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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 I A PASSING SHOWER ! 75 " 49 I WWW.SPOKESMAN.COM
COUGS TAKE ON SMU SPORTS, C1, C9 Sorry excuses for apologies D1
A judge ruled earlier this month that aparanoid schizophrenic killer who remainedat large Friday after walking away from asupervised outing was a threat to public safe-ty because he had become more aggressiveand less aware of his psychosis.
Nevertheless, mental health professionalsat Eastern State Hospital determined PhillipA. Paul was safe enough to take on a field tripto the Spokane County Interstate Fair alongwith 30 other patients from the hospital’sforensic ward.
The forensic ward, known as “2 South 1,” isinhabited by mental patients who have beendetermined by the courts to be not guilty ofserious crimes by reason of insanity, or pe-ople judged to be incapable of assisting intheir own defense.
“He was not the only murderer at the fairyesterday,” said Greg Davis, president ofWashington Federation of State Employees,
Field trip for escapeeflies in face of ruling
DAN PELLE [email protected]
DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus listens to Dr.Rob Henry, director of forensic services atEastern State Hospital, answer questionsabout the escape of Phillip A. Paul.
Hospital CEO: Paul not‘extremely dangerous’
JEFF FERGUSON Special to The Spokesman-Review
Phillip A. Paul poses for a portrait in downtown Spokane in 2008, when he was living at TheCarlyle, an assisted living facility.
See ESCAPE, A7
Notification delay: There’s no ‘good answer’By Kevin Graman and Sara LeamingStaff writers
Key developmentsin Phillip A. Paul’slegal history:
# APRIL 1987: Thegasoline-soakedbody of RuthMottley, 78, is foundin a shallow gravenear her LowerYakima Valleyhome, her throat slitand neck broken.Phillip Arnold Paul,who lived nearby,told deputies“voices” in his headinstructed him to“kill the witch onEmerald Road.”
# JULY 1987: Aparanoidschizophrenic, Paulis found not guiltyby reason of insanityin Mottley’s murderand ordered heldindefinitely at a“state mentalinstitution for thecriminally insane.”
# AUGUST 1990:Paul refuses hismedication and laterescapes fromEastern StateHospital. He’sarrested nearFishtrap and whilebeing booked intothe Spokane CountyJail, overpowers adeputy, shatteringthe law enforcementofficer’s shoulder. Ajury later orders thestate to pay thedeputy more than$100,000.
# EARLY 1992: Paulenrolls at SpokaneFalls CommunityCollege and isallowed to leaveEastern StateHospital to attendclasses. During the
Timeline
See TIMELINE, A7
“(Phillip Paul) was not the only murderer at the fair yesterday.’’Greg Davis, president, Washington Federation of State Employees, Local 782
A killer escaping a field trip to the SpokaneCounty Interstate Fair has become a wakeupcall for fair officials, who say they plan tochange policies for visiting groups.
Although Eastern State Hospital pur-chased a block of tickets for a group visit, as ithas in the past, fair officials weren’t told any-
thing about the 31 patients who would be vis-iting, said Rich Hartzell, fair director. “If wehad, the answer would have been no,” hesaid.
By working with the fair board and Spo-kane County commissioners, the fair direc-tor hopes to come up with a policy that willprovide relevant information without beingdiscriminatory.
Fair officials want groups to go through an
application process. The documents wouldask about mental illnesses, types of disabil-ities and criminal acts.
“We will be putting restrictions on anygroup who have people who are considered arisk,” Hartzell said. “If a person has commit-ted violent criminal acts, the answer will be a‘no.’ ”
Fair officials plan policy change after incident Director says
restrictions willbe put in place
for group visitors‘considered a risk’
By Jody [email protected], (509) 459-5593
See FAIR, A7
MIAMI – When he begangetting weak, 61-year-old Ro-nald Beaver figured he mightjust be feeling his age. Eventu-ally his problem was traced to aserious blood disorder causedby low levels of copper.
“I didn’t know what to
think,” Beaver said of his illnessthree years ago. “I had no idea. Iwas just scared to death.”
It wasn’t until several weekslater – after the moving com-pany employee from Tamarac,Fla., started getting daily dosesof copper – that Beaver’s doctormentioned that getting too
Users of denture creamwho overdid it are suing By Curt AndersonAssociated Press
See DENTURES, A5
FILE Associated Press
Alice and Ronald Beaver areamong a growing number ofpeople suing manufacturers overzinc in denture creams.
Intelligence officials said Fri-day that the military strikes havereduced al-Qaida’s core leader-ship to only a handful of men anddiminished its ability to trainfighters. This, they said, hasforced al-Qaida to turn to its glo-bal affiliates for survival.
The killings of Saleh Ali Saleh
LONDON – Recent targetedattacks that killed militants inSomalia, Indonesia and Pakistanhave chipped away at al-Qaida’spower base, sapping the terrornetwork of key leaders and ex-perienced operatives who trainrecruits and wage attacks.
