Psychological Evaluation of Mr. U   

 DATE OF BIRTH:        05/22/42

 DATE OF REPORT:       01/16/98

 

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION: Mr. U is a 55 year old white single male, currently housed in pretrial status at the Sacramento County Jail in Sacramento.

 

In the indictment filed 06/18/96, Mr. U was charged with violations of 18, U.S. Code, Section 844(d), Transportation of an Explosive with Intent to Kill or Injure (four counts); 18, U.S. Code, Section 1716 Mailing an Explosive Device in an Attempt to Kill or Injure (three counts); and 18, U.S. Code, Section 1924(c)(1), Use of a Destructive Device in Relation to a Crime of Violence (three counts).

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The information outlined in this section is a composite of that obtained through interviews with Mr. U, review of the extensive collateral information, and interviews with those individuals outlined above. Mr. U was viewed as a relatively reliable historian in regard to most of the information that was provided. On advice of his attorneys, he provided only limited information regarding his activities immediately around the time of the currently charged offenses.  Mr. U tended to emphasize or minimize certain aspects of his history and recited descriptions of many events by rote, using the wording used in his writings. With encouragement, he was able to provide additional detail regarding some of those points. The information provided by Mr. U was generally consistent with that provided by other sources.

 

Mr. U was born in Chicago, Illinois on 05/22/42. He is his parents’ oldest son.  He has one brother who is seven years younger, born in 1949. His father is deceased, having died on 10/02/90 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His father had been diagnosed shortly before his death with lung cancer with metastasis to the spine. His mother is 80 years old and resides in Schenectady, New York.

        

Mr. U's father was initially employed as a sausage maker over the years. He spent part of his employment working for relatives in that business, but subsequently obtained employment with a food products company and then with several foam cutting companies in the Chicago area. He transferred with the latter job to Iowa and then back to Illinois. He reportedly provided adequately for the family, from a financial standpoint. He had no clear history of psychiatric illness, although it is noted that he committed suicide reportedly in response to his poor prognosis and significant pain related to the diagnosis of cancer. He had no criminal or substance abuse history. Mr. U’s mother has spent most of her life working in the home, although earlier she completed approximately two years of college education. At a later point, when the family moved to Iowa, she completed her degree in teaching, and subsequently taught for a few years. Most recently, she was employed in an office situation She has no history of mental illness.

 

Available reports indicate that the pregnancy with Mr. U’s father was full term with no significant problems prior to delivery. As a young child, he reached developmental milestones such as sitting up, walking, and talking within normal parameters. He was hospitalized at the age of approximately nine months, for several days, as the result of an allergic reaction. Hospital course was apparently uneventful and he was discharged without known medical sequelae. Conflicting reports exist as to the significance of that hospitalization. Records reviewed through notes kept in Mr. U's baby book do not provide much information in regard to problems following that hospitalization. Information provided by Mr. U’s mother, however, indicates her perception that his hospitalization was a significant and traumatic event for her son, in that he experienced a separation from his mother (due to routine hospital practices). She describes him as having changed after the hospitalization in that he was withdrawn, less responsive, and more fearful of separation from her after that point in time. Mr. U experienced usual childhood diseases including mumps and chicken pox, and underwent a tonsillectomy at age six and removal of a congenital cyst of his upper jaw at age 12 or 13.

 

Again somewhat conflicting accounts exist as to his early social development. He was viewed as a bright child and was described by his mother as not being particularly comfortable around other children and displaying fears of people and buildings. She noted that he played beside other children rather than with them. Her concern about him apparently led her to consider enrolling him in a study being conducted by Bruno Betleheim regarding autistic children. No detailed information is available about this, but Mr. U’s mother indicated that she did not pursue that opportunity. Instead, she utilized advice published by Dr. Spock in attempting to rear her son.

 

Mr. U describes his early childhood as relatively uneventful, until the age of eight or nine. He described memories of early play with other children, although he too recounts being somewhat fearful of people and describes himself as socially reserved. He recounts a few significant episodes in his early life referencing the hospitalization mentioned above, being scalded by boiling water, and falling and cutting his tongue. Mr. U denies any history of physical abuse in his family. He does admit to receiving occasional spankings, but felt that this was not excessive or cruel. He does specifically describe extreme verbal and emotional abuse during his upbringing, although he did not identify this as a problem until he was in his 20s.

 

The family initially lived in a working class neighborhood in Chicago and Mr. U described the family as having middle class aspirations but living only one step above the slums. He remembers his mother focusing on his dialect, encouraging him not to talk like the kids in the street, and responds that he complied by speaking one way at home and another way when interacting with the other children.

 

By the age of eight or nine, Mr. U describes that he was no longer well accepted by the neighborhood children or his peers at school. The neighborhood children "bordered on delinquency" by his account, and he was not willing or interested in being involved in their activities. The family moved several times, bettering their housing status, eventually moving to Evergreen Park, Illinois, when he was approximately age 10. He describes this as a middle class suburb of Chicago.

 

Mr. U attended kindergarten and grades one through four at Sherman Elementary school in Chicago. He attended fifth through eighth grade at Evergreen Park Central school. As the result of testing conducted in the fifth grade, it was determined that he could skip the sixth grade and enroll with the seventh grade class. According to various accounts, testing showed him to have a high IQ and, by his account, his parents were told he was a genius. He claims that his IQ was in the 160 to 170 range. Testing supposedly conducted at that time has not been made available for review. Mr. U described this skipping a grade as a pivotal event in his life. He remembers not fitting in with the older children and being the subject of considerable verbal abuse and teasing from them. He did not describe having any close friends during that period of time.

 

He attended high school at Evergreen Park Community High School. He did well overall from an academic standpoint but reports some difficulty with math in his sophomore year. He was subsequently placed in a more advanced math class and mastered the material, then skipped the 11th grade. As the result, he completed his high school education two years early, although this did require him to take a summer school course in English. During the latter years of high school he was encouraged to apply to Harvard, and was subsequently accepted as a student, beginning in the fall of 1958. He was 16 years old at the time.

 

Mr. U completed his undergraduate degree in Mathematics, graduating in June 1962, at the age of 20. He began his first year of graduate study at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the fall of 1962. He completed his Masters and Ph.D., by the age of 25. Following graduation, he accepted a position as assistant professor in the Math Department at the University of California at Berkeley, and remained in that position from September 1967 until June 1969.

 

During his high school years, Mr. U was not involved in many activities. He did play the trombone and speaks with pride about the lessons he took from a well known trombone instructor. He denies any involvement in sports or interest in group activities. After starting college, he was hospitalized briefly and diagnosed as suffering from infectious mononucleosis. He recovered without significant sequelae.

 

Mr. U describes being happy with the birth of his younger brother, and he and family report a relatively strong relationship between the boys (when age differences were taken into consideration), throughout Mr. U's school years.

