Psycho killer loose at the fair!

[Larry David]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n5321023.shtml

Authorities searched by air and land Friday for a criminally insane killer who escaped during a mental hospital field trip to a county fair that has infuriated residents and officials around Washington.

Authorities have said they believe Phillip Arnold Paul is heading to the Sunnyside area, where his parents and many siblings live. The Spokane County Sheriff's Office launched a helicopter on Friday in the search, and the public was urged to call 911 if Paul is spotted.

"He is in a bad mental state," his brother, Tom Paul, told The Associated Press. "Why would they load him on a bus and take him to a fair?"

That's a question many are asking.

Authorities at Eastern State Hospital are being criticized for allowing Paul to visit the fair despite his violent criminal past and history of trying to escape. Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard has called it unacceptable, and the state Department of Social and Health Services ordered an immediate end to such trips and launched an investigation into the field trip.

Paul was committed after he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman in Sunnyside. He soaked the woman's body in gasoline to throw off search dogs and buried the remains in her flower garden.

"Why was he allowed to take such a trip?" Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday. "Why did they go to a location that was so heavily populated with families?"

Thirty-one patients from the mental hospital were on the trip with 11 staff members. Patients must be cleared by a treatment team before they can go on trips to stores, parks, ball games, fairs and other sites, said hospital spokesman Jim Stevenson. They wear street clothing and need not all stay together, but staff members are required to keep each patient within eyesight at all times.

Members of an employees union put out a statement saying they had long opposed such field trips.

"They believe he was an extreme escape risk and the administration should never have allowed him on the field trip," the statement from the Washington Federation of State Employees said. "The workers have unsuccessfully fought to stop the outings for murderers, rapists and pedophiles committed to the hospital as criminally insane."

The union said workers alerted superiors "within two to three minutes of discovering Paul's escape." But administrators waited nearly two hours before calling law enforcement. That gave Paul plenty of time to disappear.

A handful of schools in the fairgrounds area were in temporary lockdown on Friday morning, but that was lifted because he is widely believed to be heading to Sunnyside to see his family. Sunnyside is about 200 miles southwest of Spokane.

Paul is a white male, 5-foot-8, 220 pounds, with brownish-gray hair, blue eyes, and a goatee. At the time of his escape, Paul was wearing a red windbreaker jacket, with a T-shirt and jeans.

Spokane County authorities say Paul has been without medication for at least 30 hours, but report his medication administered within the past two or three days should keep him stable for up to 14 days, reports CBS affiliate KREM.

His brother said Paul was a high school and junior college wrestler and a martial artist who should not be approached.

"I'm a tough guy but I wouldn't take him on," Tom Paul said. "I hope he doesn't hurt anybody."

This was the second escape for Paul. In 1991, he walked away during a day trip in Medical Lake and was later captured. He attacked a sheriff's deputy in the jail booking area, knocking him unconscious, and was convicted of first-degree escape and second-degree assault.

Phillip Paul had a normal childhood in Sunnyside and was popular, but he started acting strangely as a high school student. He said he was hearing voices and thought they were witches, Tom Paul said. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Phillip Paul has been on and off a variety of medications over the years, and also been in and out of institutions, Tom Paul said. He has repeatedly proven unable to live in society, he said.

Paul was living in a halfway house in Spokane last year, but ended up back at the hospital in a very agitated state, Tom Paul said. Hospital officials told authorities that Paul hadn't exhibited violent behavior in years. They argued in the past that he should be released, but his petition for release was rejected in 2003.

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You're kidding me.. Lol.

It's "Bring psycho killers to the fair day! Half off admission ticket."

[Heinekenrana]

I think it was insane (pardon the pun) of anyone to take this guy to a fair, but thankfully they've already apprehended him.

[Eris]

You're kidding me.. Lol.

It's "Bring psycho killers to the fair day! Half off admission ticket."

If they are stable on medication, I really don't see any immediate danger. That is, if they can keep track of them. They should probably have put some an electronic tracker thingamajig on them. I don't remember what they're called. It's basically a bracelet that locks on your arm or leg, and reports your position by GPS.

As usual, media is making a bigger fuss out of this than what's necessary.

