The Arizona Republic, September 3, 2004
RecordID:3121
Date: 9/2004
Location: Indianapolis Indianapolis, Marion, IN
Summary: Police said Khadir Al-Khattab,26, shot and killed Butler University Police Officer James L. Davis outside afield house on the campus of the Indianapolis school on September 24, 2004.Al-Khattab was shot in an ensuing gun battle with sheriff’s deputies and diedlater. Al-Khattab’s brother said his father tried to have him placed in amental hospital four days earlier — but there were no openings. Vince Huber,president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said the closing of severalstate mental hospitals in recent years was a factor in Davis’ death. PriorHistory: Khadir Al-Khattab had been convicted of domestic battery and fightingwith police within the last three years, and had spent about a month in thestate’s prison for the mentally ill in New Castle. Family members said hisbehavior had worsened in the last year and they had become increasinglyworried.
Source Of Information: Associated Press, September 27,2004 Associated Press, October 1, 2004
RecordID:3220
Date: 4/2004
Location: Asheville, Buncombe, NC
Summary: On April 4, 2004, Eddie Cassadaopened fire with a sawed-off shotgun on authorities that were trying to servehim involuntary commitment papers at his home in Asheville, NC. Killed in theattack was Sgt. Jeff Hewitt, a 33-year-old deputy with the Buncombe Countysheriff’s office. Cassada, 56, fled the scene after the shooting. Deputieslater found his body behind a home in the subdivision where he lived, victim ofan apparent suicide. Cassada’s wife had contacted the police earlier and saidthat her husband was not stable and needed to be hospitalized.
Source Of Information: Associated Press, April 5, 2004
RecordID:3761
Date: 8/2005
Location: Tucson, Pima, AZ
Summary: On August 10, 2005, Pima CountySheriff’s Deputy Timothy Graham, Aaron Swyers, a man with a history of mentalillness, and cab driver Dawud Abusida were struck and killed by a pickup truckwhile engaged in a struggle on a busy road in Tucson, AZ. Swyers, 23, hadrecently been ordered by Pima County Superior Court to take medication byinjection for schizophrenia and to live in a group home for seriously mentallyill men. He had been released from the psychiatric unit of UniversityPhysicians Healthcare Hospital at Kino Campus on Aug. 9, 2005. Deputy Grahamhad responded to a call from Swyers’ mother the next day. Swyers washysterical, according to Graham’s report. Graham asked Swyers to leave thearea. He did not seek any crisis help for the man. Swyers then took a cab to aconvenience store, where he called 911 at least five times in the next hour andtold a dispatcher he had run out of money and needed a ride home. He alsoidentified himself as a schizophrenic and said he was worried “for mywell-being.” Deputy Graham responded and a struggle ensued between the twomen. Abusida, driving by the scene, was trying to help Deputy Graham subdueSwyers when all three men were killed. The driver of the truck was not charged.Swyers had a criminal record and a history of mental heath problems. His widowsaid he was recently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had been”self-medicating” with methamphetamine. Prior History: Swyers shotoff one of his fingers in October 2004 while being treated as a non-seriouslymentally ill patient. Swyers was hospitalized in April 2005 after plottingsuicide. In May 2005, he was saved from a suicide attempt by a sheriff’sdepartment SWAT team after he locked himself inside a truck and pointed a rifleat his head. After Swyers gave up his gun, a deputy took him to the hospital asan emergency psychiatric patient. Swyers was found by psychiatrists to beseriously mentally ill June 9, 2005, after shooting himself in the calf duringa standoff with police. Firefighters took Swyers to Kino nine days before hedied after he was found on the road making “paranoid statements.”Swyers was admitted to Kino’s psychiatric unit Aug. 4, 2005, for aself-inflicted 8-inch cut to his arm. A lawsuit filed by Swyers’ family allegesthat Swyers’ discharge plan was “inadequate” given his risk forrelapse, his history of not taking his medications or showing up forappointments and his history of recent hospitalizations. Swyers was releasedand sent by taxicab to a unsupervised boarding house, and while a follow-upappointment was scheduled for Swyers, it wasn’t until a week after his release,the lawsuit states. In addition, Swyers had been placed on an anti-psychoticmedication five days before he died, but that particular drug takes three weeksto reach therapeutic levels, the lawsuit states.
Source Of Information: Tucson KOLD, August 12, 2005;Tucson KOLD – August 12, 2005; Tucson Citizen, August 17, 2005; Tucson Citizen,August 27, 2005; Tucson Arizona Daily Star, October 2, 2005, August 22, 2006
RecordID:3776
Date: 8/2005
Location: Albuquerque, Bernalillo, NM
Summary: On August 28, 2005, two policeofficers in were fatally shot outside the home of John Hyde, a mentally ill manthey were asked to take to a hospital for an evaluation. Hyde, 48, pleaded notguilty to four open counts of murder for the deaths of Officers Michael King,50, and Richard Smith, 47 and one count of armed robbery. Hyde’s family saidhis behavior began to change several months before the shootings, when theybecame concerned that he had stopped taking his medication for schizophreniaand bipolar disorder. The family said Hyde made daily phone calls to KasemanPresbyterian Behavioral Health Care in the weeks before the shooting.Subsequent History: Earlier that same day, Hyde went to Rider Valley MotorcycleShop in Albuquerque, where he usually purchased parts for his motorcycle. Oncethere, he robbed and then fatally shot store employees David Fisher, 17, andGarret Iversen, 26. Police say $50 was missing from the shop’s cash register.According to the autopsy report, Iverson didn’t “move fast enough”when Hyde asked for a headlight for his motorcycle. Several hours after theseshootings, Hyde shot and killed the two police officers outside his home whenthey showed up to take him to a hospital for an evaluation. Hyde pleaded notguilty to four open counts of murder for the deaths of Officers Michael King,50, and Richard Smith, 47 and one count of armed robbery. Subsequent History:On August 30, 2005, John Hyde was court-ordered to the state psychiatrichospital for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. On September 2, 2005, a stategrand jury indicted Hyde on five open counts of murder, as well as child abuse,tampering with evidence and armed robbery. Hyde’s lawyers argued that Hyde wasincompetent to stand trial because of his schizophrenia and his refusal tospeak to them. The attorneys argued that grand jury proceedings should behalted because Hyde’s competency had not been determined. The judge denied thatmotion. Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said her officemight seek the death penalty against Hyde. On October 4, 2005, Hyde pleaded notguilty and told a judge he wanted to represent himself. Prior History: JohnHyde’s family said his behavior began to change several months before theshootings, when they became concerned that he had stopped taking his medicationfor schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. On April 2, 2005, police responded toan argument between Hyde and his 80-year-old mother, Geneva Hyde, with whom hewas living at the time. According to police, Hyde had dead bolted the frontdoor, preventing his mother from entering. Police arrived, determined the scenewas secure and left without incident. On April 30, state police were asked topick up Hyde from his home and transport him to Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital.State police took him to there without incident after family members toldpolice Hyde had stopped taking medication and had asked relatives for weapons.Two days later, they responded to a dispute between Hyde and the owner of theproperty where he was living. Officers ordered Hyde to leave at the owner’srequest. Hyde had been diagnosed with mental illness in 1990. Prior History: Ata hearing in December 2005, John Hyde was described as “making progressunder treatment” but was ordered to undergo additional treatment at theNew Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, the state’s psychiatric hospital, inLas Vegas where he has remained since shortly after his arrest. An additionalcompetency report was filed in May 2006, but all reports involving Hyde’smental health have been sealed under court order. Subsequent History: On August25, 2006, State District Judge Albert S. Pat Murdoch ruled that a hearing todetermine if John Hyde is mentally competent to stand trial will go forward onAugust 30. Murdoch denied a motion to waive the hearing by Hyde’s attorneys,who acknowledged that clear and convincing evidence exists to convict Hyde inthe August 18, 2005 slayings of five people. They also conceded that Hyderemains incompetent and a danger to the community. In light of that, thedefense argued that it is simply unjust and untoward to allow the state tocreate a public spectacle of a seriously mentally ill and incompetent person.In denying the motion, Murdoch said he could find nothing in the lawestablishing a patient’s right to waive the hearing. Hyde’s attorneys said theywould appeal the decision. Subsequent History: On August 31, 2006, the stateCourt of Appeals issued a stay against the hearing for John Hyde, the manaccused of killing five people in a single day. In a one-page order, the courtgranted the stay pending a future ruling on an emergency application filed byHyde’s attorneys. The court asked that the state file its response within 10days, at which time it will consider the merits of the defense application. Thehearing, which would have included more than 58 witnesses, was to determinewhether Hyde is a danger to the community and should remain in the statepsychiatric hospital, and whether “clear and convincing” evidenceexists to convict him of gunning down five people on Aug. 18, 2005. SubsequentHistory: On August 21, 2007, State District Judge Pat Murdoch sentenced JohnHyde to a state mental institution for 179 years. Murdoch made his decisionafter hearing nearly two days of testimony in a hearing that was meant todetermine whether John Hyde remained a danger and whether there was enoughevidence to convict him of the August 2005 crimes. The ruling means Hyde will remainat the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, where he hasremained since shortly after the shootings. If Hyde, who was diagnosed withschizophrenia, is treated to competency, he could be brought to trial.