 

Mr. U's employment history is somewhat limited and consists of a variety of jobs held for relatively short periods.  In the summer before college, he was involved in part time activities in maintenance and repair at a local elementary school. The summer after his freshman year of college, he worked at a spice packing plant. During graduate school in Michigan, he worked as a teaching fellow for approximately three of the five years. As noted, he then accepted an assistant professor position in the Math Department at Berkeley. Following resignation from

that position, he returned to live with his parents in Lombard, Illinois, and began looking for land, where he could establish a more isolated existence. In 1969 he had some temporary employment at warehouse jobs and factories while looking for the land. From 1971 until the time of his arrest, he was for the most part unemployed and living off the land, with some limited financial support from his family. Intermittently, he worked to obtain needed money, which included employment in the fall of 1972 and spring of 1973 in masonry and groundskeeping jobs. In 1978 and 1979, he worked a few months at a foam cutting company in Lombard, Illinois, where his father and brother were employed. He was fired from that job after inappropriate behavior towards the female manager and subsequently worked briefly at the Prince Castle Restaurant & Equipment Company.

 

Mr. U had no periods of service in the military and indicated he was deferred from the draft due to his status as a student and later as a teacher.

 

Prior to his current legal situation, Mr. U has had no significant criminal record of arrests or incarcerations. He did receive a traffic ticket for passing a stopped school bus about 25 years ago. This required him to appear at the Justice of the Peace Court to resolve the ticket. No attorney representation was involved, he pled guilty, and paid a fine of $30. He has never retained an attorney for any other reason.  He has never served as a juror nor been a plaintiff in a legal action.

 

Mr. U denies any significant history of substance use or abuse, including alcohol or nicotine. This is confirmed by other sources of collateral information.

 

Mr. U describes no religious affiliation. Since living on his own, he has not affiliated with any religion.

 

Mr. U has no history of inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations or ongoing treatment. He does have a history of brief contacts with mental health systems in various places. Although he had interactions with guidance counselors around academic issues in junior high and high school, it appears he was not involved in any type of counseling. As referenced earlier, he underwent a battery of psychological testing in the fifth grade, the results of which initiated the decision for him to be advanced academically ahead of his peer group. After entering Harvard, he voluntarily became involved a psychological study of young men. He underwent some psychological testing and completed a written autobiography at that time. Results from that study will be discussed in the psychological testing portion of this report.

 

While at the University of Michigan he sought psychiatric contact on one occasion at the start of his fifth year of study. As referenced above, he had been experiencing several weeks of intense and persistent sexual excitement involving fantasies of being a female. During that time period he became convinced that he should undergo sex change surgery. He recounts that he was aware that this would require a psychiatric referral, and he set up an appointment at the Health Center at the University to discuss this issue. He describes that while waiting in the waiting room, he became anxious and humiliated over the prospect of talking about this to the doctor. When he was actually seen, he did not discuss these concerns, but rather claimed he was feeling some depression and anxiety over the possibility that the deferment status would be dropped for students and teachers, and that he would face the possibility of being drafted into the military. He indicates that the psychiatrist viewed his anxiety and depression as not atypical. Mr. U describes leaving the office and feeling rage, shame, and humiliation over this attempt to seek evaluation. He references this as significant turning point in his life. Beginning in the spring of 1988, Mr. U made several contacts with mental health systems around the issue of establishing relationships with women. He indicates that in 1988 he was suffering from insomnia and a renewed interest in getting advice and moral support to establish a relationship with a woman. He describes picking a psychologist's name out of the phone book and writing her a letter about his interest. He indicates that his decision to seek this type of counseling resulted after having a dream about a young woman. Upon awakening he had the idea that perhaps at age 45 it was not too late for him to establish a relationship, and at that point he thought of leaving his isolated life in Montana and finding a job and a female for himself. As noted, he sent a detailed letter to the therapist and saw her once. He had a positive experience in the session and subsequently sought employment. He states that during the session the therapist, Elizabeth Gilbertson, had mentioned the thought of her arranging a meeting with him and some of her female clients. He subsequently wrote her a letter with the hopes of reminding her to do so, but she did not pick up on his implied message. He also came to the realization that he could not afford to see her regularly, although he could have afforded one more visit. Subsequent to that session, he wrote to the Mental Health Center in Helena, requesting that he be assigned a therapist or counselor with whom he could correspond by mail. Mr. U indicates that this could not be worked out and he remained depressed for the next several months. Although the depression lightened eventually, it remained there to some degree until 1994.

 

In 1991 Mr. U contacted a local general practitioner, Dr. Glen Wielenga, in Lincoln, concerning insomnia. Mr. U indicates the doctor suspected he was depressed, but he was somewhat dissatisfied with Dr. Wielenga's assessment. Dr. Wielenga did prescribe Trazadone at a dose of 50mg. at bedtime. Mr. U took it for three days. It made him sleep, but he experienced daytime drowsiness and gas from it, and discontinued the medication. He subsequently wrote to the Mental Health Center in Great Falls, asking for recommendation of a few people he could contact in regard to finding a psychiatrist, but did not follow through and his insomnia remitted without treatment.

 

Records indicate that Mr. U saw Dr. Gilbertson as noted above. He also made contact via letter to Dr. Melnick, a psychiatrist in Missouri . He was subsequently unable to afford her fees.

 

Around this same time, in the spring of 1991, he set up an appointment with Carolyn Goren, M.D., in Missoula, Montana. He sought evaluation and treatment for symptoms of palpitations and stress. Prior to his visit, he sent Dr. Goren a letter outlining his concerns. He was seen on 04/29/91, and subsequently had one follow up visit some months later. After his initial visit, Mr. U continued to monitor his blood pressure, which remained within normal limits, and provided these values to Dr. Goren on a semi annual basis for several years. No significant cardiac problems were identified during his evaluation time. Collateral information also supports that Mr. U sent a letter to the Director of the Golden Triangle Community Mental Health Center in October 1993 concerning his problem of insomnia and asking for location of a suitable psychiatrist that he could see on a reduced fee. There was no follow through with an appointment. Mr. U had no other mental health contacts prior to the period after his arrest on the current charges.

 

Following his visit to Dr. Goren and his belief that perhaps the potential of an ongoing relationship existed with her, he made the decision to acquire a more conventional career. He decided to attend school at the undergraduate level to obtain a degree in journalism. He corresponded with the University of Montana and subsequently was required to take the Graduate Record Exam. Even after he determined that there was not a possibility of an actual relationship with Dr. Goren, he took the exam anyway and reportedly scored quite well. He never matriculated to the University.

 

In reviewing available background information on Mr. U's life, it was useful to review his two lengthy autobiographical documents. At the time he went to Harvard and became involved in a psychological study of students there, he was asked to write the first autobiography. He completed this in one or two days, in1959. Twenty years later, over a period of several months, he wrote a 216 page autobiography of his life.