Military strikes taking tollon al-Qaida leaders, camps By Paisley DoddsAssociated Press
See AL-QAIDA, A5
@ On the Web: Read courtdocuments about Phillip A. Paul’s
commitment to Eastern State Hospitaland his conditional release, as well asprevious coverage at spokesman.com/tags/phillip-arnold-paul
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 ! SATURDAY ! PAGE A7
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Meanwhile, the fair is entering its finaltwo days, and continued success is ex-pected.
“Everything considered, we are feelingwe are doing pretty well,” Hartzell said. Ifyou throw out 2008’s free day, whichbrought record numbers, “it’s actually ve-ry close to last year’s attendance throughyesterday.”
The fair broke records this year in pre-fair group sales, which also helped at-tendance numbers, said Erin Gurtel, fairmarketing director. Fair officials havebeen assured by law enforcement thatthere’s “no way” Paul is still on the fair-grounds. Said Hartzell, “our security andlaw enforcement have done thoroughsearches including looking inside thecars. They continue to search. Securitywill be heightened and on alert until he’sin custody.
“I would hope that people would real-
ize that safety is of a primary concern tous,” he said.
Attendance Thursday – followingPaul’s escape – was down by 1,000, Hart-zell added. If it hadn’t been for that in-cident, “we probably would have beenup.”
Continued from A1FAIR “We will be putting
restrictions on any group
who have people who are
considered a risk. If a
person has committed
violent criminal acts, the
answer will be a ‘no.’ ”Rich HartzellFair director
next two years he also works part time atthe Spokane Goodwill store and at anantique furniture shop downtown,sometimes for 30 hours a week.
" OCTOBER 1994: Paul seeks release fromhis court-ordered commitment at EasternState Hospital. A Yakima judge refuses.
" 1998: Paul seeks approval to returnhome to live with his parents in the YakimaValley and is allowed to spend two weeks ata time at the family home, then return toEastern State Hospital to receive hismedications before doing anothertwo-week transition.
" JUNE 2000: Paul is approved for afull-time return to his family home in YakimaValley, but within a few months hiscounselors begin expressing concerns overhis progress.
" OCTOBER 2000: Paul is ordered back toEastern State Hospital after treatmentproviders notice threatening and delusionalbehavior. Among other things, Paul tellscounselors of someone he thinks is a“witch.”
" OCTOBER 2005: After five years back atEastern State Hospital, Paul is approved fora conditional release to The Carlyle, anassisted living facility in downtownSpokane. He begins dating a woman whobecomes pregnant and has a baby boy in2006.
" FEBRUARY 2006: Paul is ordered backto Eastern State Hospital after refusing totake his medications.
" OCTOBER 2007: Paul is approved again
for release to The Carlyle, but counselorsreport he begins exhibiting increasinglydefiant behavior.
" JANUARY 2009: Paul is ordered back toEastern State Hospital after refusing to takehis medication and being spotted in apawnshop that sells firearms and otherweapons, which is prohibited under termsof his release.
" SEPT. 17: During a field trip to theSpokane County Interstate Fair with other“criminally insane” patients, Paul escapes. Amanhunt remains under way.
SOURCE: Yakima County Superior Courtdocuments
Continued from A1TIMELINE
At largePolice are searching for Phillip A.Paul, 47, who escaped from EasternState Hospital staff during an outingat the Spokane County Interstate Fairon Thursday. Paul, a schizoprenicwith a violent history, is 5-foot-8 and220 pounds, with brown hair andblue eyes, and has a goatee. He waswearing a red windbreaker over ablue T-shirt and faded blue jeans.Paul is believed to be headed toSunnyside, Wash. Anyone withinformation about his whereaboutsshould call 911 immediately.
@ On the Web: Read courtdocuments about Phillip A.
Paul’s commitment to Eastern StateHospital and his conditional release,as well as previous coverage atspokesman.com/tags/phillip-arnold-paul.
Local 782, which represents East-ern State Hospital workers.
Davis said hospital workers“have repeatedly over the yearsopposed administration policiesand practices that allow the kindsof field trips like the one Paul tookto the fair.”
The union local president saidhospital workers accompanyingthe patients on the field trip noti-fied their superiors at the hospital“within two to three minutes” ofdiscovering Paul’s escape.
“It was the administration inMedical Lake that waited sometwo hours to notify law enforce-ment authorities,” Davis said.
Rob Henry, the director of thehospital’s forensic ward, said Fri-day that the hospital followed allrequired protocols for an escapedpatient.
Hospital CEO Hal Wilson saidthat Paul, 47, was not a seriousthreat to public safety and that a“treatment team” of mental healthprofessionals approved his par-ticipation in the field trip.
“We don’t consider him ex-tremely dangerous,” Wilson said.“Although we would certainly liketo have him apprehended andback in custody.”
He could not explain the delayin notifying police that Paul hadslipped away from staff at the fair.
“I don’t have a good answer atthis time,” Wilson said, addingthat the secretary of the Depart-ment of Social and Health Servic-es, Susan Dreyfus, had ordered aninvestigation into the incident.
At a news conference in Spo-kane Friday, Dreyfus said she haslaunched a statewide inquiry intothe security and procedures forpatient outings from Eastern, aswell as from the state’s other psy-chiatric hospital, Western StateHospital in Lakewood, Wash.Dreyfus said a patient escapedfrom that hospital’s secure foren-sic ward just last week, but was ap-prehended an hour later by police.