Source Of Information: Santa Fe New Mexican/AP, 8/22/05;Albuquerque Journal, 8/20/05, 8/21/05, 8/22/05, 8/24/05; KOAT-TV, 8/30/05,9/21/05, 8/20/07Albuquerque Journal, 9/3/05; KVIA-TV, 9/25/05; KOB.com, 10/9/09
RecordID:3776
Date: 8/2005
Location: Albuquerque, Bernalillo, NM
Summary: On August 28, 2005, two policeofficers in were fatally shot outside the home of John Hyde, a mentally ill manthey were asked to take to a hospital for an evaluation. Hyde, 48, pleaded notguilty to four open counts of murder for the deaths of Officers Michael King,50, and Richard Smith, 47 and one count of armed robbery. Hyde’s family saidhis behavior began to change several months before the shootings, when theybecame concerned that he had stopped taking his medication for schizophreniaand bipolar disorder. The family said Hyde made daily phone calls to KasemanPresbyterian Behavioral Health Care in the weeks before the shooting.Subsequent History: Earlier that same day, Hyde went to Rider Valley MotorcycleShop in Albuquerque, where he usually purchased parts for his motorcycle. Oncethere, he robbed and then fatally shot store employees David Fisher, 17, andGarret Iversen, 26. Police say $50 was missing from the shop’s cash register.According to the autopsy report, Iverson didn’t “move fast enough”when Hyde asked for a headlight for his motorcycle. Several hours after theseshootings, Hyde shot and killed the two police officers outside his home whenthey showed up to take him to a hospital for an evaluation. Hyde pleaded notguilty to four open counts of murder for the deaths of Officers Michael King,50, and Richard Smith, 47 and one count of armed robbery. Subsequent History:On August 30, 2005, John Hyde was court-ordered to the state psychiatric hospitalfor a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. On September 2, 2005, a state grand juryindicted Hyde on five open counts of murder, as well as child abuse, tamperingwith evidence and armed robbery. Hyde’s lawyers argued that Hyde wasincompetent to stand trial because of his schizophrenia and his refusal tospeak to them. The attorneys argued that grand jury proceedings should behalted because Hyde’s competency had not been determined. The judge denied thatmotion. Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said her officemight seek the death penalty against Hyde. On October 4, 2005, Hyde pleaded notguilty and told a judge he wanted to represent himself. Prior History: JohnHyde’s family said his behavior began to change several months before the shootings,when they became concerned that he had stopped taking his medication forschizophrenia and bipolar disorder. On April 2, 2005, police responded to anargument between Hyde and his 80-year-old mother, Geneva Hyde, with whom he wasliving at the time. According to police, Hyde had dead bolted the front door,preventing his mother from entering. Police arrived, determined the scene wassecure and left without incident. On April 30, state police were asked to pickup Hyde from his home and transport him to Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital. Statepolice took him to there without incident after family members told police Hydehad stopped taking medication and had asked relatives for weapons. Two dayslater, they responded to a dispute between Hyde and the owner of the propertywhere he was living. Officers ordered Hyde to leave at the owner’s request.Hyde had been diagnosed with mental illness in 1990. Prior History: At ahearing in December 2005, John Hyde was described as “making progressunder treatment” but was ordered to undergo additional treatment at theNew Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, the state’s psychiatric hospital, inLas Vegas where he has remained since shortly after his arrest. An additionalcompetency report was filed in May 2006, but all reports involving Hyde’smental health have been sealed under court order. Subsequent History: On August25, 2006, State District Judge Albert S. Pat Murdoch ruled that a hearing todetermine if John Hyde is mentally competent to stand trial will go forward onAugust 30. Murdoch denied a motion to waive the hearing by Hyde’s attorneys,who acknowledged that clear and convincing evidence exists to convict Hyde inthe August 18, 2005 slayings of five people. They also conceded that Hyderemains incompetent and a danger to the community. In light of that, thedefense argued that it is simply unjust and untoward to allow the state tocreate a public spectacle of a seriously mentally ill and incompetent person.In denying the motion, Murdoch said he could find nothing in the lawestablishing a patient’s right to waive the hearing. Hyde’s attorneys said theywould appeal the decision. Subsequent History: On August 31, 2006, the stateCourt of Appeals issued a stay against the hearing for John Hyde, the man accusedof killing five people in a single day. In a one-page order, the court grantedthe stay pending a future ruling on an emergency application filed by Hyde’sattorneys. The court asked that the state file its response within 10 days, atwhich time it will consider the merits of the defense application. The hearing,which would have included more than 58 witnesses, was to determine whether Hydeis a danger to the community and should remain in the state psychiatrichospital, and whether “clear and convincing” evidence exists toconvict him of gunning down five people on Aug. 18, 2005. Subsequent History:On August 21, 2007, State District Judge Pat Murdoch sentenced John Hyde to astate mental institution for 179 years. Murdoch made his decision after hearingnearly two days of testimony in a hearing that was meant to determine whetherJohn Hyde remained a danger and whether there was enough evidence to convicthim of the August 2005 crimes. The ruling means Hyde will remain at the NewMexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, where he has remained sinceshortly after the shootings. If Hyde, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, istreated to competency, he could be brought to trial.
Source Of Information: Santa Fe New Mexican/AP, 8/22/05;Albuquerque Journal, 8/20/05, 8/21/05, 8/22/05, 8/24/05; KOAT-TV, 8/30/05,9/21/05, 8/20/07Albuquerque Journal, 9/3/05; KVIA-TV, 9/25/05; KOB.com, 10/9/09
RecordID:3898
Date: 0/1992
Location: Columbia, Richland, SC
Summary: Mar-Reece Hughes was convictedand sentenced to die in 1995 for killing Brent McCants during a traffic stop on1992. Hughes has asked since at least 2000 to die in the electric chair, buthis lawyer has argued through several courts that Hughes isn’t capable of makingthat decision. In a 2004 court hearing, Hughes described himself as world-classathlete whom the state wanted to kill to dissect his body to discover thesecret to his athletic prowess. Hughes has smeared feces on walls in prison,said he believes prison staff is poisoning his food and claimed the FBI runs aconcentration camp in prison. Three psychiatrists testified in 2004 that Hugheshas schizophrenia, court records show.