[blueangel06661]

..Thats just wow. Were were their minds at? Who brings an Insane Crazy Killer to a fair......... Are they even allowed to do that? Man if that was here I'd be closing down the institute he was in and the fair for allowing knowing unstable criminals around people with families.

[Eris]

..Thats just wow. Were were their minds at? Who brings an Insane Crazy Killer to a fair......... Are they even allowed to do that? Man if that was here I'd be closing down the institute he was in and the fair for allowing knowing unstable criminals around people with families.

Eh? He wasn't unstable. He was on medication.

[Wio]

If they are stable on medication, I really don't see any immediate danger. That is, if they can keep track of them. They should probably have put some an electronic tracker thingamajig on them. I don't remember what they're called. It's basically a bracelet that locks on your arm or leg, and reports your position by GPS.

As usual, media is making a bigger fuss out of this than what's necessary.

Well, it certainly makes the insanity plea very appealing.

[Eris]

Well, it certainly makes the insanity plea very appealing.

How do you figure?

[Anime Forum]

Eh? He wasn't unstable. He was on medication.

Medication or not this was a very dumb move and I hope they regret it in the future.

[enchrimei]

i think its ok to bring people with psychological disorders out as long as they are on meds to keep them stable and if theres enough experienced staff to handle matters if it should get out of hand. i feel its wrong to prevent mentally ill people from enjoying what other people enjoy so i think there was nothing wrong with taking Paul to the fair. Although they should have kept proper track of him

[Anime Forum]

i think its ok to bring people with psychological disorders out as long as they are on meds to keep them stable and if theres enough experienced staff to handle matters if it should get out of hand. i feel its wrong to prevent mentally ill people from enjoying what other people enjoy so i think there was nothing wrong with taking Paul to the fair. Although they should have kept proper track of him

I disagree. Fairs have a good amount of people at them and bringing one is a mistake.

[Eris]

I disagree. Fairs have a good amount of people at them and bringing one is a mistake.

Why so? If they're stable and on medication, they pose no greater threat to the other visitors than anyone else does.

[enchrimei]

Why so? If they're stable and on medication, they pose no greater threat to the other visitors than anyone else does.

i agree. It's not someone's fault if they are diagnosed with schizophrenia. You cannot takeaway someone's freedom for something they are not wholly resonsible for. If they are stable, why not?

[Anime Forum]

Why so? If they're stable and on medication, they pose no greater threat to the other visitors than anyone else does.

Who actually knows if their stable. Just because they have medication doesn't automatically mean they are safe around people. I just wouldn't want to be at a fair with one around and it doesn't seem too safe. His freedom isn't just at risk, mine is.

[Wio]

How do you figure?

Because, I don't recall any prisons having field trips to the fair, and even an acquitted murder suspect has to pay for their own ticket.

[Eris]

Who actually knows if their stable. Just because they have medication doesn't automatically mean they are safe around people. I just wouldn't want to be at a fair with one around and it doesn't seem too safe.

Who actually knows if anyone is stable?

Besides, the great part about these dissociative mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia, and unlike psychopathy) is that you really can't fake being stable, since you yourself by definition won't know what is real or not if you're not stable.

Because, I don't recall any prisons having field trips to the fair, and even an acquitted murder suspect has to pay for their own ticket.

Psychiatry is no trip to disneyland. They are constantly kept on really strong medication with really nasty and permanent side-effects. If you're sent to the loony bin -- faking insanity or not -- you'll be a shadow of your former self if and when you get out.

[Anime Forum]

Who actually knows if anyone is stable?

Besides, the great part about these dissociative mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia, and unlike psychopathy) is that you really can't fake being stable, since you yourself by definition won't know what is real or not if you're not stable.

I guess you have made a good point.
I mean anyone could look stable but actually be unstable and a murderer.

[Wio]

Psychiatry is no trip to disneyland. They are constantly kept on really strong medication with really nasty and permanent side-effects. If you're sent to the loony bin -- faking insanity or not -- you'll be a shadow of your former self if and when you get out.

