Furious Seasons

December 01, 2009

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.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at December 1, 2009 03:20 PM

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Comments

RE clemency, this may be of interest.

Posted by: Evelyn at December 1, 2009 06:15 PM

Yes!
Crime and mental illness are still liked.
The one of the most famous institutes in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, treats people addicted to illegal drugs.
Last year a drug dealer was arrested in this mental institution but drug dealing is still happening.
Everybody can enter the institution without being asked if they are patients or relatives.
As some drug addicts have a maniac episode they are diagnosed bipolar and some are taking Zyprexa that is being used not only for bipolarity but also to treat illegal drugs dependence.

Posted by: Ana at December 1, 2009 09:08 PM

Link didn't work. Here: http://tinyurl.com/yzorf25

Posted by: Evelyn at December 1, 2009 10:13 PM

It's not either or. It definitely sounds like he is thought disordered. Probably falls under what psychiatrists would describe as "schizoaffective". He might also have comorbid antisocial personality disorder (is a psychopath).

When I did my clinicals in school, during our psych rotation the head psychiatrist at the mental ward told us young'un students that the most dangerous type of crazy person is those conventionally called schizoaffective. According to this psychiatrist, schizoaffective people are simultaneously thought disordered/psychotic while also being prone to extreme emotional states. This creates the perfect breeding ground for violence and antisocial behavior. They have a lot of drive/motivation. They can believe something insane like vampires are roaming the streets, while being manic (or depressed) and in deep despair/panic/fear/fury about it all.
Schizophrenic people, OTOH, are relatively harmless as they often lack motivation drive and strong emotions due to negative/demented aspects of their illness.

Normal people don't generally think humanity is an orgy of cannibalism and horror out in the streets like that (eating babies/drinking blood). He's clearly psychotic assuming he wasn't out and out lying and making those thoughts up (as a psychopath this could be possible).

Posted by: noone at December 1, 2009 10:38 PM

noone -- that definition of schizoaffective disorder has nothing to do with schizoaffective disorder. please post case studies, epidemiology, etc., if you really believe that the stuff you said has any truth behind it. that descrition basically applies to no diagnostic group whatsoever. --this guy sounds like a person with schizophrenia AND substance use. I base this on working with dozens of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and abusing drugs, some of whom have told me about seeing the dead bodies, etc. Often, these types of symptoms are in people that additionally have low IQ, like 75 or lower. I used to IQ test pts in a state psych hosp., so I base my opinion on a bit more than what some professor once told me informally. I am intersted to hear opinions from others, too. this is a terrible case without any easy answer. Except the part about drug-use-plus-some kind of psych problem, which I would bet on.

Posted by: medsvstherapy at December 2, 2009 06:04 AM

Everybody in jail is innocent don't you know? (joke)
Criminals perform crimes, why the person commited crime doesn't matter unless you want to be a fortuneteller psychiatrist who can see the future, prejudge people and medicate them heavily so the "patients" free will to decide right or wrong doesn't exist. Thats "helping" them medically.

And taking away a lawful citizens free will with drugs, taking away their freedom with a jail-hospital will not make them angry oh no.

This killer Maurice Clemmons told everyone he was going to kill, he wanted to be caught or killed in a confrontation.
A twisted form of suicide by cop, he didn't care about anyone else, or was too stupid or too much of a drug junky to know the four cops he killed had nothing in reality to do with his psychotic dream world of hate.
People around his should have made the police arrest him for his earlier death threats, but they were too afraid (of Maurice Clemmons) to call 911 I presume. Maybe afraid of a crazy jail system that would let him walk on the streets.

Trying to diagnose a criminal as a type of mentally ill person is a joke, and gives me a lawful citizen with a diagnosis of "schizophrenic","schizoaffective" a bad name.

Posted by: mark p.s.2 at December 2, 2009 12:17 PM

"normal people don't go around assassinating the police, but then neither do people with mental illnesses."

Excellent.

I agree about the child rape.

Posted by: Sherry at December 2, 2009 04:25 PM

Sociopath is the same label as antisocial personality disorder, so if you say he's a sociopath you're saying he's mentally ill. Mental illness is a myth. The guy is a criminal.

Not all behavior we don't understand is criminal but if we label criminal behavior and other behavior we don't understand together then society turns very ugly.

In May I assume the guy was smart enough to lie to evaluators about hallucinating. It would help him avoid punishment for his crimes as well as getting him ssi for mental illness.

Posted by: Sally at December 2, 2009 06:30 PM