Source Of Information: Rock Hill Herald, February 14,2006
RecordID:4144
Date: 12/2005
Location: Ft. Worth, Tarrant, TX
Summary: In his first public statementssince his arrest, Stephen Lance Heard said he thought he was being robbed whenhe fired at Fort Worth police Officer Henry “Hank” Nava Jr. Mr.Heard, 39, was tearful and apologetic throughout a 20-minute interview at theMansfield Law Enforcement Center. Before Officer Nava died, the charges wereattempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. Charges are expected to beupgraded and the bail increased, said Tarrant County Sheriff’s Departmentspokesman Terry Grisham. Heard was being held on $2 million bail at TarrantCounty jail. Heard called the shooting a stupid mistake and said “there’sno way” he would have fired on the officers if he had known who they were.”When the door opens, all I see is a face and a weapon, Heard said aboutthe raid. Fort Worth police said that officers identified themselves and thatMr. Heard fired first. Heard, insisting that he wanted to set the recordstraight, said he believed that people were trying to steal his identity-theftequipment and money when they came to the northwest Fort Worth mobile homewhere he was staying. When officers opened the door to the room where Mr. Heardwas hiding, he said, he didn’t hear them identify themselves or see the shirtsor jackets with “Police” emblazoned on the front and back. Mr. Heardalso contended that police shot first, hitting him in the chin, and that heused his 9mm handgun only in self-defense. After the shooting, Mr. Heard ran toanother mobile home and held a 25-year-old woman hostage for three hours beforehe surrendered, police said. During the standoff, Mr. Heard said, he drank fourbeers to calm his nerves. He said he also had smoked marijuana and a smallamount of methamphetamine earlier Tuesday. Family members said Mr. Heard has along history of drug abuse and mental problems, possibly bipolar disorder, andhad attempted suicide in the past. Mr. Heard was being held on suicide watch atthe jail Thursday night, Mr. Grisham said. Police have said that Officer Navawas shot while trying to gather information on Heard, who was suspected ofparticipating in an identity-theft ring. A day earlier, Mr. Heard was believedto have led Sansom Park police on a car chase after a dispute with a gas stationattendant. He also had an outstanding warrant for violating parole for aconviction on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and state paroleofficials had warned police agencies that Mr. Heard had a weapon. Police saidHeard had been a member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, an assertion hedenied. Heard’s mother, Deloris Pulce, said that her son shouldn’t make excusesand that he has to face the consequences of his actions, whatever they mightbe. Chad Clark said he believes his cousin’s account of the shootout. He saidthat Heard would never fire at a police officer intentionally and that his druguse and contact with criminals made him paranoid. Heard said Thursday that hehad recently considered straightening out his life by turning himself in toauthorities. He said the remainder of his sentence for the parole violationwouldn’t be a big deal. “Anyone can do a year,” he said. But whileconsidering a life free of crime, Heard was also starting a new career inidentity theft and was studying computer programs used for that purpose, hesaid. Subsequent History: Deloris Pulce said her son, Stephen Lance Heard,called her and offered the explanation about why he shot officer Henry”Hank” Nava. “He told me that he thought he was being robbed,”Pulce said in a telephone interview from her home in Texarkana. “He didn’trealize it was a policeman. He was in plain clothes. “I don’t want himthinking I’m so stupid that I’m going to believe everything he said,”Pulce said. “He wasn’t being robbed. He knew he had a warrant. He knewwhat they were doing and he shouldn’t have had a gun.” Pulce said her sonsuffers from manic depression, is bipolar, and has previously attemptedsuicide. Still, she said, she hopes an expert does not try to present her sonas insane should the case go to trial. “He wasn’t taking any medicationsin prison and his mind was clear,” Pulce said. “He just can’t standthe stress and responsibility of day-to-day life.”
Source Of Information: The Dallas Morning News, December2, 2005; Fort Worth Star Telegram, December 1, 2005
RecordID:4441
Date: 5/2006
Location: Chantilly, Fairfax, VA
Summary: On May 8, 2006, 18-year-oldMichael Kennedy opened fire outside the Sully District Police Station, killingone officer and wounding two others before he was shot and killed at the scene,authorities said. A 40-year-old female detective died at a hospital after theshooting, said police Chief David Rohrer, who did not identify the woman, anine-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department. A 53-year-oldofficer was in critical condition and undergoing surgery, while the third wastreated for minor injuries. It was not clear whether the third officer, a28-year-old man, was shot or sustained his injuries from flying glass or aricocheting bullet. Mary Ann Jennings, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman,said the gunman had a rifle and two handguns and had stolen a van that he droveto the station after unsuccessfully attempting to carjack a pickup truck.Jennings said they did not know “exactly who he was targeting except tosay he was targeting police officers.” He was crouched between twovehicles in the station’s parking lot when he was killed. For hours after theshootings, area roads were blocked and nearby buildings, including a highschool, were locked down as police sought other possible suspects. Police laterdetermined there was just one gunman, said police spokeswoman Lt. Amy Lubas. Anall-clear was given to the school about three hours after the shootings. PriorHistory: Michael Kennedy was a 2005 graduate of Westfield High School. PeterKirschner, a former classmate, said that Kennedy used to wear military clothingto school. Another former classmate, Marc Capistrant said “I remember he wrotesome really weird poems, took some pictures of himself wearing a gas mask.Strange stuff like that. I thought it was kind of awkward.” Police ChiefDavid Rohrer identified Vicky Armel, as the 40-year-old female detective whowas killed outside the Fairfax County Police Sully District Station. Policesaid a 53-year-old officer remained in critical condition after undergoingsurgery. It was not clear whether the third officer, a 28-year-old man, wasshot or suffered his injuries from flying glass or a ricocheting bullet. PriorHistory: Police said that the teenage gunman, Michael Kennedy, attempted tocarjack a Ford pickup truck in the London Towne community in the Centrevillearea at about 3:30 p.m., but was not successful and fled on foot. Witnesses saidthat he was dressed in complete camoflauge gear and a black mask and was armedwith several rifles and pistols. At 3:45 p.m., Kennedy was successful incarjacking a white work van and drove to the Sully District substation. Thefirst reports of gunfire in the parking lot were at 3:52 p.m. Police saidKennedy drove to the back of the station, exited the van and opened fire on acruiser. Inside was an officer who was preparing to go off duty. That officerwas hit by five bullets and is now in critical condition at a local hospital.Police said the gunman then walked deeper into the parking lot and encounteredArmel. Gunfire was exchanged, and Armel was struck several times. She laterdied at the hospital. Kennedy then continued walking into the parking lot. Anofficer who just arrived for duty armed himself and exchanged gunfire. Severalother officers also responded, and there was confusion as to how many gunmenwere shooting at the substation. Finally, two officers who responded were ableto shoot and kill Kennedy in the parking lot. Police said Kennedy was armedwith five pistols, an AK-47-style of assault rifle and a long-barreled,high-powered hunting rifle. Investigators said he had multiple ammunitions foreach weapon. Police said Kennedy fired at least 70 rounds during the gunfight.Prior History: On April 18, 2007, Michael Kennedy approached Daniel Aparicio,32, who was in his dark green Toyota 4Runner, heading home from his Rockvilleoffice. Kennedy walked to the driver-side window, put his hand behind his backand told Aparicio he had a gun. “Get out of the car,” he said.”Get out now.” As Aparicio eased out of the driver’s seat and handedover his keys, Kennedy noticed a child’s car seat inside. His demeanor softenedinstantly. “Oh, I see you have children?” Aparicio recalled himsaying. “Yes, I do,” Aparicio replied. “You know, I hate to dothis to you,” Aparicio said Kennedy told him. “I’m a man ofGod.” When the police responded to Aparicios call, he said they checkedthe Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health Center, a low-rise brick mental healthfacility across the street, to see whether any patients were