Disneyland is no county fair either. You'll have to wait in hour(s)-long lines. If and when you reach the front, you'll have feeling of obligation after all of that wasted time as opposed to having the glee you felt when you chose the ride. If you manage to leave the place with any sort of satisfaction then you're a better man than I.
The loony bin is better than prison, and depending on the person, can even be better than a suspected murderer. How does the insanity plea not look better when they're getting sent to county fairs?

[enchrimei]

The loony bin is better than prison, and depending on the person, can even be better than a suspected murderer. How does the insanity plea not look better when they're getting sent to county fairs?

How can you say that? people put in jail for life sentences aren't even in there for that long! If you choose the insanity plea and claim you've got schizophrenia... it's not curable disease. Mst likely, you won't find your way back out of the mental hospital apart from on field trips. How is that better? There is nothing in a mental hospital that is better than going to jail.

[Wio]

Someone who has been convicted of murder and gets out of jail is never going to another county fair again in their life. When they do get out of jail, they're still a convicted murderer, making it nearly impossible to get a decent income. And this isn't even scratching on all of the crap that will happen to them while they're in jail.

[Eris]

The loony bin is better than prison, and depending on the person, can even be better than a suspected murderer. How does the insanity plea not look better when they're getting sent to county fairs?

Insane people are by definition irrational. People who are not rational are extremely difficult to maintain, especially in groups, since what normally would keep inmates from harming guards / escaping, that is, the likelihood of getting shot by another guard requires a rational mind to be a dissuading factor. Furthermore, insane people are unpredictable. They can be docile as a cow for 2 weeks, and then have some hallucination and gouge your eyes out with a fork.

In the end, the reason we don't keep insane people in prison is for the safety of prison guards and other inmates. They need much more attendance, medically trained guards, and so forth.

And if you consider being effecitvely chemically lobotimized by the side-effects of the medication, as well as knocking a good 10-20 years off your lifespan from organ damage from the same getting away easy, then I guess they are. But it's for a good reason.

[enchrimei]

Someone who has been convicted of murder and gets out of jail is never going to another county fair again in their life. When they do get out of jail, they're still a convicted murderer, making it nearly impossible to get a decent income. And this isn't even scratching on all of the crap that will happen to them while they're in jail.

and theres no label attached with being mentally ill? You cannot get a decent job if people are afraid to hire because you need to put down on your CV if you have got any health problems. People are afraid of people with psychological disorders too. Sure crap happens in jail. But I wouldn't call mental hospitals a 5 star hotel. I've heard some people are quite comfortable in jail... hd tv, dvds etc.

[Miss Moonlight]

The loony bin is better than prison, and depending on the person, can even be better than a suspected murderer. How does the insanity plea not look better when they're getting sent to county fairs?

The "loony bin" is sometimes no different than a prison. Then again, considering you've probably never been to either to judge, you probably don't know that.

Then again, unstable people exist everywhere. Why not a fair? we should start sending all unstable people to fairs.

Kidding, of course. I bet many people wouldn't be going to fairs.

[Missy]

o_O

Killer... on the loose at a fair... in Washington.
I hope its not the Puyallup Fair because I'm going there tomorrow.

EDIT: Nevermind, he's been apprehended, apparently.

[TKae]

As usual, media is making a bigger fuss out of this than what's necessary.

Yeah, seriously.

I mean, why are we making such a big deal about a violent criminal convicted of a violent and heinous crime against an elderly woman with a history of violence while in custody escaping in an area filled with young children and going unreported for hours?

It doesn't matter if he's medicated. He's been shown to be violent whether he's medicated or not.

That's why he was put in the mental hospital -- it was that or prison. Either way, he'd have been convicted of murdering an elderly woman and burying her in her own garden. The gasoline thing was just genious -- clearly he has the mental capacity to think his acts of violence through thoroughly and with above-average consciousness.

Normal patients who are put in the hospital by their doctors? Yeah, I'm fine with them taking trips like this. But violent criminals who are serving time? Hell no.

This is just as big of an issue as if a prison took their inmates on a field trip and a murderer got away. Mainly because it's the same thing. A dangerous criminal is on the loose.

And beyond that, they failed to report it! He could have shown up at schools and the school faculty would never have known there was a danger!

Carelessness for the safety of the public to a degree as large as this is intolerable. They need to be fired for incompetence and charged with wreckless endangerment.