Political Correctness or Stupidity?

[Skip8282]

Yes, the politically correct thing to believe is that people acquitted for insanity need treatment, not punishment.  But, I'm going to have to put this one in the stupidity column.



Insane Killer Escapes During Mental Institution's Field Trip
Thursday, September 17, 2009 


Police are searching for killer committed to a mental institution after he escaped during a field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair.

Spokane County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan says 57-year-old Phillip Arnold Paul was last seen Thursday morning in the northeast part of the fairgrounds.

The sheriff's office told KXLY in Spokane that they were "dismayed" that the Eastern State's Hospital didn't notify authorities for more than an hour and a half after they knew he was missing.

"It appears now there was a two hour lapse from the point he disappeared from his attendant to the sheriff's office was notified of his escape and obviously that's a concern to us," Sgt. Reagan told KXLY. "We're concerned that we were not aware that people of his criminal history were being brought to the fair for day trips. As a courtesy we would have liked to have been notified ahead of time."

In 1987, Paul slashed an elderly woman's throat in Sunnyside in 1987, soaked her body in gasoline to throw off search dogs and buried the remains in her flower garden.

He was later diagnosed as being criminally insane and suffering from schizophrenia, KXLY reported.

Paul claimed the voices in this head told him the woman was a witch, according to the station.

He was acquitted by reason of insanity but committed to Eastern State Hospital indefinitely.

Had the institution told the police about the incident earlier, the "odds of catching him would have been much greater," Reagan said.

Eastern State Hospital declined comment.

A store clerk told authorities she saw someone matching Paul's description later in the morning, and Reagan says investigators believe he has gotten outside the fairgrounds.

"His sister tells us he calls his parents in Sunnyside virtually every day and that if he's escaped he's headed home," Reagan told the station.

The fair's director told KXLY that they were unaware a group from the hospital was at the fair.

In 1996, a judge allowed Paul to attend Spokane Community College during the day as long as the went back to Eastern State Hospital at night, according to the station. Two years later another judge ruled he could have overnight visits in Spokane as long as an adult member of his fmaily was present.

It's not the first time Paul has escaped.

In 1990 he walked away from custody and attacked a sheriff's deputy who apprehended him.

[grab an umbrella]

They were "dismayed"  What the fuck good does that do?

[gcb]

I don't know if he was insane or not - if he was he belongs in an mental institution. The incorrect thing to do here would be to take him on any outings - really he should be confined at all times if he is a danger to the public.

[MB_722]

I'm an ass for saying this, but it'd be fun to work in a mental hospital. The stories you'd come home with would be priceless

[tonymctones]

I'm an ass for saying this, but it'd be fun to work in a mental hospital. The stories you'd come home with would be priceless

LOL not so much...

Like being a cop too you would have great stories still wouldnt be worth it imho

I dont think its a poltically correct stunt to deem someone insane and put them in a mental hospital but it should be ran like jail after all they did commit a crime. It should be a specialized facility the same as you have for ppl who exhibit extreme violence, gang leaders, high profile inmates etc...but should still be a prison setting.

[George Whorewell]

LOLOL only in fucking America do the mentally insane get taken to field trips at the county fair... and are then lost to roam around in public and escape.

Whats next, taking a bunch of convicted sex offenders to a pre teen fashion show?

[The Showstoppa]

LOLOL only in fucking America do the mentally insane get taken to field trips at the county fair... and are then lost to roam around in public and escape.

Whats next, taking a bunch of convicted sex offenders to a pre teen fashion show?

QFT.

[Dos Equis]

I vote for stupidity. 

[Dos Equis]

And incompetence. 

Escaped killer still at large in Washington state

(CNN) -- A legally insane killer was on the loose in the state of Washington on Saturday, two days after he escaped during a field trip to a county fair, authorities said.

Phillip Paul was able to elude a massive manhunt in Spokane County, Washington, after escaping on Thursday, a spokesman for the sheriff's department said.

Though Paul had been confined in a mental institution because of a murder confession, he was allowed to be part of a trip to a county fair Thursday.

Paul, 47, escaped from the fair around noon, which launched the massive manhunt and brought criticism from many, including state government officials. Sheriff's officials told CNN affiliate KREM-TV that Paul also escaped briefly in 1991 and assaulted a law enforcement officer.

A review has been launched on the incident along with the policy that allows patients to take trips, said Susan Dreyfus, secretary of the state's Department of Social and Health Services.

Dreyfus said she was concerned about Paul's escape and another recent brief escape by a patient at a different local mental facility.

"These incidents, separate and coincidental, have raised serious questions about the security readiness of our two state psychiatric hospitals," Dreyfus said.

Paul was committed to Eastern State Hospital after admitting he strangled and slit the throat of community activist Ruth Motley in 1987, KREM-TV reported. According to court documents obtained by KREM, Paul believed Motley was a witch and killed her in response to voices in his head.

He subsequently burned a deer carcass as a sacrifice, according the documents.

The extent of Paul's illness was disturbing even to mental health professionals, KREM reported.

"He's the only paranoid schizophrenic -- I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands of them -- that frightened me," Dr. Frank Hardy, a licensed psychiatrist, says in one of the documents, according to KREM. "The first time I took one look at him -- and I've never done this before or since -- I asked the jailer to remain in the room while I examined him.

"I believe he would respond to his delusions and his voices again" if released, Hardy wrote.

But Paul "Coyote" Neumann, a disc jockey at Spokane radio station Kix 96-FM, has an entirely different view of the escapee. Neumann has known Paul for 12 years through volunteering at the hospital and correspondence by mail.

Paul is a talented artist, Neumann told KREM-TV.

"I was just amazed by his ability. I always took him as a savant," Neumann said. "I never knew that he had murdered somebody until three or four or five years later."

Neumann described Paul as a "gentle soul."

"I've never seen him raise his voice; I've never seen him get frustrated; I've never seen nothing but kindness from him," he told KREM.

"I get mixed emotions because I do see the sweet, softer side of this individual, but I've never seen him unsupervised, I've never seen him not medicated," Neumann said. "But that's not to say in another 12, 15, 20 hours without those medications that he doesn't revert to those demons."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/19/washington.escaped.killer/index.html