“These incidences, separateand coincidental, have raised se-rious questions in my mind,”Dreyfus said.
Dreyfus said the security re-view, in conjunction with the stateDepartment of Corrections andthe Washington State Patrol, willfocus on “what are the issues andcautions that go into keeping ourcommunities safe and secure onthe edge of our campuses.”
Paul was committed to EasternState Hospital in July 1987 afterbeing found not guilty by reason ofinsanity of killing a 78-year-oldSunnyside, Wash., woman in Aprilof that year.
Paul, who was 25 at the time, at-tacked Ruth Mottley, snappingher neck and slashing her throattwice. He then doused her bodywith gasoline and buried her inher own flower garden. Paul toldauthorities that the voices in hishead told him Mottley was a witchwho was casting spells on him.
On Friday, law enforcementagencies led by the SpokaneCounty Sheriff’s Office continuedto search for Paul, focusing theirattention on homeless campsalong the Spokane River and rail-road corridors.
“All we know is that he is on footwith $50 in his pocket, headedsomewhere,” said Sgt. Dave Rea-gan, Sheriff’s spokesman. Theybelieve Paul is headed to Sunny-side, but still launched an airsearch over Spokane, as well aswest along the railroad line to-ward the Tri-Cities, Reagan said.
The Department of Social andHealth Services informed law en-forcement on Friday that Paul hadreceived his most recent injectionof medication within the past fewdays, which should keep him sta-ble for a couple of weeks. It hadbeen reported, apparently in erroron Thursday, that his medicationwould become ineffective in 48hours.
But whether he was in any con-dition to be allowed on outingsstill remains unclear.
“He is in a bad mental state,”Paul’s brother, Tom Paul, told theAssociated Press on Friday. “Whywould they load him on a bus andtake him to the fair?”
Davis, the local union represen-tative, said that field trips to suchpublic events as fairs, baseballgames, circuses and the Ice Ca-pades routinely include “mur-derers, rapists and pedophilescommitted to the hospital ascriminally insane.”
Henry acknowledged that thefield trips to the fair are an antici-pated and annual event for pa-tients.
The field trips are consideredpart of therapy, and only thosewho exhibit good behaviors andare compliant with their treat-ment regimens are allowed to go,officials said.
“Some are doing well and withproper medication and treatmentare ready to re-enter society,” saidDavis, who has worked at EasternState Hospital for more than 30years, including about 23 years inthe forensic unit. “But only theones doing well.”
Paul, he said, wasn’t one ofthem.
“Several of my members weresurprised that Mr. Paul was ap-proved to go to the fair,” Davissaid.
Wilson, head of the hospital,said Paul had been “a fairly model
patient.” But court documentsdated Sept. 4 show the judge over-seeing Paul’s case continues toharbor reservations over his prog-ress, concluding that Paul still rep-resents “a threat to public safety,because, regardless of the reasons,his condition has deteriorated.”
Although judges have rejectedPaul’s repeated attempts to winfull release from his court-or-dered commitment, he has beengranted numerous conditional re-leases allowing him to live outsideof the state hospital. All, however,have ended in Paul being orderedback to Eastern State, usually forrefusing to take his medicationsand becoming increasingly de-fiant.
During one of his conditionalreleases, Paul began dating a wo-man in Spokane who becamepregnant with their child. Thechild now is in state custody, courtdocuments show. “I want to getout of the hospital, marry my girlf-riend and live with my parents andraise my boy at Sunnyside on thefarm,” Paul wrote to YakimaCounty Superior Court Judge BobThompson in October 2006 dur-ing one of his petitions for release.
Following that court hearing,Paul was allowed to return to theThe Carlyle, an assisted living fa-cility in downtown Spokane, inOctober 2007. But in January2009 he was ordered back to the
hospital and in March a seniorhospital committee recommend-ed revocation of Paul’s con-ditional release order because hedid not take his medications ontime because he believed theywere poisoning him, professedthat he was not mentally ill and be-came more aggressive.
Though Yakima County Su-perior Court Judge MichaelSchwab did not revoke the con-ditional release, on Sept. 4 he con-cluded that there were enoughconcerns to keep Paul at the statehospital while his medicationswere adjusted and his conditionstabilized.
At a news conference Friday,Henry, who is in charge of the for-ensic unit, stated he wasn’t awareof the Sept. 4 order.
On Friday, Gov. Chris Gregoire,who was in Spokane when Paulescaped a day earlier, issued astatement on the incident.
“I am asking the same questionsthat the residents of the area areasking: How do we catch this per-son as soon as possible? Why washe allowed to take such a trip?Why did they go to a location thatwas so heavily populated withfamilies?” Gregoire said.
Yakima Herald-Republic staffwriter Mark Morey and theAssociated Press contributed tothis report.
Continued from A1ESCAPE
DAN PELLE [email protected]
DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus, left, and Dr. Rob Henry, second from right, of Eastern State Hospital, meet with U.S. Attorney Jim McDevittand Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich after the press conference addressing the escape of Phillip A. Paul.