Lakewood Cop Killer: Sociopath Or Mentally Ill?
I’m sure most readers are aware that we had an awful mass killing in Lakewood, Washington on Sunday when a man named Maurice Clemmons killed four Lakewood police officers execution style at a coffee shop. Clemmons had a confrontation with Seattle police early this morning and was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer. His family and friends had helped him evade an extensive manhunt for almost 48 hours (several of them have been jailed already and more will likely be charged in the coming days), a manhunt that at times came uncomfortably close to my neighborhood on a couple of occasions.
As usual with such bizarre incidents, the question of whether the killer was mentally ill or insane gets floated. It’s a fair question to ask since normal people don’t go around assassinating the police, but then neither do people with mental illnesses. Clemmons had an extensive criminal record, but had been granted clemency in 2000 (by Mike Huckabee no less) for crimes he committed as a teen in Arkansas. Then he moved out to Washington State and was pretty low key until going completely berserk back in May of this year: raping a child, forcing family members to get naked, throwing rocks at neighbors, punching a cop, etc.
Here’s what the Seattle Times has turned up on Clemmons’ mental health history:
“But in May, Clemmons told evaluators, he’d been hallucinating about ‘people drinking blood and people eating babies,’ the report said. This went on for about three weeks, during which time he wasn’t sleeping or eating well. But, he told the psychologists, ‘I went to a counselor and then things died down.’ That counselor gave him a diagnosis of ‘Brief Psychotic Disorder.’
“Asked if he had thoughts of harming others, he said: ‘Sometimes I think about it. … Everybody thinks the police can’t lie.’ But when pressed, he had no specific targets in mind.
“In the end, evaluators couldn’t come up with a diagnosis for Clemmons, other than stress. However, they did say his violence at an early age, including robbery convictions, suggested he had an ‘increased risk for future dangerous behavior.’”
The Tacoma News-Tribune has a fuller take on his psych evaluation (Lakewood is next to Tacoma and Tacoma is 30 miles south of Seattle) for those of you not familiar with the area):
“The reported threat to kill jail workers appeared in the evaluation, along with notes describing hallucinations. Clemmons said he had them back in May before his arrest. He remembered seeing ‘people drinking blood and people eating babies, and lawless on the streets, like people were cannibals.’
“Those visions had passed, he said.
“Two psychologists from Western State Hospital, Melissa Dannelet and Carl Redick, concluded Clemmons was dangerous.
“‘He presents with increased risk for future dangerous behavior and for committing future criminal acts jeopardizing public safety and security,’ the evaluation states.
“The forensic mental health report was ordered by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck to determine whether Clemmons was mentally competent to stand trial on the rape and assault charges.
“On Nov. 6, van Doorninck signed an order finding Clemmons competent. She later ordered Western State Hospital to evaluate Clemmons again to determine if he was insane or had a diminished mental capacity at the time of the alleged rape and assault. That opinion is pending.
“Clemmons’ attorney on those charges – Daniel J. Murphy Jr. – notified the court that he intended to pursue an insanity or diminished-capacity defense for his client.”
I’m sure we’ll learn more about Clemmons’ mental health issues in the near future. But it does strike me that this rotten man was a sociopath, at least that’s what my gut tells me right now. I’ve not heard of people who crack up going and raping kids and in my experience most rapists are flat-out sociopaths. I think the child rape is a big clue to this guy’s make-up. (A run down of brief psychotic disorder is here.)
How Clemmons got clemency in Arkansas is beyond me. Why he was offered bail in Washington State when he was facing charges that could put him away from life will need to be looked into. How could the man’s family not have alerted police when the day before his rampage Clemmons told them to watch the news because he was going to kill cops? Why were so many family and friends willing to help him escape the cops?
There are lots of ugly questions around this case. I hope we get some answers.
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