 

In the autobiography in 1959, Mr. U describes an uneventful early childhood, and indicates that he was somewhat rebellious towards his parents, who were quite lenient with him. He describes his relationship with his parents as quite affectionate and denies any involvement in delinquent behavior. He notes the testing that occurred in fifth grade and the impact on his life of skipping the sixth grade. Despite that, he claims that he did establish a few friendships in junior high. In addition to playing the trombone in the school band for a few years, he also collected coins. He denies any dating during junior high or high school. Upon entering Harvard, he was struck with the realization that he was no longer smarter than all the other students. Nonetheless, he did above average work, excelling in math. Later, he notes that during the last few years, his relationship with his parents had deteriorated and often resulted in arguments. He describes his mother as having an "artist's temperament" and indicates he respected her more than his father. He describes his father as an extrovert, who had a number of community interests. At the end of the autobiography, he lists a variety of information that he "forgot to include." Of note, he references quarreling a lot with his brother, but generally having a friendly relationship, although he viewed himself as being superior in intellect and in strength of will. He noted he enjoyed building structures out of wooden blocks and playing with his chemistry set. He references one friend, whom he describes as a "rather dull fellow with average intelligence and not too interesting." He viewed himself as being collectively regarded as a shy, hard working student.

 

The autobiographical notes completed in 1979 provided a much more detailed account of Mr. U's view of his history. This is divided into various age periods and separated into the periods zero through age nine; age 10 to 15; age 16 to 20; age 20 to 24; age 24 to 27; and then from age 27 on (to age 37). The original copy is handwritten.

 

It is of note that after leaving his job at the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. U spent approximately two years attempting to locate a piece of wilderness land upon which he could live, isolated from society. In 1971 he succeeded in building a small cabin on a piece of land that he purchased in conjunction with his brother, in Lincoln, Montana. From 1971until his arrest on 04/03/96, Mr. U's primary residence was HCR 30, Box 27, Lincoln, Montana 59630. The cabin was situated a short distance off a road, but the approximately one and one-half acre of land provided him solitude and ready access to wilderness area. Although he had neighbors in the vicinity, he was able to maintain minimal contact with them if he so chose.  During that time period, he made an effort to live off the land and over a period of years, developed increased sophistication with identification of edible plants, gardening, food preservation, hunting, and game preservation, and developed some necessary skills in the area of tool making and sewing. The cabin was not equipped with any plumbing and his water supply was provided by a creek located near the cabin. He did not have any electricity at the house although hook up was available nearby. During the early years of his residence there, he had a car and subsequently for a short time a pick up truck. After that, he maintained a bicycle for transportation or walked into town, where he had access to public transportation. The cabin was located approximately four miles outside of Lincoln. Mr. U remained there, except for several short periods where he traveled and sought employment to earn some money. He was provided with a minimal stipend from his parents throughout this time period and used the money he had originally earned at Berkeley and other intermittent jobs to support himself - He estimated that it generally cost him less that $400 a year to live, after he became established in his routine.

 

In June 1969, after leaving his job a Berkeley, Mr. U moved to Lombard, Illinois to stay with his parents. That summer he and David traveled to Canada, looking for a piece of wilderness land for Mr. U to buy. He applied for permission to purchase land in British Columbia. During that time, David was enrolled at Columbia University. Following his graduation in 1970, David moved to Great Falls, Montana. Throughout the summer of 1970, Mr. U continued to look for wilderness land in Alaska and subsequently learned that his application for land in Canada was denied. He had a short period of employment for a few months at the end of 1970 with Abbot Consultants in Elmherst, Illinois. In the summer of 1971 he purchased his land in Lincoln, where he built his cabin with minimal assistance from his brother. During the period of late 1972 until December 1973, Mr. U worked at a variety of jobs in Chicago and Salt Lake City, Utah. He returned to his cabin in Montana in June 1973. In September 1974, for two to three weeks, he worked at a gas station in Montana, earning a few hundred dollars. In January 1975 he traveled to Oakland, California, and returned to his cabin in March. In May 1978 he returned to Chicago in search of work and obtained employment at Foam Cutting Engineers, where his father and brother were employed. He continued in that job for about a month, until he was fired. He was subsequently employed by Prince Castle from September 1978 until March 1979. After quitting his job at Prince Castle, he lived with his parents in Lombard, Illinois and in the early summer of 1979 returned to his cabin in Montana. He remained there until mid 1980, when he traveled to Canada, again in search of wilderness land. Upon his return and with his lack of success in finding wilderness, he settled into his cabin where he remained in residence until the time of this arrest on the current charges.

 

While residing in his cabin, he would regularly travel to town for supplies, go to the Post Office, and use the Library.  Periodically he would travel beyond Lincoln. This was usually accomplished by bus.

 

Sometime in the 1980s, Mr. U decided to study Spanish. He claims he acquired an old Berlitz Spanish instruction book for a few dollars and used that as the basis for his studies. His writings show that he practiced his Spanish by doing translations and corresponded with an Hispanic, to assist in practicing the language. Review of information from his cabin shows that he also translated material that he viewed to be more sensitive into Spanish in his journals.

 

Over the time period from 1969 until his arrest, Mr. U recorded many of his thoughts, ideas, and activities in writing and maintained these writings in his cabin. He also maintained correspondence with his family over a number of years and saved much of that correspondence. Review of these extensive writings provides a narrative and his own analysis of his life and behaviors.

 

The following information is a composite of that obtained through review of the extensive writings completed by Mr. U.  Throughout his writings and conversations, he focuses on the fact that he was moved from the fifth to seventh grade. He identifies this as the cause of his lack of development of social skills, a problem that continues with him to the present. Between the seventh and 12th grade, he perceived "a gradual increasing amount of hostility I had to face from the other kids. By the time I left high school, I was definitely regarded as a freak by a large segment of the student body." He describes a number of incidents in his junior high and high school years, including a discussion of making a small pipe bomb in chemistry, which gained him some notoriety. He described himself as having frustrated resentment towards school, parents, and the student body" which often was given outlet through snotty behavior in the classroom which often took a sarcastic or crudely humorous turn."

 

He admits that he was "probably a very difficult teenager to live with" and that his parents "were in some respect generous and unselfish." He describes developing a "system of morality that evolved into an abstract artificial construction that could not possibly be applied in practice" but never telling anybody about this system because he knew they would never take it seriously. At the same time, he describes looking for a way to justify hating people. At times in his writings, he focuses, in an extraordinary amount of detail, on passing or short lived relationships or potential relationships with females. This is illustrated by his discussion of his relationship with A when he was 10, B when he was 16, C when he was 17, D when he was 32, "Ms. Z" when he was in graduate school, and E when he was 36.

