The Green River Serial Killer. Pennie Psy.D. Morehead

the present complex of multiple buildings and parking areas. Just adjacent to the hospital on the east end, original Fort Steilacoom officers’ quarters remain. The doors are open to tourists. Old cannons sit, rusting, along Cottage Row.

      Judith and her family, on visiting weekends, sat on picnic tables scattered across the green lawns. It was as if the quiet calm and order of the park-like grounds on the outside of the facility offered balance to the illness and disharmony on the inside of the facility.

      One day, Judith was going through the movements of a typical day as a patient at Western State Hospital when she suddenly froze, staring blankly down at her hands for a long while as a realization set in. Today is my eighteenth birthday. I guess I’m not like other teenagers. I’ve never been to a dance…I’ve never driven a car…I didn’t even get to graduate from high school. While Judith denies memory of it, her Western State Hospital medical record documented escapes or “unauthorized leaves”.

      “July 8, 1961. Return from unauthorized leave. Returned from unauthorized leave by a state car this p.m. Having been apprehended in Vancouver, Washington, and detained in a Vancouver hospital since 7-6-61. Ran away from hospital auditorium, a high school girls gym class, because she was unhappy with staff criticism of her behavior (i.e., flirting with boys), claims hitchhiked for several miles then met a friend who took her to Greyhound Bus and bought ticket to Vancouver. Friend, Jack, claims he gave her five dollars (to buy eats) so she bought a new purse. In Vancouver, met a taxi driver who directed her to a State Patrol officer and he, in turn, to Vancouver General Hospital. She was there two days and today picked up and returned to WSH by hospital staff…abrasions on her legs and ankles…”

      During hospitalization at Western State Hospital, nursing staff alleged that Judith was faking her seizures. Doctors decided to perform some tests.

      “July 18, 1961. 5 days ago Dr. Barber and I decided to discontinue patient’s Phenobarbitol and Dilantin. Since that time she has had 6 or 7 grand mal seizures according to the nurse. She described l this morning as a generalized seizure lasting 3 minutes, manifested by a shaking movement of her arms and legs, turning of the head to the right, dilation of the pupils, which failed to react to light and confusion of a few minutes afterwards, followed by 10-20 minutes of sleep. There was no tongue biting or voiding at this time. This sounds like a pretty good description of a grand mal seizure and I think that we can state definitely that the patient has a seizure disorder as well as a strong tendency to feign seizures. Accordingly, at Dr. Parrott’s request, I have suggested that her Dilantin be resumed at the rate of Grs. 1 ½ t.i.d. I would expect a good control of her grand mal seiures on this medication…”

      Judith escaped yet again. “October 25, 1961 unauthorized leave. October 26, 1961, returned from unauthorized leave.” She was clearly not happy in the mental hospital.

      Another chart entry described Judith as “quite aggressive, active, and at times, mischievous in behavior. Must be told every day in order to get routine duties done…is constantly seeking attention by these spells and other attention getting devices…recommend close supervision…”

      As the months ticked by, chart notes indicated signs of improvement in Judith. Finally, a chart note read, “November 24, 1961, it is felt that the program of group therapy and school activities is of help to patient. The length of time patient will need to profit from this to the degree which would make for essential changes is seen as several years. It appears unreasonable to have patient hospitalized for this length of time seeing the fact that the help needed could be provided by any out patient clinic and/or epileptic clinic…”

      Then, miraculously, one day in December of 1962, at the age of eighteen, Judith was released from Western State Hospital, back into the care of her family. Doctors had her seizures under fairly good control now with two effective drugs: Dilantin and Phenobarbitol. Helen was instructed to make sure that her daughter take her medications four times daily without fail. Judith would hear her mother say hundreds of times for the next several years, “Judith, did you take your medicine? Remember, 8:00 am, 12:00 noon, 4:00 pm, and 8:00 pm; 2 capsules and l pill.” This reminder reverberated in Judith’s head for six more years.

      To say that Judith’s feelings about going home were complex would be a gross understatement. She had lived in a mental hospital, witnessed the behavior and treatment of some of the most deranged individuals, endured the abuse (she was sure of it) of hospital staff, and lived like a prisoner, with bland food (except for the Payday candy bars) and none of the freedoms she had known before. She hadn’t been allowed to have her only material possessions, a few record albums, with her. Oh how she had missed listening to Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson and Pat Boone. One would think she might be euphoric or even downright giddy moving home, back to her family and things. But as Judith slowly and quietly acquainted herself with the newer home her family had moved into while she was in the hospital and cautiously observed her two little sisters and one little brother who had grown taller and much more clever over the last year, she wasn’t sure she fit in anymore. It looked like this healthy, growing family was moving forward, without any need for her presence. Judith felt like she was standing outside, utterly alone, looking in through a window to her home, realizing she was invisible to her family.

      Maybe I do belong in a mental hospital.