September 20, 2009 in City

Doug Clark: Field trip a literal no-brainer

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It’s a coin flip deciding who looks crazier these days.

Escaped psycho killer Phillip Arnold Paul?

Or the alleged mental health professionals at Eastern State Hospital who let Paul and a troop of other criminally dangerous patients go on a field trip to the Spokane County fair?

That sure turned out swell, huh?

Here’s a thought. Next time Eastern State decides to make it Hannibal Lecter Day at the fair, how about letting the public know so families can skip the giant pumpkins and barnyard fun and head to a mall for a movie?

As everyone in the country now knows, Paul ditched his keepers and, like the boogeyman, remains at large.

A lot of people are pretty sore at Eastern State administrators for waiting two hours before sounding any alarms about Paul’s vanishing act.

It’s no mystery. They did it for the same reasons the mayor in “Jaws” wanted to keep a lid on the shark.

But not to worry. State DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus appeared at a press conference Friday where she assured the public that she is quite “concerned” and that a thorough investigation is under way.

Dreyfus didn’t inspire my confidence. I haven’t seen so much nervous wriggling since the last time I tried to bait a hook.

Pardon my skepticism, but the system has been blowing it with this ticking time bomb for more than 20 years.

I know. I first railed about Paul in 1993, when I learned that Eastern State officials were letting him come into Spokane twice a week for art classes.

“I’m so angry,” Helen Mottley told me at the time. “Nobody should go through what my family had to go through.”

Paul killed Helen’s mom, Ruth, on April 25, 1987.

Ruth Mottley was a beloved figure in Sunnyside. The retired educator founded the town’s historical society. She appeared in a list of Washington’s 100 most influential women.

Paul is in a rare league of his own, too. When he’s off his meds and in a full delusional state, Paul’s like the lead in a Wes Craven horror flick.

“He’s the only paranoid schizophrenic – I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of them – that frightened me,” psychiatrist Frank Hardy testified in a 1988 deposition.

The voices in Paul’s head told him Mottley was a witch. So he took care of her in a violent and gruesome way.

Here’s the thing, though. Mottley’s violent death shouldn’t have happened. But even back then the system wasn’t making the right decisions regarding Paul.

Here’s an excerpt from my column in 1993:

“No one is more upset by the system’s handling of Paul than southern Idaho rancher Max Hintze.

“In the spring of 1987, Paul drove off in his truck. He made it to Mackay, Idaho, where Hintze happened upon him sitting dazed in the pickup in the middle of the highway.

“Hintze called a deputy who arrested Paul and found several loaded handguns and a sawed-off shotgun in the truck. Paul was taken to a mental facility in Blackfoot, but Custer County wanted him discharged because of the cost.

“Hintze pleaded with officials to not let him go. He mailed a registered letter to the institution, demanding Paul be kept because of his danger to society.

“Instead, mental health workers gave Paul some drugs and released him to his mother, who took her son back to Sunnyside.”

Just 10 days later, Paul, a former wrestler, crept into Mottley’s home. He all but tore her head off with his bare hands.

Oh, yeah. This guy is definitely “field trip to the fair” material.

In Saturday’s Spokesman-Review, Hal Wilson, Eastern State Hospital’s CEO, said, “We don’t consider him (Paul) extremely dangerous.”

Thanks, Hal. Tell it to Ruth Mottley.

Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com.

Three comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  tlm509 on September 20 at 12:14 p.m.

  As one steeped in the ways of government it is easy to understand why there was a two hour delay in notifying the authorities after Paul disappeared. The administrators were preparing an “appropriate response.” If administrators had immediately contacted the authorities they would have been unprepared for the onslaught of questions from the media. Finding the the missing murderer is less important than having an “appropriate response.” An “appropriate response” is the key to show the public administrators look like they know what they are doing. In the minds of administrators this is their salvation.

• 

  philipgregory on September 21 at 9:04 a.m.

  Responsibility lies at the top. The ones that should be held accountable are the ‘administrator(s)’ that MADE the policy allowing convicted criminals (of violent crimes) held at a psychiatric institution to have day trips, or out of locked confinement for any reason. AND, those administrators, including DSHS secretary, that CONTINUED such a ludicrous policy.

  Remember, all those below that administrative level are just following policy. Where they may have had choices, such as allowed to walk about the fair vs a bus tour where they remain in the vehicle, they should also be held accountable.

  And, ‘held accountable’ needs to be substantial. If the person recommending or approving the policy still is employed by the state THEY SHOULD BE FIRED! Nothing short. Obviously they don’t have the critical thinking skills required for an administrative policy making position.

• 

  tlm509 on September 22 at 12:27 p.m.

  Mr. Gregory, Your comment is excellent. Unfortunately your last paragraph about accountability will fall on deaf ears. There is very little accountability in government. As Colonel Yingling wrote wrote around the time of the
  Walter Reed Hospital mess, ” A soldier can get in more trouble for losing arifle, than a general for losing a war.”

  I will be very surprised if any administrator takes a fall.