missing. No onewas, he said the police were told. The next day, Aparicio said, police told himthat the mental health facility had been mistaken. Someone was missing. He hadjumped out a window to escape. His name was Michael Kennedy. After Kennedy wasfreed on bond, he returned to his home, about three miles south of the policestation, where he lived with his parents and younger sister. Next-door neighborStephanie McClure, 20, called him “a perfectly normal kid [who] nevershowed any sign of abnormalness.” But in the past month, several friendsagreed, he’d become irrational. On May 6, 2006. Brendan Cowan talked to Kennedyabout his troubles and his stay at the psychiatric center. “He honestlyfelt like he was not being treated like a human, like he was being treated likea dog by the doctors at the mental facility,” Cowan said. Kennedy seemedto be in a better mood when they parted, but his spirits had dipped by the timehe dropped by Rebecca Green’s house a few hours later. According to Green,Kennedy talked about two races of aliens on Earth. Kennedy saw himself as theleader of the good race with a mission of overcoming the bad aliens and savingthe planet. Kennedy told his friend that some of the bad aliens were disguisedas regular people. Green said that Kennedys delusions had started recently.She also said that she saw nothing threatening in his rambling. Later thatnight, Kennedy chatted on the Internet with his friend Ashley Wittman. She saidthat what he said about good and bad aliens “was so ridiculous it didn’tmake sense.” Although Kennedy talked about his hatred of mankind, Wittmansaid that “He didn’t talk about hurting anyone. He just thought he washigher than other people, like a higher power. And he needed to save the world.” Michael Kennedy’s friends said that his fleeting stay at the Rockvillepsychiatric center and the carjacking charges that followed were at odds withwhat they knew of their skateboard-loving friend, who had always been a littlezany without seeming unstable. He wore black, but so do a lot of kids. He toldtall tales about himself on the Internet — he was a soldier and made more than$250,000 a year — but that hardly made him odd. He wasn’t alienated, or pickedon at school, or a loner, his friends said.
Source Of Information: www.nbc4.com, 5/9/06, 5/10/06,5/23/06, 5/26/06; The Washington Post, 5/10/06, 5/8/07; WTOP Radio, 5/8/07
RecordID:4458
Date: 5/2006
Location: Dearborn Heights, Wayne, MI
Summary: On May 24, 2006, Officer JasonMakowski, 32, was fatally shot during a confrontation with a man in aneighborhood near Joy and Beech Daly roads. Makowski was assisting police whoresponded to a 911 call about a man outside his house carrying a gun. Policesaid they were called to the home earlier in the day, but believed they hadresolved a conflict with the man, Jeffrey Wolf, a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran whosuffered from depression. Wolf’s wife said in the mid-afternoon that herhusband locked the doors to the house and told her to take cover. Police saidWolf argued with a waste management crew and fired gunshots. Upon seeingpolice, Wolf began shooting at officers who fired back killing Wolf. PriorHistory: Wolf had an altercation with his mother on Mother’s Day and was takento a mental hospital. Investigators believe he may have been off his prescribedantidepressants during Wednesday’s incident.
Source Of Information: www.clickondetroit.com, 5/25/06;Press & Guide, 7/16/06
RecordID:4477
Date: 4/2007
Location: South Bend, Saint Joseph, IN
Summary: On April 24, 2007, Scott Barnaby,46, fatally shot Cpl. Nick Polizzotto, 34, who was responding to a shots-firedcall at the Wooden Indian. Patrolman Michael Norby was wounded in the shootout.Barnaby, the officers’ assailant also was killed. Barnaby was “a drugaddict and mentally ill for many years,” his family wrote in a sympathyletter sent to the Police Department. Barnaby’s mother, Lynne Barnaby, said theletter was from her entire family and meant to convey their condolences to thepolice department, the Polizzotto family and the community. Lynne Barnaby saidher son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago and had been on and offmedication. Prior History: At times, Chris Barnaby thought his older brotherwould have a chance at a normal life. “He had a girlfriend, a daughter, ajob and a home on the south side,” Barnaby said. “I was breathing asigh of relief because I thought he had straightened out and was going to havea life.” But Scott Barnaby quit taking his medication, Chris Barnaby said,and that’s when his life often unraveled. Scott Barnaby had a serious drugproblem and paranoid schizophrenia, which were diagnosed in his early 30s.Chris Barnaby said his brother spent most of his life battling mental illness.He would sporadically be treated at institutions and occasionally was onmedication. Chris Barnaby said his brother’s mental illness should have beenenough to keep him from buying a gun. But Scott Barnaby was sold a gun at a gunshow and used it three days later to shoot two police officers, killing one andinjuring the other. Scott Barnaby was forcefully committed to a mentalinstitution in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Chris Barnaby said, but he isn’t surewhether it involved a judge’s ruling. Chris Barnaby said his brother spent timein three other institutions in the Midwest, including Madison Center in SouthBend. Chris Barnaby said that his brother often believed “neighbors wereafter him, or the FBI was chasing him.” Scott had been estranged from hisfamily for about five years. A friend of Chris’ told him he had seen Scottwalking down the street near the Wooden Indian Motel a week before theshooting. Chris drove there to try to talk to him, and Scott almost pushed himoff the balcony. Chris said Scott was known to have “violent activity, buthe never hurt anyone.” Chris said Scott should have been in a mentalinstitution and taking medication, not living at the Wooden Indian Motel, whichhas been the scene of crime and drug activity over the years, according topolice.
Source Of Information: South Bend Tribune, 5/4/07,5/12/07
RecordID:4496
Date: 5/2007
Location: Moscow, Latah, ID
Summary: On May 19, 2007, 36-year-oldJason Hamilton fatally shot his wife, Crystal, and took guns into town to openfire. In the end, Moscow Police Officer Lee Newbill, church sexton Paul Bauerand Hamilton himself also were dead. Three others were injured. Hamilton had ahistory of domestic violence and mental illness. He was tried for felonystrangulation of a girlfriend, he served time in jail and on probation, and heunderwent two psychiatric evaluations. He received mental health counseling andwas placed on an involuntary mental hold for attempting suicide. Hamilton alsopossessed two semiautomatic rifles and had described his desire to end his lifein a shooting spree. Prior History: Hamilton had served a jail sentence forchoking a girlfriend in 2005, was cited for a bar fight in 2006, violated aprobation agreement this spring and attempted suicide by overdose inmid-February, when he reportedly made the remark about taking other people withhim. So why wasnt Hamilton civilly committed to a mental hospital? Thecommitment laws just dont allow people to be committed easily in Idaho, saidDiana Pals, the president of the Idaho Mental Health Counselors Association anda Moscow counselor. A threat has to be very specific and very imminent for ajudge to say, Yes, this persons a danger to the community, she said.Moscows assistant police chief, David Duke, said that on February 16, Moscowpolice officers placed Hamilton on an involuntary hold after he attempted tocommit suicide by an overdose of prescription drugs and had him evaluated forpossible civil commitment. Idaho law requires two evaluations, after whichevaluators make a recommendation to a court for commitment, if warranted.Based on doctors statements given to us, he stated that if he wanted tocommit suicide, he wouldnt do it this way, but he would take a whole bunch ofpeople with him, either by shooting or by a bomb, Duke said. But Hamiltonlater backed off that comment, and after a full evaluation he wasntrecommended for commitment. Its unclear whether he was diagnosed with anymental illness, but a court hearing on his probation violation was rescheduledrecently so he could attend counseling sessions in Pullman, police said. RandyDavis, program director of mental health services at St. Josephs RegionalMedical Center in Lewiston, said he couldnt comment on the Hamilton case, butthat a single comment expressing violent wishes would be only one part of anoverall evaluation that would include medical and mental health history, thecontext and attitude of the patient, and a host of other factors. Under Idaholaw, people can be hospitalized against their will if theyre found likely tohurt themselves or others, but the standard requires that there be asubstantial risk shown in the patients past behaviors, or that a specificperson has reason to feel threatened by a patient.