 

Mr. U writes about his experiences at Harvard and in essence describes a very isolated existence, with only infrequent interactions with other students. It was not until his sophomore year that he made a few brief friendships, but due to circumstances they did not persist. As noted, in his sophomore year he participated in a research Study at Harvard, conducted by Professor Murray, which looked at the psychological functioning of young men at Harvard.

 

Mr. U claimed in his writing, that during his college years he had fantasies of living a primitive life and fantasized himself as an agitator, rousing mobs to frenzies of revolutionary violence. He claims that during that time he started to think about breaking away from normal society. He describes that beginning in college he began to worry about his health in particular ways, always having a fear-that a symptom could result in something serious. He also claims that during high school and college he would often become terribly angry and because he could not express that anger or hatred openly "I would therefore indulge in fantasies of revenge. However, I never attempted to put any such fantasies into effect because I was too strongly conditioned ... against any defiance of authority. To be more precise, I could not have committed a crime of revenge even a relatively minor crime because of my f ear of being caught and punished was all out of proportion to the actual danger of being caught." He describes that as a result, he had little comfort from his fantasies of revenge. He describes a vivid memory of a nightmare in his senior year at Harvard wherein he saw his trombone teacher standing in a room looking like a noble old man, he then saw a mist and heard angels, and when the mist cleared the teacher had been transformed into a bent, senile, old wreck. He describes at length his inability to figure out whether or not he was attractive to women and references a passing comment of a friend of his family's at the age of 15, that made him believe he was quite attractive.

 

During the time period after leaving Harvard, he began to study information about wild edible plants, and began to fear the possibility of being drafted. He spent some time hiking and learning about the wilderness.

 

Upon completion of his work at Harvard, Mr. U chose to go to the University of Michigan because it was the only one of the three graduate schools to which he had applied that provided him with a teaching fellowship. He found the teaching---experience difficult and the quality of the program not to his liking. He became involved in some research and succeeded in publishing several papers concerning mathematical theory and problem solving. He describes his work at Michigan as being viewed as exceptional by the instructors. Nonetheless, he also describes having virtually no social life there.

 

It was during that period of time that he was staying at a rooming house, managed by a graduate student. He began to experience difficulty with the noise from the other rooms, particularly the sounds resulting from sexual activity of other renters. He reported the noises he heard in the house to the University System, with the hope that action would be taken against Mr. X.  He describes three experiences where he perceived he overheard the landlord providing negative information about him which subsequently resulted in a negative outcome. The first involved an Engineering student by the name of ___who was coming over to get help with math problems. Although Mr. U couldn't clearly hear a conversation, he eventually heard a statement by [text redacted] indicating that he had "only come to get help with math. He perceived that Mr. [text redacted] must have said something negative to [text redacted] about him. On the second occasion, he had given an individual information about rooms to rent at the house where he was residing. Again, he heard a voice which he thought belonged to the individual he had spoken with, but he never came up to see him, and the next time he saw him, he was snubbed by him. On the third occasion, he had received a letter from his mother referencing that the daughter of some of their friends was interested in the woods and might like to look him up; they had given her his address. Subsequently, several weeks later he thought he overheard a woman's voice in the foyer area of the house and Mr. [text redacted] say "oh hi [text redacted]" and then he said something negative about him, and the woman left without ever visiting him.

 

 

He writes, "During my years at Michigan I occasionally began having dreams of a type that I continued to have occasionally over a period of several years. In the dream I would f eel either that organized society was hounding me with accusation in some way, or that organized society was trying in Some way to capture my mind and tie me down psychologically or both. In the most typical form some psychologist or psychologists (often in association with parents or other minions of the system) would either be trying to convince me that I was "sick" or would be trying to control my mind through psychological techniques. I would be on the dodge, trying to escape or avoid the psychologist either physically or in other ways. But I would grow angrier and

finally I would break out in physical violence against the psychologist and his allies. At the moment when I broke out into violence and killed the psychologist or other such figure, I experienced a great feeling of relief and liberation. Unfortunately, however, the people I killed usually would spring back to life again very quickly. They just wouldn't stay dead. I would awake with a pleasurable sense of liberation at having broken into violence, but at the same time with some frustration at the fact that my victims would not stay dead. However, in the course of some dreams, by making a strong effort of will in my sleep, I was able to make my victims stay dead. I think that, as the years went by, the frequency with which I was able to make my victims stay dead through exertion of will increased." In the same period of time he experienced low morale and mood.  His appetite began to suffer, insomnia remained a problem, and he felt depressed more days than not.

 

In the summer after his fourth year, he describes experiencing a period of several weeks where he was sexually excited nearly all the time and was fantasizing himself as a woman and being unable to obtain any sexual relief. He decided to make an effort to have a sex change operation. When he returned to the University of Michigan he made an appointment to see a psychiatrist to be examined to determine if the sex change would be good for him. He claimed that by putting on an act he could con the psychiatrist into thinking him suitable for a feminine role even though his motive was exclusively erotic. As he was sitting in the waiting room, he turned completely against the idea of the operation and thus, when he saw the doctor, instead claimed he was depressed about the possibility of being drafted. He describes the following: As I walked away from the building afterwards, I felt disgusted about what my uncontrolled sexual cravings had almost led me to do and I felt - humiliated, and I violently hated the psychiatrist. Just then there came a major turning point in my life. Like a Phoenix, I burst from the ashes of my despair to a glorious new hope. I thought I wanted to kill that psychiatrist because the future looked utterly empty to me. I felt I wouldn't care if I died. And so I said to myself why not really kill the

psychiatrist and anyone else whom I hate. What is important is not the words that ran through my mind but the way I felt about them. What was entirely new was the fact that I really felt I could kill someone. My very hopelessness had liberated me because I no longer cared about death. I no longer cared about consequences and I said to myself that I really could break out of my rut in life and do things that were daring, irresponsible or criminal. He describes his first thought was to kill someone he hated and then kill himself, but decided he could not relinquish his rights so easily. At that point he decided: I will kill but I will make at least some effort to avoid detection so that I can kill again.,, He decided that he would do what he always wanted to do, to go to Canada to take off in the woods with a rifle and try to live off the country. "If it doesn't work and if I can get back to civilization before I starve then I will come back here and kill someone I hate."     In his writings he emphasized what he knew was the fact that he now felt he had the courage to behave irresponsibly.

 

Mr. U describes in his writing and on interview, that these thoughts went through his mind in the time it took to walk about one block. This new understanding persisted from that point on in his life. He developed a plan to complete his degree and to work for two years, so as to save enough money to live in the wilderness. As already noted, this plan was accomplished through teaching for two years in Berkeley and subsequently locating land and building his cabin in Montana. During that time period he writes that he would have to discipline himself to avoid reading newspapers except occasionally because if 'I read papers regularly I would build up too much tense and frustrated anger against Politicians, dictators, businessmen, scientists, communists, and others in the world who were doing things that endangered me or changed the world in ways I resented.?'

