Review Absolves State Hospital In Suspect’S Release Report Cites Missed Opportunities To Head Off Killing Of 70-Year-Old

A state-ordered review of accused killer Todd A. Marsh’s discharge from Eastern State Hospital found no fault with his care at the mental facility.

But excerpts from the eight-page report released Friday by the Department of Social and Health Services suggest that opportunities to prevent the killing were missed because of a lack of communication between police and mental health and substance abuse counselors.

Marsh is accused of bludgeoning 70-year-old Marcie Robbins of Omak on June 9, the day he was released from Eastern State Hospital. He had been sent to Eastern three days before by Omak counselors who feared Marsh would kill himself or someone else.

The full report was withheld to protect Marsh’s right to medical confidentiality, said Pat Terry, head of DSHS’ Mental Health Division in Olympia.

But she released portions of the report’s conclusion to The Spokesman-Review to show that hospital staff did not err when they released Marsh.

The report was completed by a three-person team not employed by the state: Dr. Cornelius Bakker and nurse Kathleen Fuller of Sacred Heart Medical Center, and Deaconess Medical Center social worker Jennifer Allen.

“It is the opinion of the review team that the patient was given appropriate treatment,” concludes the report. “A careful psychiatric evaluation, well-documented in the chart, shows that the mental health system did not fail to render the service to the community that it is assigned to do.

“It could be argued that the patient should never have been admitted to the hospital in the first place, as he was not suffering a psychiatric disorder. However, it seemed appropriate that a brief hospitalization was ordered to have an evaluation before deciding the individual’s problem resided outside the realm of mental health.”

Robbins’ family and defense attorney immediately questioned the report’s integrity.

“This is what I expected from them: `Nobody is wrong,”’ said Tommye Robbins, Marcie’s daughter.

“It looks like they’re covering their ass,” said Gary Robbins, Marcie’s son. “We want answers. We don’t want to butt our heads against a brick wall.”

Kelli Armstrong, Marsh’s public defender, agreed.

“He’s talking about having hallucinations, and voices are telling him to kill. That sounds like a significant mental health problem to me,” said Armstrong, who is planning a defense based on temporary insanity.

She is now awaiting the results of a court-ordered psychiatric exam of Marsh completed this week. The evaluators - a doctor and psychologist from Spokane - were hired by Eastern to avoid a conflict of interest.

But Armstrong wonders about that evaluation, too. “Normally I have a lot of respect for Eastern,” she said. “There’s a shadow over everything now. Should I believe what they say?”

Marsh is being held in the Okanogan County jail on $1 million bail. He is under careful watch after a suicide note was found in his cell Friday.

Fuller, one of the review team members, said the report was “a very objective review.”

“No one pulled any punches or were under pressure to cast anyone in a favorable light,” she said.

Terry also defended the integrity of the review. “When you have a serious incident, it warrants an external investigation so allegations about subjectivity are not there,” she said.

The report and interviews show how Marsh - a repeat felon known in Omak for erratic behavior and at least a pint-a-day whiskey habit - slid through substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling and police surveillance.

Marsh had been offered treatment for alcoholism before the murder, but was unwilling to go, according to two mental health sources. Psychiatrists at Eastern believed his problems were primarily caused by drinking, and he did not need mental treatment offered by the hospital.

But police weren’t told by the hospital that Marsh was headed home, nor had they been told that Marsh was sent to Eastern for threatening to kill.

“No one tells the cops anything,” said Omak Police Sgt. Frank Rogers, who is investigating the murder. “They don’t tell us he’s threatening to kill someone, and they don’t tell us he’s coming back to town. It’s really frustrating.”

They found out the afternoon of June 9 while interviewing Marsh’s mother for an investigation into a local burglary in February, in which Marsh is the prime suspect.

Rogers quickly called local bars to ask them to report any sightings of Marsh, and got a response from the bartender at The Lariat bar, directly behind the police station, after midnight June 10.

By that time, Marcie Robbins was already dead. Police say Robbins was brutally bludgeoned to death about 11:30 p.m. in her home with a bathroom weight scale.

Rogers was waiting for Marsh as he emerged from the bar about 1:30 a.m. wearing boxer shorts and black boots. Marsh serenaded Rogers with the “Bad Boys” theme from the TV show “Cops,” Rogers said.

“My personal opinion is that Todd’s not nuts,” said Rogers. “He does have a drinking problem and an anger problem. The bottom line with Todd is he’s evil.”

In a new twist on the case, Omak police are now comparing Marsh’s fingerprints and DNA to crime scene evidence collected in the 1998 unsolved murder of Omak bar owner Sandy Bauer.

There is no evidence now linking Marsh to that murder, but he knew Bauer, said Rogers. “We want to see if there’s a connection,” he said.