Source Of Information: Spokesman Review, 5/22/07,5/27/07; USA Today, 5/23/07; KTVB TV, 5/24/07; Oregonian, 5/24/07
RecordID:4507
Date: 5/2007
Location: Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, OH
Summary: On May 26, 2007, Timothy HaltonJr., 27, shot officer Jason West, who later died at Huron Hospital. Theincident occurred when officers were called to Altamont Avenue to quell a loudparty that erupted into a fight over a woman. Three police cars responded. Westarrived first and blocked a vehicle that was trying to leave. Halton was in ablack car parked nearby. West got out of his car and was immediately shot byHalton. Halton got out of his vehicle and walked toward West, firing moreshots. Halton then ditched the gun in a neighboring driveway and ran north to BeechwoodAvenue. Two officers fired at him but missed. He broke into a woman’s house.She fled unharmed. Officers found Halton hiding on the second floor. PriorHistory: On July 8, 2000, Timothy Halton Jr. punched and kicked a 60-year-oldman who walked past his home. Halton’s younger sister, 19, tells police thatHalton had pulled up lawn ornaments and snapped a rake earlier in the day. OnJuly 9, 2000, police get a call from Halton’s screaming sister, who has lockedher brother out of the home. The woman described Halton – who is banging on thedoor – as bipolar and “violent when not properly medicated.” At theSouth Euclid jail, he switched between politeness and aggression. Adisorderly-conduct charge is later dismissed. On May 24, 2001, Halton’s mother,Jeanette Tiggs, called police to say her son was threatening family members.Halton, she said, wants to borrow her car so that he can “go kill”President Bush, who is visiting Greater Cleveland. When Tiggs refuses to lether son take the car, he choked her. He later blamed his actions on the HolyGhost. On October 4, 2003, Halton’s mother, Jeanette Tiggs, called police toreport Halton’s threats to relatives. While keeping relatives at bay with adrinking glass, Halton says that he wants “a bullet in his head” andthat he is going to “kill a police officer.” Halton stormed out ofhis house and, when stopped by police, smashes a patrol car with a brick. Hethen punched Patrolman Mark Merims in the face, breaking the officer’s glasses.Timothy Halton had been convicted in December 2004 of assault. He was sentencedto probation and ordered to take antipsychotic medication. His probation endedin June 2006, according to court records. Prior History: Nineteen days beforeTimothy Halton Jr. was accused of killing Cleveland Heights police officerJason West, he showed up for a psychiatry appointment at the downtown officesof Mental Health Service for Homeless Persons Inc. Halton had lived at theagency’s homeless shelter in Cleveland since February. He had skipped hismonthly anti-psychotic injections recently, but “he didn’t demonstrate anybehavior that would set off any alarms about potential dangerousness,”said agency chief Steve Friedman. The psychiatrist asked Halton to stick aroundfor the shot. But Halton left, and the staff never saw him again. As withHalton’s mother, who struggled to get her son help, there was nothing theagency could do to compel treatment. Subsequent History: On October 30, 2009,Timothy Halton Jr. was been sentenced to life in prison without the possibilityof parole. Halton entered a guilty plea to aggravated murder during a regularlyscheduled pre-trial hearing. Prosecutors dropped their demand for the deathpenalty as part of the plea deal. Halton, a schizophrenic, had originally attemptedan insanity defense, but a judge ruled he was competent to stand trial.
Source Of Information: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/26/07,5/30/07, 5/31/07, 10/30/09; The Morning Journal, 6/2/07; Plain Dealer, 6/2/07,6/3/07; Cleveland Free Times, 6/6/07; WKYC.com, 10/30/09
RecordID:4549
Date: 7/2007
Location: , Wabash, IN
Summary: On July 5, 2007, 21-year-oldJoseph M. Vultaggio Jr. shot and killed Master-Trooper Det. David E. Rich asthe trooper stopped for what he thought was a motorist assist as Vultaggio satparked on the shoulder of U.S. 24, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Wayne.Vultaggio, whose parents say had a history of mental illness, then used theshotgun to kill himself, police reported. Indiana State Police PublicInformation officer Sgt. Tony Slocum said they believe Vultaggio had run out ofgas on U.S. 24, a busy four-lane highway in rural Indiana, prior to theshootings. Reports from the Indiana State Police indicated Richs body wasfound next to the Pontiac Aztec, the victim of a shotgun wound to the chest.Slocum said it appeared Rich had been shot while standing next to the driversside door and the impact had knocked him back to the ground toward the rearvehicle panel. The shootings occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Police foundVultaggio dead inside. Slocum said their investigation indicates Vultaggio wasthe lone occupant in the vehicle at the time of the shootings. A news releasefrom the state police had reported Rich, who was wearing street clothes, wasfound with his weapon unholstered and his badge and police radio in hand as heapproached Vultaggios vehicle. Prior History: Vultaggios parents said thattheir son had been diagnosed with bipolar-schizophrenia more than a year beforethe shooting and had been receiving treatment off and on from Northern MichiganCommunity Mental Health in Gaylord. They also indicated he had been treated forthe illness at residential psychiatric facilities in Florida and Grand Rapids,but had signed himself out from each because he was an adult.