 

In the early 1970s Mr. U wrote an essay summarizing some of his ideas and made an effort to circulate it to others who might share them. He received no responses. In essence, the essay outlined his response to a book written by Jacques Ellul called "The Technological Society." In correspondence to Professor Ellul, he describes reading the book at least six times. He discussed both that and ideas put forth in another book "Autopsy for Revolution."

 

In his own essay, Mr. U presented his ideas that the continued scientific and technical progress within society would inevitably result in the extinction of individual liberty. He describes that the power of society to control the individual was rapidly expanding and references issues such as propaganda, educational guiding of children's emotional development, operant conditioning, direct physical control of emotions via electrodes and "chemitrodes," biofeedback training, memory pills and other drugs, genetic engineering, development of super human computers with intellectual capacities beyond anything humans are capable of, and electronic devices for surveillance. His proposal was to found an organization dedicated to stopping federal aid to scientific research, to prevent the inevitable outcome of the "ceaseless extension of society's powers."

 

He wrote in his journal about him not fitting into organized society and not wanting to fit into it, and seeking avenues of escape from it. In his words in the early 1970s, he wrote "True I would not fit into the present society in any case but that is not an intolerable situation. What makes a situation intolerable is the fact that in all probability, the values that I detest, will soon be achieved through science, an utterly complete and permanent victory throughout the whole world, with a total extrication of everything I value. Through super human computers and mind control there simply will be no place for a rebellious person to hide and my kind of people will vanish forever from the earth. It's not merely the fact that I cannot fit into society that has induced me to rebel, as violently as I have, it is the fact that I can see society made possible by science inexorably imposing on-me."

 

Near the end of his autobiography in 1979, Mr. U describes his motives for writing, to include that he intended to start killing people and that when caught, he was concerned people would perceive him to be a "sickie." His writings were an effort to prevent the facts of his psychology from being misrepresented. He also describes some type of relief, sexual or otherwise, he obtains by writing. He describes his sources of hatred as his perceived social rejection and the "fact that organized society frustrates my very powerful urge for physical freedom and personal autonomy." He also describes experiencing anger from other sources and then turning his hatred towards organized society.

 

Mother continued description of Mr. U's history and development is provided by a reading of the extensive correspondence with his family. After determining that a major cause of his frustration and discomfort in life was the psychological abuse by his parents, he carried on an very ambivalent relationship with them as evident through his letters. These show a wide range of affect and are often degrading, controlling, and yet at the same time continue over a number of years. He persistently seeks apologies from his parents for what they have done to him, but no type of apology they offer satisfies him or is viewed as sincere or acceptable. The relationship with his brother David, is also clearly outlined. Interspersed in the correspondence are letters to various local and national government agencies regarding requests for information about radiation, parasitic infections, sonic booms, etc.

 

Mr. U's mother and his brother were interviewed together during the evaluation. They were allowed ample time to provide any information that they believed might be pertinent about Mr. U's life prior to arrest. Evident was a sense of guilt on his brother’s part, for feeling compelled to assist in having his brother arrested. Mr. U’s mother clearly was experiencing significant distress as she tried to develop an understanding of what had happened with her son over the years.  Both of them provided a significant amount of detail about various instances and events in Mr. U's life. His mother identified her amazement that "out of the blue" Mr. U would express extreme anger and go into excessive detail about relatively minor events. She used an example where she had yelled at both sons about their need to put dirty socks in a hamper.  Twenty years later she received a letter from Mr. U in which he scolded and demeaned her for not understanding that it was normal for adolescents to have sloppy rooms. Both Mr. U’s mother and brother recounted several periods of acute withdrawal by Mr. U. The initial incident occurred on the plane, when Mr. U and his father were returning from a visit to Harvard. Apparently he was angry and withdrawn and refused to talk. A second episode occurred while Mr. U and his brother were on a trip, hiking in the woods. Mr. U apparently sat down on a log, and by David's account, was essentially non-responsive for several hours. After that period of time he seemed to resume normal activity. The third episode occurred when his parents were visiting in Montana, at David's apartment. Apparently Mr. U experienced that episode in the living room and remained unresponsive throughout the late afternoon and evening hours. It is notable that the family may not have perceived this as particularly unusual at the time, in that they all went to bed without resolution of the situation. It was evident during my interview with them, that they have a tremendous need to understand the events that have happened, and in that light present material in a somewhat conclussary fashion. Nonetheless, they were able to provide additional detail about a variety of events Mr. U had written about in his journals or had discussed on interview.

 

Collateral information indicates that over an extended period of time, ranging from the early 1970s, Mr. U is alleged to have been involved in a variety of acts of vandalism and violence. A description of those events provides a complimenting view of the history described in his autobiography and journals. His writings obtained in the cabin also include detailed accounts of the activities alleged to have occurred. The materials are voluminous, organized, and some of them are in Spanish or coded with a complicated code allegedly developed by Mr. U. After solidification of his ideas in the fall of 1966, it appears that he organized his life and behavior around his belief system.  He reacted against individuals in the area by ruining equipment, stealing things, or attempting to harm individuals through use of wires and traps.  His writings describe him thinking seriously about and planning to murder a scientist in 1971.  During the later 1970s, he began experimenting to create explosive devices that could succeed in killing individuals.  He also describes thoughts of harming people whom he felt had humiliated him.  Specific examples of this described in collateral information and during interviews, include his plans to mutilate the face of ____, after he felt she degraded him by her lack of interest in a continuing romantic relationship.

 

His writings show him to be associated with placing a bomb at the University of Illinois in May 1978 which partially exploded.  It is alleged that in May 1979 he placed a bomb contained in a cigar box which exploded when John Harris, a student at Northwestern University, opened it.  It is alleged that in November 1979 he succeeded in getting a bomb aboard American Airlines Flight 444 from Chicago; the bomb exploded en route, causing an emergency landing.  It is alleged that in June 1980 he mailed a bomb to Percy  Wood, which exploded causing injury.  It is alleged that in October 1981 he placed a bomb at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, which detonated without injury.  It is alleged that in May 1982 he sent a bomb to Professor Patrick C. Fischer at Vanderbilt, which was opened by his secretary, Janet Smith, causing serious injuries.  It is alleged that in July 1982 he placed a bomb that exploded when it was moved by Professor Diogenes Angelados, Director of Research at the University of California at Berkeley.  It is alleged that in June 1985 he mailed a bomb to Boeing, which was detonated without injury.  It is alleged that in May 1985 he placed a bomb at the University of California at Berkeley which resulted in John Hauser being seriously injured.  It is alleged that in November 1985 he mailed a bomb from Salt Lake City to Dr. James McConnell, who along with his assistant were injured.  It is alleged that in February 1987 he placed a bomb disguised as a road hazard at CAAMS, Inc., in Salt Lake City which exploded an injured an employee.  It is alleged that in December 1994 he mailed a bomb from San Francisco that exploded and killed Thomas Mosser in North Caldwell, New Jersey.  It is also alleged that he mailed a variety of correspondence to individuals and newspapers describing the activities as perpetrated by an anarchist group called FC (Freedom Club).  It is alleged that he mailed correspondence to several individuals and newspapers to outline demands to have the documented entitled "Industrial Society and Its Future" published.

