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September 18, 2009 in News, City
State plans to launch investigation
A judge ruled earlier this month that a paranoid schizophrenic killer who remained at large Friday after walking away from a supervised outing was a threat to public safety because he had become more aggressive and less aware of his psychosis.
Nevertheless, mental health professionals at Eastern State Hospital determined Phillip A. Paul was safe enough to take on a field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair along with 30 other patients from the hospital’s forensic ward.
The forensic ward, known as “2 South 1” is inhabited by mental patients who have been determined by the courts to be not guilty of serious crimes by reason of insanity, or people judged to be incapable of assisting in their own defense.
“He was not the only murderer at the fair yesterday,” said Greg Davis, president of Washington Federation of State Employees, Local 782, which represents Eastern State Hospital workers.
Davis said hospital workers “have repeatedly over the years opposed administration policies and practices that allow the kinds of field trips like the one Paul took to the fair.”
The union local president said hospital workers accompanying the patients on the field trip notified their superiors at the hospital “within two to three minutes” of discovering Paul’s escape.
“It was the administration in Medical Lake that waited some two hours to notify law enforcement authorities,” Davis said.
Rob Henry, the director of the hospital’s forensic ward, said Friday that the hospital followed all required protocols for an escaped patient.
Hospital CEO Hal Wilson said that Paul, 47, was not a serious threat to public safety and that a “treatment team” of mental health professionals approved his participation in the field trip.
“We don’t consider him extremely dangerous,” Wilson said. “Although we would certainly like to have him apprehended and back in custody.”
He could not explain the delay in notifying police that Paul had slipped away from staff at the fair.
“I don’t have a good answer at this time,” Wilson said, adding that the secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, Susan Dreyfus, had ordered an investigation into the incident.
In a news conference in Spokane Friday, Dreyfus said she has launched a statewide inquiry into the security and procedures for patient outings from Eastern, as well as from the state’s other psychiatric hospital, Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Wash. Dreyfus said a patient escaped from that hospital’s secure forensic ward just last week, but was apprehended an hour later by police.
“These incidences, separate and coincidental, have raised serious questions in my mind,” Dreyfus said.
Dreyfus said the security review, in conjunction with the state Department of Corrections and the Washington State Patrol, will focus on “what are the issues and cautions that go into keeping our communities safe and secure on the edge of our campuses.”
Paul was committed to Eastern State Hospital in July 1987 after being found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing a 78-year-old Sunnyside, Wash., woman in April of that year.
Paul, who was 25 at the time, attacked Ruth Mottley, snapping her neck and slashing her throat twice. He then doused her body with gasoline, and buried her in her own flower garden. Paul told authorities that the voices in his head told him Mottley was a witch who was casting spells on him.
On Friday, law enforcement agencies led by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office continued to search for Paul, focusing their attention on homeless camps along the Spokane River and railroad corridors.
“All we know is that he is on foot with $50 in his pocket, headed somewhere,” said Sgt. Dave Reagan, Sheriff’s spokesman. They believe Paul is headed to Sunnyside, but still launched an air search over Spokane, as well as west along the railroad line toward the Tri-Cities, Reagan said.
The Department of Social and Health Services informed law enforcement on Friday that Paul had received his recent injection of medication within the past few days, which should keep him stable for a couple of weeks. It had been reported, apparently in error on Thursday, that his medication would become ineffective in 48 hours.
But whether he was in any condition to be allowed on outing still remains unclear.
“He is in a bad mental state,” Paul’s brother, Tom Paul, told the Associated Press Friday. “Why would they load him on a bus and take him to the fair?”
Davis, the local union representative, said that field trips to such public events as fairs, baseball games, circuses and the Ice Capades routinely include “murderers, rapists and pedophiles committed to the hospital as criminally insane.”
Henry acknowledged that the field trips to the fair are an anticipated and annual event for patients.
The field trips are considered part of therapy, and only those who exhibit good behaviors and are compliant with their treatment regimens are allowed to go, officials said.
“Some are doing well and with proper medication and treatment are ready to re-enter society,” said Davis, who has worked at Eastern State Hospital for more than 30 years, including about 23 years in the forensic unit. “But only the ones doing well.”
Paul, he said, wasn’t one of them.