Source Of Information: Gaylord Herald Times (MI),7/11/07; Gaylord Times Herald, 7/18/07
RecordID:4590
Date: 8/2001
Location: Dunlap, Fresno, CA
Summary: On August 21, 2001, RamadanAbdullah, a schizophrenic man, fatally shot Fresno County sheriff’s deputy ErikTelen. At the time, Telen was investigating a house burglary in the foothilltown of Dunlap. Telen and his partner, Brent Stalker, had gotten word that aman had broken into a house near the foothills town of Dunlap. Telen andStalker entered the house through a side door. When Telen rounded a corner intothe living room, Abdullah was waiting, armed and crouched behind a cast-ironstove. He fired almost a full load of buckshot at Telen. Half a dozenprojectiles struck Telen in the head. Deputies dragged their colleague out ofthe house as Abdullah continued firing. But Telen was already dead. Abdullahsurrendered after a 51/2-hour standoff. Subsequent History: On March 26, 2008,the murder trial for Ramadan Abdullah began. Abdullah was accused of slaying aFresno County sheriff’s deputy almost seven years ago. The question facingjurors will have to answer was not whether Ramadan Abdullah killed Erik Telenbut, rather, whether Abdullah was insane when he shot him. Prior History:Ramadan Abdullah ran away from his New York family in the summer of 2001 tojoin a fringe Islamic camp in the Tulare County foothills. A month later, heran off again, broke into a home just north of the Fresno County border andwound up in a gunbattle with sheriff’s deputies. Both the prosecution anddefense agree that Abdullah shot Telen. But Abdullah’s attorneys say theirclient was insane at the time of the killing and should be sent to a mentalhospital — not convicted of murder. Experts who examined Abdullah were dividedon the insanity issue. Three said he was sane. Three others say he was insane.Reports filed by the nearly one dozen psychologists and psychiatrists who haveexamined Abdullah over the years portray a man with delusional fears who feelsabandoned by the world. Abdullah also appears to be haunted by a birthmark onhis left foot, which he refers to as the “permanent marker ink”– which he blames it for Telen’s death. Abdullah shuttled between theFresno County Jail and mental hospitals as judges ruled him competent to standtrial, then incompetent, then competent again, and incompetent once more.Finally, last June, doctors again found him competent to stand trial. In theyear after his arrest, Abdullah often acted oddly in court, once chantingloudly in a foreign language and later interrupting a judge with sexuallyexplicit outbursts. At one point, Abdullah went mute for a month. In September2006, 467 people were called as potential jurors to serve on Abdullah’sscheduled trial. But just as the jury was being selected, defense attorney PeteJones raised questions about his client’s competency. Abdullah wasre-evaluated, deemed incompetent and sent back to a hospital. Jones declined tocomment this month on whether he might again raise questions about Abdullah’scompetency. According to a report by psychologist Harold Seymour, Abdullah grewup in Binghamton, N.Y., and dropped out of college after 11/2 years. He was thethird oldest of 11 boys and five girls. The report said that when Abdullah wasa child, he was molested by a family friend. Prior to his arrest, he did nothave a criminal record. Seymour’s report said that in 2000, Abdullah startedexhibiting signs of mental illness. A year later, he became increasinglyobsessed with his Muslim religious beliefs, insisting that his family”only listen to certain types of spiritual music or watch only certaintypes of television shows.” Most experts — including prosecution experts– who examined Abdullah and were scheduled to testify during the trial agreedthat Abdullah was either schizophrenic or in the early stages of schizophreniaat the time of the killing. In one interview, Abdullah told a psychologist thathe hears “echoes and clanging” and “I see things coming out ofthe wall.” Subsequent History: On October 20, 2008, Judge Ralph Nunezsentenced 27-year-old Ramadan Abdullah to life in prison without parole. Nunezordered Abdullah to serve three consecutive sentences: The first will be 43years and four months in prison, followed by a sentence of life in prison withthe possibility of parole after 25 years, followed by a third sentence of lifewithout parole. In the end, the sentence means one thing: Abdullah will neverget out of prison. But noting that Abdullah is a “very ill man” whostill suffers from schizophrenia, the judge recommended that Abdullah serve atleast some of his time in a mental health facility. Prior History: For years,Ramadan Abdullah’s case wound its way through the court system as judges,doctors and attorneys tried to determine whether he was competent to standtrial. The case finally went to trial in March 2008. Defense attorneysacknowledged that Abdullah killed Erik Telen, but they said he was delusionalat the time and should be found guilty of second-degree murder. Defenseattorney Pete Jones said Abdullah shot Telen because he thought people from theIslamic camp were trying to kill him. Prosecutors said that even thoughAbdullah suffered from the beginning stages of schizophrenia, there was noevidence he was delusional. After a monthlong trial, the case went to the jury.But when jurors were hopelessly divided, Nunez was forced to declare amistrial. The District Attorney’s Office initially had pursued the deathpenalty against Abdullah, but last month prosecutors agreed not to seek capitalpunishment after defense attorneys pledged not to pursue an insanity defense.Instead of a retrial, the case returned to Nunez, who found Abdullah guilty offirst-degree murder with special circumstances. Jones argued that Nunez’ssentence violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishmentbecause the severity of the sentence did not match the crime. There was noexplanation for why Abdullah shot Telen other than “irrational fearsrooted in an emerging mental illness,” Jones said. But Nunez rejected theargument, saying that although Abdullah suffered from the early stages ofschizophrenia in 2001, he was not delusional when he shot Telen.
Source Of Information: Fresno Bee, 8/8/07, 3/26/08,3/27/08, 4/4/08, 4/9/08, 4/18/08, 4/15/08, 4/22/08, 4/23/08, 5/13/08, 9/11/08,10/20/08; KMPH.com (Fresno), 4/10/08
RecordID:4684
Date: 1/2008
Location: New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Summary: On January 28, 2008, New OrleansPolice Officer Nicola Cotton stopped Bernel Johnson to question him at a stripof stores in Central City. Minutes later, the 24-year-old officer was in afight for her life. Police who viewed surveillance videos say that when shetried to handcuff Mr. Johnson, who is twice her size, he pushed her away. Whenshe gestured for him to come to her, police said, he attacked her. In theensuing struggle, he grabbed her weapon and shot her multiple times, policesaid. It’s unclear exactly why Officer Cotton stopped at Earhart Boulevard andSimon Bolivar Avenue. Police said there was a complaint of a suspicious person,possibly with a history of sexual assault. Mr. Johnson’s family said that he ismentally ill and delusional — a paranoid schizophrenic. They say that hisrun-ins with the law have been limited to arrests for vagrancy, disturbing thepeace and assault and battery. Subsequent History: Bernel P. Johnson, 44, whoshot Nicola Cotton, 24, a police officer, had recently been sent to a statemental institution, to be confined until he was no longer a danger to himselfor others. Three weeks before the incident, on January 4, the police observedhim to be mentally ill and dangerous to others, said Dr. Jeffrey Rouse, thechief deputy coroner, who signed the papers committing Mr. Johnson toinvoluntary treatment. He was sent to a state mental institution, to beconfined until he was no longer a danger to himself or others. Somehow, forreasons that remain unclear, the institution released him before the shooting.Because of privacy laws, state officials are not saying which institution itwas, or how the decision was made. Subsequent History: On April 22, 2008, JudgeJulian Parker ruled that Bernel Johnson could not competently assist in his owndefense and had to be sent to a state mental hospital for treatment. Johnson,44, was to be sent to the state forensic mental hospital in Jackson wheredoctors would evaluate him and attempt to improve his psychiatric condition enoughfor him to stand trial in the death of New Orleans police officer Nicola Cottonwho was shot with her own gun in late January after a struggle in a CentralCity parking lot. Parker ordered that Johnson be immediately transferred to thehospital after the testimony of three specialists, who all concluded thatJohnson suffers from a psychiatric disorder that impaired his ability to standtrial. After Johnson was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, severalfamily members described him as a promising student and artist who graduatedfrom St. Augustine High School. But he was diagnosed with paranoidschizophrenia when he was 19 and has spent most of his life in and out ofmental health institutions, they said. Charles Vosburg, a forensic psychologist,and Dr. Michelle Garriga, a forensic psychiatrist, said they tried to interviewJohnson to determine his competency, but found him largely unwilling to answerquestions. Johnson previously had been diagnosed as having eitherschizoaffective disorder or paranoid schizophrenia, said Garriga, who has hadsome access to Johnson’s medical records. Dr. Sarah DeLand, a forensicpsychiatrist hired by the defense team, testified that she believed Johnsonsuffers from either schizoaffective disorder, a bipolar condition or paranoidschizophrenia.
