-Caveat Lector- Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) September 11, 2003, Thursday SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. B05 LENGTH: 545 words HEADLINE: Man who killed mom with ax sent to state hospital BYLINE: By Linda Thomson Deseret Morning News
BODY: Leonard Preston Gall, who admitted killing his mother with an ax and stealing her car, was committed to the Utah State Hospital Wednesday by 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton. As part of a complicated plea bargain that essentially is aimed at getting treatment and monitoring for Gall, rather than prison, Gall pleaded guilty and mentally ill to the second-degree felonies of manslaughter and theft. He will be sentenced March 15, 2004. However, Gall pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to first-degree aggravated burglary. Nonetheless, based on reports from mental health experts, discussions with prosecutors and defense attorneys and other information, the judge ordered Gall committed to the state hospital. The practical effect of the second plea is that it gives the court jurisdiction over Gall, potentially for the rest of his life, because he has been deemed a "substantial danger" to himself or others, according to prosecutor Kevin Murphy. There also is a strong likelihood that Atherton will sentence Gall on the other criminal charges to the state hospital, although she is not bound to do so. Defense attorney Stephen McCaughey said the plea was the best for all involved since taking the case to trial risked having Gall sent to prison where he would not get treatment for his documented mental problems. "That is something we were most assuredly trying to avoid," McCaughey said. Gall's brother, Michael, who discovered their dead mother's body at her home, wept often during the hearing. "I still love my brother, but I don't understand why he took our mom's life," Michael Gall told the judge tearfully. "I also want to say he's given a lot of pain to me and my family, but I forgive him." Leonard Gall, who was originally charged with first-degree murder, admitted that he broke into Susan Gall's home on Dec. 14, 2002, and attacked her with an ax or hatchet, killing her with multiple blows to the head and neck. He then fled in her car to Reno, Nev., where he was arrested. Gall has had long-standing mental health problems and a history of not taking his medication. He has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, although he said in court that he has bipolar disorder. McCaughey said later that he discovered new information from a psychiatric interview in which Gall said he believed that his mother had turned into a "torture machine" and he was destroying the machine. "If you're that delusional, then you're insane," McCaughey said. Taking the case to trial potentially could have produced no conviction, but also posed the risk of landing Gall in prison, which was not worth it since Gall would not have gotten treatment there, McCaughey said. "This case from beginning to end has been a tragedy, for the Gall family and the community," Atherton said. The loss of Susan Gall and the manner in which she died "are as tragic as any we can see in a court." In response to this case, the state Legislature changed the laws regarding mental illness and involuntary commitments to mental hospitals from a court having to find a person "an immediate" danger to himself or others to finding the person "a substantial" danger, making it somewhat easier to send someone to a mental institution. E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ==== Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) September 11, 2003, Thursday SECTION: Final; Pg. B2 LENGTH: 542 words HEADLINE: Deranged killer may avoid prison; Plea deal: He could be held indefinitely in a hospital for mom's slaying BYLINE: Stephen Hunt , The Salt Lake Tribune BODY: When Leonard Preston Gall killed his mother with an ax two years ago, the mentally ill man was off his medications and suffering terrible delusions. Gall told arresting officers he killed Susan Gall to prevent her from being kidnapped and tortured by three celebrities -- Michael Jordan, Quentin Tarantino and Adam Sandler. But Gall later told a mental health expert he killed his mother because she had "turned into a torture machine." The 26-year-old man's apparent belief that his mother was not human gave him a toehold on Utah's strict insanity statute. The defense and prosecution fashioned a plea-bargain agreement that may allow Gall to avoid hard prison time in favor of long-term commitment to a mental institution. Charged with murder, Gall on Wednesday pleaded guilty and mentally ill to a lesser count of second-degree felony manslaughter. He entered a similar plea to theft for stealing his dead mother's car. Prosecutor Kevin Murphy and defense attorney Stephen McCaughey also stipulated to a finding that Gall was not guilty by reason of insanity of first-degree felony aggravated burglary. When 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton entered that verdict, she assumed court jurisdiction over Gall's future for the remainder of his life -- a situation akin to civil commitment. Atherton said she anticipated Gall would be housed at the Utah State Hospital "for ann extended period of time." But prison time for Gall is a possibility in connection with the second-degree felony convictions. Sentencing is set for March 15. An insanity finding is rare in Utah, where a defendant must believe he was killing something other than a human being. While Gall awaits sentencing, he will reside at the state hospital, where doctors will attempt to diagnose his illness. Gall told the judge he is manic-depressive; McCaughey said he had a schizoid disorder and Murphy called it a psychotic disorder. Family members have said Gall was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 18. On Wednesday, Gall appeared calm and said he understood what was going on. Medications apparently have helped. Gall said he is currently taking six different antipsychotic drugs. Prosecutors said family members, including the defendant's younger brother, 22-year-old Michael Gall, approved the plea deal. Michael Gall had helped pass legislation that makes it easier for families to civilly commit mentally ill family members. Nicknamed "Susan's Bill," it changed the standard for commitment from requiring a person to be an "immediate" danger, to the less urgent "substantial" danger. Michael Gall came home the night of Dec. 14, 2001, to discover his mother's car missing, signs of a struggle in the house and a bloody ax and knife in the bathroom sink. He called police, who found the 58-year-old Granite School District teacher dead in her room from multiple chopping blows to the head and neck. Michael Gall, who sobbed during portions of Wednesday's plea hearing, told the judge he loved his brother but did not understand why he had killed their mother. "She was always good to him," he said. "He's given a lot of pain to me and my family," he added. "But I forgive him. I don't have any anger toward him." ===== The Oregonian September 6, 2003 Saturday SUNRISE EDITION SECTION: LOCAL STORIES; Pg. B02 LENGTH: 530 words HEADLINE: MAN CHARGED IN GIRL'S KILLING SENT TO STATE HOSPITAL SOURCE: MICHELLE ROBERTS - The Oregonian BODY: Summary: Aaron Neubarth, accused in the 2002 Portland death of his half sister, has paranoid schizophrenia, experts testify A judge ordered a man accused of killing his 8-year-old half sister to the state mental hospital Friday after three experts agreed he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Douglas Beckman announced his ruling after psychiatrists hired by both the defense and the state, as well as a defense-hired psychologist, deemed Aaron V. Neubarth mentally incapable of standing trial. Neubarth, 34, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault in connection with the killing of Vanessa Neubarth and the wounding of their father, Van Neubarth, 56, in April 2002. According to expert testimony Friday, Aaron Neubarth suffers from chronic paranoid schizophrenia, a condition he probably developed as a teenager but for which he was never treated. Since his arrest, experts testified that Neubarth has become more and more delusional, even becoming convinced that his defense attorney, Jenny Cooke, had been magically sent to him. Neubarth, who denies he is mentally ill, also told Dr. George Suckow, a psychiatrist who evaluated him for the state, that one of his eyes is crossed because of the voices in his head. Suckow testified that Neubarth's signs of schizophrenia date to his teen years but appear to have been "mistaken for eccentricity." Police say Aaron Neubarth stabbed Vanessa multiple times with a kitchen knife when she tried to intervene in a fight between her half brother and her father in their home on Southeast Lydia Court in Portland. Police suspect the men were fighting about car parts. Van Neubarth, who was undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer, told family he had been too weak to stop Aaron Neubarth, who was his son from a previous marriage. Suckow testified that for a while Aaron Neubarth had functioned well enough to get a job, but he also had lived in his car for extended periods. Before ruling, Beckman asked Neubarth whether he thought he had a mental illness. "I feel that some of these opinions of me are a direct attack on my credibility," he said. "I'm very stressed about this." Neubarth then insisted that unexamined evidence in the case was stored in his mobile phone. Much of what he said, however, appeared incoherent. "He has impairment in extremely important areas, including his ability to appraise defenses," Beckman said. "We just saw a demonstration of that." Beckman's ruling involves only Neubarth's current mental state. It has no connection to his mental condition at the time his half sister was killed and does not necessarily mean he will plead guilty but insane. According to testimony Friday, Neubarth has never taken antipsychotic medications. But with them, all three experts agreed he stood as much as an 80 percent chance of regaining his ability to face the charges against him. Neubarth will spend at least the next 90 days at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, where doctors will treat and evaluate him. Neubarth's next hearing is set for Dec. 15. Michelle Roberts: 503-294-5041; [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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