“Several of my members were surprised that Mr. Paul was approved to go to the fair,” Davis said.Wilson, head of the hospital, said Paul had been “a fairly model patient.” But court documents dated Sept. 4 show the judge overseeing Paul’s case continues to harbor reservations over his progress, concluding that Paul still represents “a threat to public safety, because, regardless of the reasons, his condition has deteriorated.”
Although judges have rejected Paul’s repeated attempts to win full release from his court-ordered commitment, he has been granted numerous conditional releases allowing him to live outside of the state hospital. All, however, have ended in Paul being ordered back to Eastern State, usually for refusing to take his medications and becoming increasingly defiant.
During one of his conditional releases, Paul began dating a woman in Spokane who became pregnant with their child. The child now is in state custody, court documents show. “I want to get out of the hospital, marry my girlfriend and live with my parents and raise my boy at Sunnyside on the farm,” Paul wrote to Yakima County Superior Court Judge Bob Thompson in 2006 during one of his petitions for release.
Following that court hearing, Paul was allowed to return to the Carlysle Care Center, a group home in downtown Spokane. But in January he was ordered back to the hospital and in March a senior hospital committee recommended revocation of Paul’s conditional release order because he did not take his medications on time because he believed they were poisoning him, professed that he was not mentally ill and became more aggressive.
Though Yakima County Superior Court Judge Michael Schwab did not revoke the conditional release, on Sept. 4 he concluded that there were enough concerns to keep Paul at the state hospital while his is medications are adjusted and his condition stabilized.
At a news conference Friday, Henry, who is charge of the forensic unit, stated he wasn’t aware of the Sept. 4 order.
On Friday, Gov. Chris Gregoire, who was in Spokane when Paul escaped a day earlier, issued a statement on the incident.
“I am asking the same questions that the residents of the area are asking: How do we catch this person as soon as possible? Why was he allowed to take such a trip? Why did they go to a location that was so heavily populated with families?” Gregoire said.
Kevin Graman can be reached at kevingr@spokesman.com, (509) 459-5433; Sara Leaming can be reached at sarale@spokesman.com, (509) 459-5533. Yakima Herald-Republic staff writer Mark Morey and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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ladyseaside52 on September 18 at 12:00 p.m.
This is criminal! Inexcusable…the supervisors should be held accountable. They are as guilty as he is, in my book.
IHike4Fun on September 18 at 1:06 p.m.
BR ng. You have a book?
piwacket5 on September 18 at 1:16 p.m.
Geez! The guy has a history of murder, prior escape, assault on a police officer and somebody thinks it’s a good idea to take him to the fair!!! Who’s insane here?
westside on September 18 at 1:40 p.m.
JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE:”NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD”…SHOOT ON SITE……
flutieflakes on September 18 at 2:43 p.m.
Phree Phil Paul!!
Pat_SN on September 18 at 6:24 p.m.
Sight….The man is just that a man. He has a sickness and because of that he ended up doing terrible things. Not that I’m going to start posting on this page extensively but honestly shoot on sight? The man has been stabilized on medication for many many years since his last violent outburst. He has long acting anti psychotics in his system for the time being. Your fear mongering does nothing but fan a fire of hatred for mentally ill. There are many more sane criminals wandering around Spokane now that you should be more worried about. If our system as a whole did a better job of identifying and treating mental illness early tragedies such as this could be diverted. But no, treatment is delayed or inaccessible and families lose loved ones and a man loses his life living in a hospital. It’s an awful situation for everybody involved. So while you ponder what gun you would rather shoot another human with, I hope you take time to consider how you would spend your time in jail.
Pat O'Leary on September 18 at 6:58 p.m.
I like that….he escaped. Those words imply that there was some kind of confinement involved, but obviously, if he was wandering around the fair, he had no reason to escape…. he was already free. We probably need to put the Spokane PD in charge of these mentally ill people…they would have them hog-tied, tasered, and beat to death way before they got away.
schleufer on September 18 at 7:29 p.m.
wilson dont concider him extremely dangerous? slitting someones throat dont qualify you for that? or is it if you keep doing it, that qualifies you for that? why does it take over 2 weeks to find out what happend? who authorized it? who went? who was assigned to watch him? who was the point person responcible for the whole bunch? why did that person wait 2 hours to report it? why cant they just call in all the adminstration involved along with the workers and a reporter and air it out? maybe they need 2 weeks to come up with a bunch of big words and medical terms so that when its done the public will still be in the dark.