Source Of Information: WDSU TV, 1/29/08; Times Picayune,1/30/08, 1/31/08, 2/12/08, 4/22/08, 4/23/08, 1/28/09; Gadsden Times, 1/31/08
RecordID:4821
Date: 6/2008
Location: Tucson, Pima, AZ
Summary: On June 1, 2008, David Nickolas”Nick” Delich, 25, shot at his neighbor’s house and then loaded uphis red Mustang convertible, intending to drive to Texas, his home state. WhenOfficer Erik Hite, 43, approached him at a downward slope, Delich said, a shotintended to go over Hite’s head instead struck him. Hite died the next day.Delich denied leaving his car to ambush Hite, as Tucson police Chief RichardMiranda has said. “I was in the car the whole time,” Delich said.Delich said he was unaware anyone was wounded during the chase, which endedwhen he surrendered to deputies on the Mount Lemmon Highway after calming down.Delich was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder andaggravated assault after he allegedly led police officers and deputies on acrosstown chase, resulting in Hite’s death and the wounding of two deputies.Delich said he had “felt threatened” by his neighbor. “He movedin and apparently for no reason he watched me and would copy everything I did,”Delich said. “The way I pull up blinds, the way I open my windows on coolnights, even the way I would sit in my backyard.” Delich said he remembers”bits and pieces” of June 1. “I know I wasn’t feeling likemyself,” said Delich, who described his usual demeanor as “calm andrelaxed, (with) no anxiety.” “I’m not a violent person,” hesaid. “I was very upset that day and I made some bad choices. “Iregret what I did. I shouldn’t have done it.” Nick Delich said he was toldhe has a bipolar disorder, which is marked by extreme mood swings. “But Idon’t think I’m bipolar. I don’t think I have any mental illness, but it’s hardfor people to judge themselves,” Delich said. Subsequen History: InSeptember 2009, Judge John Leonardo ruled that although David “Nick”Delich, 26, is mentally ill, he understands the proceedings against him and isable to assist his defense attorneys. Leonardo issued his ruling after hearingtestimony from five doctors over six days and listening to arguments fromattorneys on both sides of the issue. Dr. James Missett, a Californiapsychiatrist who testified on behalf of the defense, met with Delich for eighthours over three days. He testified that Delich has schizophrenia and auditoryhallucinations, but he doesn’t believe himself to be mentally ill. Althoughdoctors originally diagnosed Delich as mentally ill when he was in his early20s, there is evidence that he was having mental-health issues as early as 8 or10 years old, Missett said.
Source Of Information: Tucson Citizen, 6/10/08,11/25/08; Arizona Daily Star, 9/23/09
RecordID:4892
Date: 9/2008
Location: Alger, Skagit, WA
Summary: On September 2, 2008, 28-year-oldIsaac Zamora shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy and five other people, andwounded two more, during a shooting rampage near his rural home and ahigh-speed chase along Interstate 5. Zamora was arrested after turning himselfin to the county sheriff’s office. Zamora has a criminal record and a historyof mental problems and had been living in the woods. He ended the violentrampage and ensuing high-speed chase when he turned himself in at the SkagitCounty Sheriff’s Office. Anne Jackson, a 40-year-old Skagit County sheriff’sdeputy, was the only slain victim identified by authorities on the day of theincident. Dennise Zamora, the suspect’s mother, said her son was”extremely mentally ill” and had been living in the woods on and offfor years. She said Jackson was aware of her son’s illness and told the Zamorafamily to call her anytime for help. The incident began after Dennise Zamoracalled deputies after watching her son walk in and out of neighbors’ homes. Shesaid her son wasn’t aware of his mental illnesses. Dennise Zamora said her sonhad struggled with mental illness since their family’s house burned down morethan a decade ago. She said he was “agreeable” and “placid”that morning and that she didn’t know what made him snap. She also said shedidn’t know where he got the gun used in the shootings. Isaac Zamora issuspected of starting the shooting spree in a small cluster of homes along agravel road near Alger. After killing Jackson and four others in the ruralneighborhood, Zamora drove away and shot and wounded a motorcyclist and StatePatrol trooper Troy Giddings, 42, authorities said. He also shot and killedanother man in a vehicle on a nearby stretch of southbound Interstate 5, theysaid. Two other people were injured, but police didn’t provide details. Zamorawas under state supervision and considered a high-risk offender, withconvictions for theft and drug possession. While Zamora was regarded as anonviolent offender, he was supervised at a high level because of hislong-standing mental-health issues, according to DOC records. Zamora lastreported to his probation officer in Mount Vernon on August 21. In a newsrelease, DOC Secretary Eldon Vail said Zamora had been released from jailduring the first week of August. He had been serving time for felony drugpossession, according to court records. After his release, Zamora had reportedto his community corrections officer twice as instructed, DOC said. A urineanalysis indicated no drug or alcohol consumption. According to reports, overthe past decade, Zamora showed increasing signs of serious mental illness,ranging from suicide attempts to auditory hallucinations, from smashedwindshields to outright threats. He racked up dozens of criminal charges, andwhile none of them were particularly violent offenses, they were enough for himto draw extra scrutiny from the state Department of Corrections, whichsupervised him in the community under a special program for offenders withmental illness. Meanwhile, those who know Zamora best say that for years he wasleft wanting for the psychiatric help he so obviously needed. His mother,Dennise, said that despite his family’s urging, Zamora wouldn’t agree toongoing mental-health treatment, and the law prevented them from forcing it onthe 28-year-old. Zamora was diagnosed over the years with both bipolar disorderand schizophrenia. Over the years, said Dennise Zamora, the family triedeverything they could think of to get him to agree to ongoing treatment.”We’ve all tried to influence him, to threaten him,” she said. AndZamora’s troubles with the law continued: malicious mischief, drugs, theft.Subsequent History: The Skagit Valley Herald reported it received anunauthorized copy of a letter dated January 8, 2010 written by twopsychiatrists treating Isaac Zamora at Western State Hospital. In it, thepsychiatrists say Zamora is severely psychopathic, poses a great danger, butthat he is not mentally ill. The letter also contradicts the argument offeredin court that Zamora suffers from schizophrenia. The psychiatrists say Zamorahas bragged about killing six people and has shown threatening behavior thatmakes him a risk to other patients, staff and the public. Skagit County deputyprosecutor Rosemary Kaholokula said the letter’s intent is to help WesternState Hospital avoid having to pay for Zamora’s care. An internal investigationat the hospital was launched after the letter leaked and a state probe ofpossible violation of federal patient privacy rules. The letter was a draftmeant for internal purposes, and it was not ready to be released to the courtor the public, said Richard Kellogg, director of mental health systems in thestate health department. It was not clear who the original recipient of theletter was, the newspaper said. Prior History: Zamora was sentenced in November2009 to spend life confinement at a mental hospital, with a chance he may do soin prison if found mentally fit. He had reached a plea agreement withprosecutors, pleading guilty to 18 charges, including four murders, but notguilty on two murder charges for reason of insanity.
Source Of Information: Seattle Times, 9/3/08, 9/4/08,9/5/08, 1/23/10; Seattle Post Intelligencer, 9/4/08, 9/5/08; Associated Press,9/5/08; Bellingham Herald, 3/11/09
RecordID:5441
Date: 8/2010
Location: Jackson, Hinds, MS
Summary: On August 6, 2010, 24-year-oldLatwan Dupree Smith killed 31-year-old Jackson Police Department Officer GlenAgee with Agees weapon as the two struggled in five feet of water in adrainage canal off Mississippi 18 less than a mile from the Hinds CountyDetention Center. Smith was captured a short time later by Hinds CountySheriffs deputies in a multi-jurisdiction manhunt. Agee was shot once in theface and laid in the water for some time before he was found. Agees fellow officershad circled around in their patrol cars while Agee pursued on foot in anattempt to cut off Smiths escape route. Smith escaped from a patrol car aftercomplaining that he could not breathe and asked the officers to lower hiswindow. Smith wrestled his cuffed hands from behind his back and opened thepatrol car door from the outside. Earlier in the evening, the three officersresponded to a domestic violence call and found Smith holding another person atgunpoint. Smith was combative, and the officers decided to take him directlyfrom the scene to the jail in Raymond. Prior History: Smith, has a lengthyhistory of arrests dating to 2004 for which he was in and out of the HindsCounty Detention Center in Raymond. Family members said that Smith was diagnosedwith schizophrenia, and he had a psychiatric evaluation at Hinds BehavioralHealth Service in 2009 and last visited the center a week before the shooting.