 

In regard to his current offenses, he is charged with mailing a bomb to Rentech Computer company which exploded on 12/11/85, killing Hugh Scrutton.  He is also charged with seriously injuring Charles Epstein a geneticist at the University of California and Professor David Gelernter, a professor of Computer Sciences at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut by bombs which exploded respectively on 6/22/93 and 6/24/93.  He is charged with the death of Gilbert B. Murray, as the result of a bomb mailed to him which exploded in Sacramento, California.  Extensive information regarding the nature of the bombs and intended use of the bombs was available from the writings of Mr. U.

 

Mr. U was arrested on 4/2/96 at his cabin in Montana.  He was detained while the cabin was searched and was subsequently transported to a jail facility in Montana.  Thereafter he was transferred to Sacramento county Jail in Sacramento, California.

 

In regard to his legal representation post arrest, it is noted that at the time of his arrest Mr. U inquired about the process of obtaining a Federal Defender as his attorney. He was subsequently represented by Michael  Donohoe until he was moved to Sacramento.  At that time a defense team consisting of Quin Denvir, Judy Clarke, and Gary Soward was established to represent him on the charges  discussed above.  For a several month period in the fall of 1997, he was moved from the Sacramento county Jail to FCI in Dublin, California due to his difficulty adapting to the noise of the jail in Sacramento.  He was returned to Sacramento prior to trial so as to have closer access to his attorneys.

 

Phone interview of Sherry Woods, a librarian in Lincoln, Montana, was conducted during this evaluation.  She was given an opportunity to share her observations about Mr. U.  Ms. Woods described that she liked Mr. U, but she recognized his discomfort around people and that others would perceive him as different.  She indicated she told new staff about him in order to help accommodate his differences in support of his continued Library use.  She described him as extremely polite, quiet and soft spoken, although she initially found his appearance as somewhat frightening.  She described his ability to identify with her as a young child, whom she indicated shared some of the kinds of problems that Mr. U may have had himself as a child.  She noted that he patted her son on the shoulder twice, which is the only physical contact she ever saw him display over the 13 years of their acquaintance.

 

She described Mr. U as living a life style consistent with his beliefs and admired her for that.  She enjoyed talking with him about his beliefs and indicated he had very strong feelings against government.  Although she had the idea that their conversations never changed his opinions, he patiently listened to her ideas and made her feel that her thoughts were worthwhile.  He would come to the Library on the average of every week or two, and usually stayed from one to two hours in the reference room.  She would attempt to read his mood when he entered and so there were times when it was clear he was willing to talk, and other times when he wanted to be left alone.  He ordered numerous books through the inter library loan program, including some that she described as deeply intellectual.  He read a wide variety of books and magazines on birds, wildlife, biographies, and hypnotism.  On one occasion when she had been feeling particularly burdened, he brought to her attention that he had written a letter to the librarian in Helena, Montana, and decided he would request his books through her to save work for Ms. Woods.

 

It was her belief that in the year prior to his arrest, he started changing and this scared her.  She viewed him as more intense and focused, and less interested in interacting.  She believed that this change was due to his concern for a friend of his who was an illegal alien  and had been hurt on the job and then deported.  At one point he showed her a letter he was writing to some government official regarding this subject, and she was surprised he gave it to her.  He indicated to her that he was meeting with friends in Colorado or California to try to help his friend.   During that time period he appeared more withdrawn and would spend two to three hours at a time "writing like crazy" and then he quit coming into the Library.  She does indicate that over the years, he occasionally helped around the Library by boxing books, shoveling snow, cleaning up, or painting.  At one point the Library planned an open house and Mr. U came to that function.  Ms.  Wood indicated that she did visit Mr. U in jail.  He has been corresponding intermittently to her, but she indicates it is actually she who is trying to maintain the correspondence as a means of support.  In the last several letters prior to Christmas, she perceived that he was feeling down so she has been writing more often.  She believes that the significance of his situation is all "coming home to roost".

 

Review of medical records indicates that on 1/7/98, Mr. U attempted suicide by asphyxiation.  He used his underwear to fashion a tourniquet which he used in an attempt to asphyxiate himself.  He suffered an abrasion to the right side of his neck.  He describes getting dizzy and experiencing some dimming of his vision.  At that point, he considered the negative potential outcome of being "brain damaged" and not succeeding in his suicide attempt and discontinued his efforts.  It has been determined that he did not suffer any medical sequelae from that attempt.  When this incident was discovered the following day by identification of the abrasion on his neck, he was moved from his housing status on the second floor to the eight floor and placed on suicide watch.  He was evaluated by Sacramento County Jail physicians at that time.

 

Pertinent history in regard to the suicide attempt included the fact that Mr. U had felt frustrated and depressed over the way his trial was progressing.  He had developed conflicts with his attorneys which he viewed as impossible to resolve.  He perceived that he would not be able to represent himself or obtain alternate counsel and decided to kill himself instead of proceeding to trial with a defense strategy that he did not want.

 

EVALUATION:

 

Mr. U's mental status exam remained fairly consistent throughout the week of interviews.  Description will be interspersed with pertinent historical mental status information.    Mr. U appeared as a slender build, gray haired, white male, who showed adequate hygiene and was dressed in orange jail clothing and a T shirt.  He carried his glasses with him and utilized them while reading and writing during the interviews.  He was oriented to person, date, time, place and situation.  He understood the type and purpose of the evaluation and expressed his intent to cooperate.  Throughout the evaluation he answered questions to the best of his ability, was able to discuss information, and relate a narrative without prompting.  No abnormality of gait was noted.  No psychomotor retardation was evident.  There was no evidence of tremor, tics or unusual mannerisms.  Eye contact was good, although when asked a question that he perceived as difficult, or one to which it appeared he was not sure how he should respond, he tended to look down and avoid further eye contact until his answer was prepared.  During those times, he would also at times clench his hands together and pat them on the table, and appeared to be actually in some distress in his efforts to formulate a response.  This only happened on a few occasions throughout the interviews.  Speech was of normal rate and tone.