Rifleman_Dodd on September 18 at 7:41 p.m.
Funny they promise 15 days for Wilson and for Otto we have 3 years and five months plus to the day.
I enjoy all the uninformed emotional rant drool from a lot of posters who cant wait till ALL the FACTS are in to spew their b.s. Most circles its called hysteria.
skeugster on September 18 at 7:57 p.m.
My goodness, after reading the foregoing comments I suspect the commentors are much more advanced and perfect than the people who were involved in this matter. And, possibly the rest of us and humanity in general.
It is good to know there is such expertise and self-confidence in the community. I feel assured that in time these people will come to the fore and will rise to the top and will run the community and everything will be just “hunky doriy.”
Meanwhile, … . . .
JohnnyHands on September 18 at 9:21 p.m.
Check out Phil’s myspace page and hear the rock band he fronts, and sings about institutional life:
http://www.myspace.com/phillywillyandthehillbillies
McDall on September 18 at 10:11 p.m.
I have young children and to think that this man was at the fair where many families are present is terribly error in judgement. This is simply a horrible situation and hopefully he will be aprehended prior to hurting anyone else. The worst part is this could have been avoided. I would hate to be the person/s that decided to let him be a part of this so called “field trip” if he does hurt someone else.
jddavis on September 18 at 11:03 p.m.
[Hospital CEO Hal Wilson said that Paul, 47, was not a serious threat to public safety and that a “treatment team” of mental health professionals approved his participation in the field trip.
“We don’t consider him extremely dangerous,” Wilson said. “Although we would certainly like to have him apprehended and back in custody.”]
Well heck, I feel a whole lot better that the people in charge don’t consider Paul a threat to the public. I have to ask why is there such a big manhunt for the guy?
Downplaying this huge lapse in judgment doesn’t fly. Taking patients of this type to public events in the name of therapy is complete BS. Pat_SN in an earlier post suggests that “fear mongering does nothing but fan a fire of hatred for mentally ill.” I would suggest that taking someone who slashed someones throat to the county fair as some sort of reward for good behavior is asinine. It has nothing to do with “hatred of the mentally ill.”
If established policies and procedures were indeed followed, massive changes must be made now.
Pat_SN on September 19 at 2:11 a.m.
There is a reason why people are committed to mental hospitals in lieu of jail. It is because they are ill and receive treatment not imprisonment. As for no hatred of the mentally ill, it’s honestly like saying there is no racial motivation for some of things we’ve seen in politics recently. Everybody may deny it but really we all know it’s there. People hear “criminally insane” a thousand times along with recounts of the terrible things he did and then a few things happen. First they get scared, because that’s what these words do, they are meant to terrify people. Second the people get angry, it would be justifiable if it weren’t based in fear. Then third, action is taken against the supposed cause of the problem. You know who is going to suffer most from this. The patients at Eastern State and that’s a tragedy. People hear criminally insane and they think “Oh they’re crazy and they’ve committed a crime that must make them super dangerous”. When in reality they should be thinking that these people have a sickness which caused them to do something. That’s the reason they’re in treatment in the first place. Now to clarify I don’t disagree with the fact that he should be apprehended or that there was a serious failure of supervision here. What I disagree with is how this man and all mentally ill are being dehumanized. It’s a terrible thing to do with a whole population and because the mentally ill at ESH obviously have little say in the matter it’s up to other more powerful voices to speak for them. The reaction has already been swift, it’s going to come hard, and unfortunately it will be the patients who bear the brunt of this situation.
Andy on September 19 at 2:31 a.m.
Question: Do the people who make these decisions get a salary for the job they do?
Once again, after a terrible decision goes very, very bad, they decide to review procedures. There is one positive thing that comes out of this, though. Those of us who take our children and grandchildren to the fair now know that murderers will be there on a field trip.
cme on September 19 at 4:02 a.m.
Ya know… it’s DOUBTFUL today, a court system would allow this murderer to be deemed… “insane”.
He was convicted in 1987 …back in the last days when people actually thought people who mudered were “insane”.
People who commit “cold blooded” murder are not insane, as we all (pretty much) know today. They are damaged goods, who can not be rehabilitated. If you kill… you should be killed. No if, and’s or but’s. Certainly no outings to the local fair. good god!
Scoutster on September 19 at 7:09 a.m.