Source Of Information: Clarionledger.com, 8/7/10; WLBT3,8/11/10; Clarion Ledger, 8/16/10
RecordID:5550
Date: 1/2011
Location: Rainier, Columbia, OR
Summary: On January 5, 2011, 55-year-oldRainier Police Chief Ralph Painter was fatally shot by 21-year-old DanielArmaugh Butts as he tried to stop Butts n from stealing a car at a West Rainierstereo shop. Painter responded to reports that a man was trying to steal a carthere. A struggle ensued and Butts somehow managed to get Painters gun andshoot him in the head. Police then opened fire on Butts of Kalama, who remainedin the stereo store and refused to surrender. Butts was shot during theincident before he surrendered. During the altercation, stray bullets shotthrough a window at the nearby Rainier Assembly of God Church, nearly hittingthe congregation’s pastor. Over 20 law enforcement vehicles from three countiesresponded to the scene. Subsequent History: During a February 9, 2011 hearing,Daniel Butts attorney said his client was “floridly psychotic” andunable to assist in his own defense. The judge agreed and sent the Butts to theOregon State Hospital for a mental evaluation. The defense attorney said hisclient was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. According to family and friends, Buttshad displayed increasingly erratic behavior in the weeks before the encounterwith Painter.
Source Of Information: TDN.com, 1/5/11; OregonLive.com,1/21/11, 2/9/11; The Oregonian, 6/22/11
RecordID:5581
Date: 4/2011
Location: Sigourney, Keokuk, IA
Summary: On April 4, 2011, 53-year-oldJeffrey Alan Krier fatally shot 38-year-old Keokuk County Sheriffs Deputy EricStein. The Iowa State Patrol Tactical Unit fatally shot Krier after athree-hour standoff following Steins death. The incident began when Krieropened fire on three Keokuk County sheriff’s officers as they approached hishome killing Stein. The other officers weren’t injured. The Iowa Department ofPublic Safety said that the officers had gone to the house because of anunspecified incident that reportedly occurred the night before. According tohis family, Krier, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder over 30 years ago,had been hospitalized after police took him into custody on March 3. While hewas in the hospital in Des Moines, the county tried but was unable to obtain aninvoluntary commitment resulting in Kriers release. Prior History: Krier hadnot worked in 15 years because of his mental illness and lived with hisparents, until they went to a nursing home in March. Kriers parents tookresponsibility for him following a rash of arrests in the mid-1990s includingcharges of carrying weapons, stalking, assault and drunken driving. He wasfound not guilty of many of the charges by reason of insanity.
Source Of Information: Eastern Iowa News Now, 4/5/11;The Muscatine Journal, 4/6/11; wcfcourier.com, 4/6/11; Des Moines Register,4/8/11, 4/12/11, 5/9/11
RecordID:5597
Date: 4/2011
Location: New Boston, Bowie, TX
Summary: On April 18, 2011, 21-year-oldTucker Strickland fatally shot 54-year-old Bowie County Deputy Sherri Jones inthe basement of the county courthouse. Jones was escorting Strickland to thevan for transfer back to a state facility where he was confined when Stricklandoverpowered her, grabbed her pistol, shot her and fled in the van.Subsequently, Arkansas authorities found Strickland and the van in Ashdown, AK,about 30 miles northeast of New Boston. Strickland had been at a hearing toaddress his non-compliance with medication at Rusk State Hospital. PriorHistory: In November 20110, a Bowie County grand jury had indicted Stricklandin on a count of assault with bodily injury in family violence. A pscyhologicalevaluation concluded he was incompetent to stand trial. Subsequent History: OnApril 2011, Tucker Strickland was transferred to Parker County Jail for his ownprotection and to protect the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office from anyaccusations of foul play. Stricklands family members expressed concern abouthis treatment and welfare while in custody.
Source Of Information: MSNBC.com, 4/18/11;TodaysTHV.com, 4/18/11; KSLA News 12, 4/21/11
RecordID:5600
Date: 4/2011
Location: Eugene, Lane, OR
Summary: On April 22, 2011, 56-year-oldCheryl Dawn Kidd fatally shot 43-year-old Eugene Police Officer Chris Kilcullenduring a traffic stop. According to police, Kidd confessed to killingKilcullen. Witnesses reported that the lone occupant of Kidds 1998 Buick Skylarkshot Kilcullen from the drivers window as he pulled up next to the car, stillon his motorcycle. Kilcullen was wearing a protective vest, but the bulletentered the right side of his torso just above it. The car fled the scene andSpringfield police gave chase which ended 35 miles later at a dead-end loggingroad. According to Kidds brother, she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia at theage of 19. Subsequent History: On June 6, 2011, a judge ruled that Kidd was toomentally ill to stand trial and would be taken to the Oregon State Hospital fortreatment until she was deemed fit to proceed. Kidd was transported to thehospital for up to three years of treatment that might allow her to aid andassist in her defense against an aggravated murder charge.
Source Of Information: OregonLive.com, 4/25/11; TheRegister Guard, 4/26/11, 6/8/11, 6/12/11
RecordID:5613
Date: 5/2011
Location: NA, Lowndes, MS
Summary: On May 9, 2011, 44-year-old JohnRogers Montgomery was fatally shot during a fire fight with Lowndes Countydeputies. Montgomery, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, had beenoff of his anti-psychotic medicine since December. The incident began on May 8when Montgomery pulled a handgun on a relative who had gone to check on him.The relative called police and when they arrived, he fled into a wooded areaand pointed a rifle at them before escaping. Deputies searched until about 7:15p.m. when they decided to resume the search the next morning. They returned toMontgomerys home the next morning when they learned he had returned. When theyarrived, Montgomery was in the yard armed with a .22-caliber automatic rifle.He again ran for the woods and then stopped to open fire on pursuing pfficers.
Source Of Information: The Dispatch, 5/9/11; WBCI.com,5/9/11; Beaumont Enterprise, 5/11/11
RecordID:5648
Date: 6/2011
Location: Albany Township, Berks, PA
Summary: On June 29, 2011, Matthew M.Connor fatally shot a Berks County Deputy Kyle D. Pagerly near Connors familyhome before he was fatally shot by police. Pagerly had arrived with statepolice, U.S. marshals and other deputies to serve a warrant and take him intocustody. Maurice Connor said his son was diagnosed with schizophrenia andrelated disorders and struggled with mental illness almost all his life. Hesaid Matthew was too disruptive to live in the house so he slept in a van and atent in the nearby woods. Matthew spent most of his time outdoors, but stoppedin the house to cook meals. Prior History: On June 27, Matthew threatened tokill his father, his 17-year-old sister, and a guest, repeatedly firing ahandgun into the ground in front of them before putting the gun into his mouth.The warrant Pagerly was serving was related to that incident. Connors fathersaid he and his wife tried hard to help their son for many years, urging him toget help and paying for his therapy, but nothing worked.