 

He did demonstrate some need for excessive explanation and often focused on details.  In addition, the information he initially supplied in response to questions was frequently given verbatim form the information available in his voluminous writings.  When pressed to expand on the issue, he presented some minor trouble in rewording his answer or in expanding or explaining it, but persisted with the examiner in an effort to accomplish the task.  There was no evidence of the use of neologisms or clang associations.  The volume of his speech was appropriate from a conversational standpoint and he would identify if he had any problems hearing a question or conversation above the noise of the jail.  He seemed intent on clearly understanding questions posed to him.  No evidence existed during the exam of any hearing problem.  He showed the capacity to remain in the interview process for periods of several hours without demonstrating undue anxiety or restlessness.  On one occasion he did identify to the examiner that he was nervous during the interview and he had not felt that experience with other individuals who were interviewing him regarding mental health issues.  This topic was discussed, he was able to relax, and it did not interfere with progression of the evaluation.

 

Mr. U denied any current suicidal ideation.  He talked openly about his previous suicidal ideation and attempt on Wednesday.  He admitted that he had felt desperate and could not perceive a suitable option.  He chose to attempt to die instead of proceed with the trial process.  He indicated that the experience in the attempt, in and of itself, had dissuaded him from further attempts utilizing that method and he does not anticipate having access to medication or sharp instruments with which to try suicide by an alternate means.  He does admit that if he becomes suicidal again, he would not be likely to discuss this with anyone, and indicated that he did not believe that his efforts were stemming from depression.  He denied any current homicidal ideation, although he admitted to having significant anger towards a number of people.

 

Evaluation of his affect showed little variation from what would be expected in this type of evaluation setting He showed some anxiety and reported depression now and in recent weeks.  He did also admit to periods of moderate feelings of depression throughout his life.  He indicated that he believes in the period between 1978 and 1979 he was experiencing some degree of depression, accompanied by insomnia.  He attributed this to a stressful life situation including a difficult situation he described on his job.  He indicated that he had started a relationship with a female manager at the foam cutting plant where he was working with his brother and father.  After three dates that relationship had failed.  He remembers contemplating suicide by hanging at that time, then describes that he became full of rage and instead decided to take a knife and mutilate the woman.  He proceeded to the parking lot at the work site and got into her car.  At that time he changed his mind and again felt very sad.  A second period of depression, that he relates was of longer duration, lasting from 1988 to 1994.  Again he had intermittent trouble sleeping and felt that during that time he was under a great degree of stress.  He denied any period of depression since that point in time.  As noted above, Mr. U did seek medical evaluation of insomnia which he believes was related to depression, on one occasion in 1993, and was prescribed Trazadone, but did not continue that prescription.  He described his mood since the year prior to his arrest as consistently being about six on a scale of one to 10.  He denied any periods of elevated mood and demonstrated none throughout the evaluation period. 

 

Intelligence, as assessed within the interviews, appeared to be above average.  Memory was excellent for immediate, short term, and long term recall for factual information.  Concentration within the interviews was good.  Mathematical ability to add, subtract, and multiply showed no evidence of problems.  Mr. U denied ever experiencing any type of hallucinatory phenomena.  He was asked about auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile hallucinations, and persistently denied experiencing them now or in the past.  In response to routine review of similarities and proverbs, he showed an ability for abstract thinking.  Thought processes showed no evidence of looseness of association.  Some tangential thinking was intermittently evident throughout the interviews.  As noted, he had a need to provide excessive detail in an organized fashion.  There was no clear evidence of thought blocking within the interviews.  Despite pauses in his ability to respond to questions, he did not show loss of his train of thought.

 

Mr. U did return repeatedly to the theme that he had been severely abused during childhood.  On exploration of this issue, he describe the abuse to be severe verbal psychological abuse.  His perception seemed to be inconsistent with the data he provided to support his point of view, in that he over valued the negative impact of very minor statements and rather routine behaviors.  he also demonstrated some suspiciousness and paranoia in the interviews, in that he continued to anticipate that the interviewer had a hidden motive or meaning to a question, and during each session would both verbally and in writing ask for additional detail and present additional arguments of positions or opinions that he had espoused during a prior session.

 

Mr. U presented a clearly organized belief system that he was being harassed and harmed by modern technology.  he stated that he believed that the system as it exists is bad and rebellion against it is justified.  he further stated that freedom and personal dignity have greater importance than comfort and security.  This belief system was explored an length with Mr. U and it was evident that it had developed in his early 20s, during a period of time when he was feeling particularly isolated.  This appears to stem from his acceptance of a variety of ideas that he had culled from reading books such as the "Technological Society" referenced above.  It is interesting that he had not only latched onto the ideas that were presented, but had expanded them to the extreme and accepted the suggestions and premises, many of which were only opinions stated by the authors, as if they were fact.  He has subsequently devoted his activities and time in rebellion against a future as he accepted it would be.  In essence, the ideas that he collected and wrote about in the early 1970s remain the basis for his current belief system.  He feels compelled to live a life of extreme isolation and to focus his energy against the aspects of society that are attempting to control the masses.  This includes a focus on advertising, genetic engineering, computer technology, business, certain aspects of education, chemical companies, etc.  He expresses philosophical and personal concerns about these issues and feels personally threatened by the potential advances in these areas.  Included in this is his inability to critically read newspapers, magazines, and books to determine if statements carry any actual merit.  He tends to collect pieces of literature, opinions, and comments that support his views and use them as justification for continuation of his ideas.  Mr. U has intertwined his two belief systems, that society is bad and he should rebel against it, and his intense anger at his family for his perceived injustices.  He talks openly about his ability to direct his anger from one set of ideas to the other quite fluidly.

 

Upon extended interview, it was evident that Mr. U is extremely sensitive to even minor criticism and tends to perceive this, or even an absence of encouragement or positive response from an individual, as a deliberate attempt at humiliation or harassment.  He also tends to seek support and interaction in ineffective ways and will frequently write an individual believing that an innocuous question will provide a hint of the type of response that he is looking for from the person receiving his correspondence.  Evident also is his inability to identify common social cues in the environment.  Historically, this appears to have been a problem even before solidification of his ideas in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  There is evidence of ideas of reference in review of Mr. U's history over an extended period of time.  Incidents within the environment involving noise or human activity are perceived by him as personally directed and he responds with extreme rage and a wish for revenge.  As outlined in the body of this report, historically during certain time periods he has described examples of what appear to be ideas of reference in his belief that individuals who are talking at some distance from him, have him as a topic of their conversation and are speaking negatively about him, and are impacting in a destructive or hostile way on his well being. 

 

Despite Mr. U's ability for abstract reasoning in response to proverbs and similarities, he tends to concretely interpret the statements of individuals.  he becomes quite focused on the words of a comment, to the exclusion of focusing on the actual meaning of the phrase.  Although he demonstrated the capacity to use humor within the interviews, he could not interpret light comments or attempt at teasing within the interviews and needed to have an explanation to clarify the meaning of such interactions.  When asked about the basis of his belief system he attempted to provide excessive supporting evidence.  When challenged on the initial premise, he appeared perplexed and it was evident that he did not challenge the belief system on his own regardless of existing evidence.