Thank you, Spokesman, for a little more indepth info re this situation than the TV stations seem capable of providing…I posted this on one of them,and I want to ask it here as well…
Does anyone know the name of the “journalist” who dominated the DSHS news conference? I don’t think it was Will Pitts of KREM who looked to be the assigned reporter. It didn’t sound like him.
Whoever it was, he wasted the time of every person living in Spokane. He must have asked the same questions 10 times, got the same responses every time, and from what I saw didn’t ask a single useful question for apprehending this man.
Like what meds is he on and what is the likely course of action his withdrawal will take (we have a shrink sitting right there…no matter what one might feel about the policies at ESH, we are all on the same team right now to find this man).
We couldn’t get some information about the man himself, not just the people who allowed him to escape?
Does he have any money?
What exactly is he wearing or have with him?
HOw does he present himself to the public? Is he shy, aggressive, loud, active and pacing or sulking and quiet? Tell us about this guy? (Like it or not, they know more about him than all the comments on this site combined)
Will he be concerned about his hygiene and seek places to clean and groom himself, or is he likely to become disheveled?
Will he become highly paranoid? (This, my friends, is the answer that will determine how this thing ends.)
Is he suicidal and possibly dead?
Where else might he be heading beside Sunnyside?
Why do you think those places?
What is he like when he sees a stranger?
Although we have been warned not to approach him, in the event that an interaction takes place, how should we react?
How can we be helpful to the search?
Does he have survival skills from his youth? Did he use to hang out in the wild?
What is the expected course of action as his meds wear off?
Where do these reporters come from? This is a hot situation…we can have all the recriminations later.
It’s like everyone is standing around looking at the open barn door cursing the stable boy, and nobody is going after the horse! OK..the horse is out and we’ll kick some butt later.
But let’s go get the damn horse!
What kind of reporting is this? So, anyway, I really don’t know cuz I don’t watch other stations…who was that reporter, anyone know?
Thanks.
leekinny on September 19 at 7:20 a.m.
Thank you Pat_SN for the voice of sanity and good reason. We live with many mentally ill in our community like others throughout the world. The difference is mental health services are below par. Mental health parity is disparately needed.
san_diegan on September 19 at 7:21 a.m.
Outrageuos. And you say California is full of fruits and nuts. The Governator would never have allowed a criminally insane killer to visit the County fair. Make the person in charge who appoved this (and Hal Wilson) bunk with Paul when they catch him.
Scoutster on September 19 at 7:36 a.m.
san_diegan…
I would bet Ahhnold has no more intimate knowledge of the CA policies surrounding the temporary release of forensics patients from state hospitals than Gregoire did before Thurs. Of course, he may have had a crash course in the last few days!
vistadome on September 19 at 9:13 a.m.
As usual with the State, it will take 15 days to find out the ONE person that ok’d this nut case to go to the fair. Then they will announce they are reviewing their policies on this and it won’t happen again. Ditto Ditto……….
voiceofreason on September 19 at 9:33 a.m.
So who is ultimately responsible for this most unfortunate incident?
The patient who has been declared criminally insane, who is currently in locked confinement because the court believes that he cannot safely and independently exercise good judgment?
The staff supervising him who, according to other accounts, were not comfortable with taking him on this outing, but it seems, were doing so at the behest of their supervisors?
Administrators at all levels who may have advocated for clients like Mr. Paul to be included in such outings, doing so because their direct superiors, at all levels had directed that such outings occur?
The citizens of this state, many of whom demand more services AND lower taxes, loudly and persistently communicate this message to their legislators, who predictably respond by cutting funding in many areas, which may include state hospital beds?
So, maybe this is ultimately the fault of the taxpayers?
With very rare exception, those clients residing in our state hospitals are there because they present a danger to others, and less frequently, to themselves as well. If most or all of these clients were held at the state hospitals for a longer period of time, or indefinitely in the case of those considered to be the most dangerous, many more wards would need to be opened, at a significantly increased cost to the taxpayers.
The influx of new patients into the state hospitals is likely to continue. Preventing an increase in hospital census levels requires releasing one existing patient for every new patient who is admitted. By what means can the staff at the state hospitals determine which patients are most likely to “succeed” in the community, realizing that no system is perfect?
One could argue that taking clients to an event such as the fair, which would not be an easy event to supervise (if you’ve ever tried to keep track of three teenagers in such a setting, you’ll likely understand). However, when clients are released to the community, except for a brief visit with a mental health case manager once every few weeks, they will essentially be supervising themselves.