 

An interesting behavior within the extended interviews, possibly related to his intelligence and familiarity with the mental health evaluation process since he has seen so many evaluators, was his effort to attempt to guess the correct response to a question by utilizing information from previous declarations and reports.  When questioned, he attempted to answer in the direction opposite to what had been stated in the previous evaluation.  If questioned about this, however, he became anxious that his initial plan was in error and that the interpretation in the previous report was actually not accurate.  He would then become very concerned and confront the examiner as to why, with the assumption that the examiner was taking his response to be an affirmative for a pathological symptom instead of the absence of such.  This behavior did raise some question about the honesty of his self-report in response to questions about specific symptoms of mental illness.

 

It does appear that Mr. U's investment and convictions about the outcome of modern technology and the alleged abuse by his family are consistent with fixed belief in that he does not challenge them in response to new information.  Both of these systems could be viewed as meeting the criteria of non-bizarre delusional beliefs.  The certainty of this, however, is clouded by the duration of these beliefs and the adaptation he has made by extreme social isolation.

 

Mr. U adamantly denies any experiences of thought insertion, thought broadcasting, mind control, or command hallucinations.  He does describe a variety of fantasies and nightmares, and it is unclear through this evaluation, whether his report of those as occurring only while he is sleeping is accurate.  Some of his writings discuss his ability to use his will to control the outcome of these experiences, and raises the question as to whether these are actually hallucinatory experiences rather than dreams and fantasies as he labels them.

 

Mr. U's judgment is viewed as being poor, both from the basis of review of collateral information and observations within the interviews.  he was unable to modify the presentation of his responses within the interviews to present information in a less negative light.

 

Evident throughout the interviews was marked ambivalence and this was apparent throughout his writings.  He clearly exhibited the capacity to hold opposite and conflicting feelings toward the same person or issue, and showed no insight into this.  He frequently expressed both hatred and a wish for revenge and love and affection for the same individual.  He did show the capacity for sadness in interviews and would frequently tear up when remembering fleeting relationships he had with individuals.  In that regard, it was noted that he tends to form very rapid intense emotional attachments to women, but also men.  Historically, he has developed love relationships that were never reciprocated with individuals and maintained them for extended periods of time, idealizing them and at time devaluing them.  An example is a relationship he wished he had developed with when he was a young student at Harvard.  He was able to identify that even at the age of 43, he had tracked her down and written her regarding the details of that relationship, which had never actually developed.  He expressed regret that he had not heard back from her.  He also demonstrated a propensity to focus on passing comments in regard to his self-image and to utilize those comments and incorporate them in an unusual way into his thought processes.  An example is referencing a comment made by an older Italian woman when he was 15, that he was a beautiful boy, especially his eyes.  It was not until 1994 at the age of 50, that he further explored this issue and asked another woman, whom he did not know well, whether he was physically attractive.  He indicated she responded he was "run of the mill" and at that point in time he no longer wondered why he had never developed a successful relationship with a woman.  As described, he had grappled with that issue for more than 30 years because he had been told he was physically attractive at the age of 15 and he held onto that belief; so he could never understand why women were not attracted.  Having now been told by another female in 1994 that he was simply average in looks, it immediately provided him with an explanation for why he had never established a relationship with a woman.

 

Mr. U was able to demonstrate a very detailed capacity to handle information, but showed little insight into the nature of his difficulties or the ways to approach current problem solving.  Although when asked whether he could consider a variety of options, he would reply "yes", he would persist in demonstrating why he would not choose to do so, even if the explanation presented was inconsistent with available information.

 

Mr. U is a prolific writer.  There is much repetition in his writings, which he does not appear fully able to appreciate.  He currently exhibits a preoccupation with a need to negatively portray his family, and has in the midst of trial preparations, spent over four months writing an angry accusatory manuscript to "set the record straight".  This consists of a rehashing of all the perceived injustices and a detailed focus on descriptions of events and conversations.   Again, throughout this document, his ambivalence is evident.  He openly describes his propensity towards anger and the satisfaction he feels from an act of revenge.  He describes periods of stress in his life that seem related with him focusing on projects such as writing the refutation, developing a new experiment, or dealing with a perceived slight or humiliation.  He has demonstrated no change in his appetite and no significant gain or loss of weight.  His current sleep cycle appears adequate.

 

Discussion with Mr. U about his case revealed that he has an accurate understanding of the charges against him and the possible penalties if convicted.  He explained the role of various participants in the legal process in some detail.  This included the role of the judge, jury, prosecutor, and defense attorney.  he expressed a full understanding of the plea bargaining process. He reviewed his own capabilities for self-representation and indicated that he had debated one of his attorneys in a hearing situation and felt he had bested him.  he also claimed he had some teaching experience to fall back on in addressing the jury.  He admitted his own perception that he would not do as well handling things extemporaneously as he could if he had time to prepare his responses.  He expressed an understanding of the evidence available in his case.  After much consideration he was able to respond to the question of what image he wished to present himself during the trial.  Initially he had only been able to protest against the image to be portrayed by the defense attorneys.  It took him some time to be able to determine that he wanted to present himself as rational, a person having a valid point to make; a decent person who felt cornered; as socially vulnerable; in some ways a victim personally and via the system; an individual who had his back against the wall; a person who lived a beautiful way of life in the woods; and a person whose psychiatric disorder could serve as a mitigating factor.  When questioned as to how this image differed from that potentially planned to be presented by the defense attorneys, he was unable to articulate a difference, but focused on his concern that his attorneys would not accurately present the facts.  In essence, he wanted to present his slant on the factual. This appeared consistent with his voluminous writing, wherein he attempts to dispute the descriptions and "facts" of the information provided by the media and his family.  He was able to understand that his plan in presenting the image outlined above would require use of the insanity defense at least at the penalty phase, if that was reached.

 

Mr. U expressed an awareness of the order of presentation in a trial such as his.  He understood that he would have to listen through the prosecution's presentation of details of the alleged offenses, and expressed his opinion that he could tolerate that although it might anger him.  He had an understanding of the burden of proof and that he could choose to testify.  He indicated he would prefer not to testify and denied any interest in using the courtroom to espouse his views.  He was able to articulate that although his chances of acquittal were slim, he still wished to attempt acquittal.  He recognized that although he could avoid any portrayal of him as mentally ill or chance of denigration of his life style by equating it with mental illness, by pleading guilty and not going to trial, he recognized that a trial was necessary to proceed with an appeal on the suppression issue.  The latter still offered a glimmer of hope, which he intended to pursue.