So, what do those posting on this site want? Higher taxes or a continuation of the status quo, realizing that occasionally situations like this will occur.
We can’t have it both ways.
Bob_Knows on September 19 at 9:48 a.m.
How is this situation any different from allowing the SPD to roam our streets and our fair? See “Otto Zehm investigation”
We have hundreds of hired pathological killers roaming our streets looking for anyone who “looks suspicious” to beat to death. I fail to see how one more guy is much of a change.
Will the fair be “pre screening” groups to prevent hired gun thugs in blue suits from roaming the grounds looking for good men to beat to death?
When this guy has killed more people than the SPD, then we’ll worry about him.
leekinny on September 19 at 9:59 a.m.
voiceofreason said…
they present a danger to others, and less frequently, to themselves as well.
That’s a myth and it’s wrong.
The mentally ill are seldom dangerous to others. They are many times more dangerous to themselves.
JohnnyHands on September 19 at 10:26 a.m.
Well Phil, now that your escape has caused a harder look at the patient outings in the state mental health system, I doubt there will be as many of them, and as many patients allowed to go. Your fellow patients are not going to be happy with you.
nslopeofw on September 19 at 1:10 p.m.
There is a big difference in taking suicidal, or depressed patients to the fair as compaired to murderers, rapists, and pedophiles. Any of you who think different, are not people i want in our mental health system.
UniKyrn on September 19 at 1:26 p.m.
“I don’t have a good answer at this time,”
Yeah, I just bet you don’t. Trying to figure out what lie to tell us that won’t result in you being thrown out on the street, sued, or both, is probably going to keep you awake at night for awhile.
As for the rest of us, we’ll be awake wondering where your escaped mental patient is and how far he’ll go to stay free.
CappyS on September 19 at 2:43 p.m.
Does anyone know why he had $50? Seems like a bad enough idea to let him go to the fair, but the money, which could be used for travel if he escaped (as he did), seems like an even worse idea. Is that normal policy, to let them carry money on field trips? Thx.
voiceofreason on September 20 at 1:36 a.m.
lee kinny’s post on September 19 at 9:59 a.m. said
voiceofreason said…
they present a danger to others, and less frequently, to themselves as well.
That’s a myth and it’s wrong.
The mentally ill are seldom dangerous to others. They are many times more dangerous to themselves.
Response: My statement “…they present a danger to others, and less frequently, to themselves as well…” was referring to those clients who are committed to our state hospitals, particularly with reference to those clients who have been committed under the provisions of RCW 10.77, as is the case for Mr. Paul. Clients committed to state hospitals represent a very small subset of those afflicted with mental illness in our country. It was about that particular subset that this writer was speaking. Similarly, persons who are incarcerated represent a very small proportion of our total populace.
In practice, patients who are NGRI have typically been charged with at least a Class C felony, which is punishable by a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. This writer spoke with an acquaintance who works in such a program who indicated that they could not recall a single client whose commitment was based upon an offense that didn’t include some type of violence toward others, unless you might consider an arson,where the potential victims manage to escape unharmed, a non-violent offense.
With regard to those committed under RCW 71.05, all or nearly all are considered to be gravely disabled, and many have, at least in the past, either in the community, the hospital setting or both, committed at least one violent act toward others. State hospitals are considered the absolute last resort for clients who cannot be safely managed in any less restrictive setting.
If you were to contact the state hospitals, I believe they would tell you that the large majority of their patients are involuntarily committed and that very few of their inpatients volunteered of their own accord to come there.
Again, this writer is referring to a very small, select subgroup of those with mental illness.
piwacket5 on September 20 at 1:23 p.m.
Where is the FBI? Or did we forget to call?
rshroll on September 26 at 7:36 a.m.
I totally agree with Pat_SN’s post. The media made this into a extreme fear situation with the repeated labels of criminally insane and insane killer. He was an insane killer for a day in 1987. Since then he has been a committed patient undergoing anti-psychotic medication and therapy that renders him much less dangerous than many criminals walking the streets of Spokane. Jay Leno even said “insane killer, I swear that’s what they called him.” The fear campaign worked wonders. Must have taken a page from the republican play-book (weapons of mass destruction, government takeover of health care, etc, etc).