Suspect 'Damien' survives overdose
June 11, 1993
By Bartholomew Sullivan
Michael Wayne 'Damien' Echols, a suspect in three boys' slayings, took a drug overdose in jail Tuesday, an official said.
Bob Bretherick, chief jailer of Crittenden County, said Echols did not appear to be trying to kill himself because he called the guards as soon as he took the pills.
Echols, 18, took 12 tablets of the prescription antidepressant Amitriptyline (brand name Elavil) that his mother brought to the jail Saturday, said Bretherick. She told jailers that Echols would have seizures without the medicine, Bretherick said.
Jailers gave him three pills a day but he saved them and took them all Tuesday, said Bretherick. From now on, the drug will be given while police stand by, he said.
Echols is one of three Crittenden County teenagers charged with the early May slayings of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys.
Attorneys for the two other suspects - Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17 - said they will ask that the trial be held outside Crittenden County because of the wide publicity.
Paul N. Ford, Baldwin's attorney, said he has filed motions for a change of venue and has asked for all the evidence police have gathered in the case.
Second Judicial District Prosecutor Brent Davis, reached in Jonesboro, said his feeling is that "the case is a Crittenden County case and that's where it will be tried."
He declined comment on the state's position on the discovery motions.
Daniel Stidham, a Paragould attorney representing Misskelley, said he has heard that the prosecution may try to delay release of the evidence against the three defendants for up to 30 days.
"I'm going to be screaming and hollering for access to that information," said Stidham. "It's essential for my client's defense."
Stidham noted that state law permits a change of venue only to another of the counties within the Second Judicial District. A trial in the district could be held in either of Mississippi County's two courthouses or before judges in Poinsett, Craighead, Greene or Clay counties.
If Echols has a history of mental illness, it could become an issue in pretrial legal maneuvers, said Dr. Paul King, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Tennessee, Memphis.
King, author of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll...Dealing With Today's Troubled Youth, said the overdose should place guards on notice that they need to keep a closer watch on Echols.
"For someone who's into evil power, a successful suicide is a grandiose gesture," he said.
A 26-year-old Colorado murder suspect died of an overdose of Elavil in December 1989, and Massachusetts officials reported a suicide attempt with Elavil by a 30-year-old murder suspect in January.
Bretherick would not say where Echols was being held or to what hospital he was taken, except to say that he was not brought to one in Memphis.
His stomach was pumped and he was returned to the undisclosed jail Wednesday evening.
Jail officials did not check with the doctor who prescribed the medicine before administering the daily dosages, Bretherick said.
Amitriptyline is an antidepressant sedative which must be prescribed by a physician. Overdoses can cause an erratic heartbeat or coma.
"Potentially suicidal patients should not have access to large quantities of this drug," according to the 1993 Physicians' Desk Reference.
King said the drug is prescribed to combat depression in adults and that some neurologists use it for treatment of organic brain illnesses.
Echols's mother refused Thursday to talk to a reporter about the prescription, then hung up.
Psychologist Charles Mallory of Little Rock, who performs mental evaluations for the Arkansas Division of Mental Health Services, said a history of taking Amitriptyline would not necessarily affect a defendant's legal competency or criminal responsibility for his acts.
A defendant is legally competent if he is able to assist in his legal defense. Responsibility involves the ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of an act and the ability to control one's actions.
"Medications such as Amitriptyline will not affect that control or appreciation," Mallory said.
June 11, 1993
By Bartholomew Sullivan
Michael Wayne 'Damien' Echols, a suspect in three boys' slayings, took a drug overdose in jail Tuesday, an official said.
Bob Bretherick, chief jailer of Crittenden County, said Echols did not appear to be trying to kill himself because he called the guards as soon as he took the pills.
Echols, 18, took 12 tablets of the prescription antidepressant Amitriptyline (brand name Elavil) that his mother brought to the jail Saturday, said Bretherick. She told jailers that Echols would have seizures without the medicine, Bretherick said.
Jailers gave him three pills a day but he saved them and took them all Tuesday, said Bretherick. From now on, the drug will be given while police stand by, he said.
Echols is one of three Crittenden County teenagers charged with the early May slayings of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys.
Attorneys for the two other suspects - Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17 - said they will ask that the trial be held outside Crittenden County because of the wide publicity.
Paul N. Ford, Baldwin's attorney, said he has filed motions for a change of venue and has asked for all the evidence police have gathered in the case.
Second Judicial District Prosecutor Brent Davis, reached in Jonesboro, said his feeling is that "the case is a Crittenden County case and that's where it will be tried."
He declined comment on the state's position on the discovery motions.
Daniel Stidham, a Paragould attorney representing Misskelley, said he has heard that the prosecution may try to delay release of the evidence against the three defendants for up to 30 days.
"I'm going to be screaming and hollering for access to that information," said Stidham. "It's essential for my client's defense."
Stidham noted that state law permits a change of venue only to another of the counties within the Second Judicial District. A trial in the district could be held in either of Mississippi County's two courthouses or before judges in Poinsett, Craighead, Greene or Clay counties.
If Echols has a history of mental illness, it could become an issue in pretrial legal maneuvers, said Dr. Paul King, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Tennessee, Memphis.
King, author of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll...Dealing With Today's Troubled Youth, said the overdose should place guards on notice that they need to keep a closer watch on Echols.
"For someone who's into evil power, a successful suicide is a grandiose gesture," he said.
A 26-year-old Colorado murder suspect died of an overdose of Elavil in December 1989, and Massachusetts officials reported a suicide attempt with Elavil by a 30-year-old murder suspect in January.
Bretherick would not say where Echols was being held or to what hospital he was taken, except to say that he was not brought to one in Memphis.
His stomach was pumped and he was returned to the undisclosed jail Wednesday evening.
Jail officials did not check with the doctor who prescribed the medicine before administering the daily dosages, Bretherick said.
Amitriptyline is an antidepressant sedative which must be prescribed by a physician. Overdoses can cause an erratic heartbeat or coma.
"Potentially suicidal patients should not have access to large quantities of this drug," according to the 1993 Physicians' Desk Reference.
King said the drug is prescribed to combat depression in adults and that some neurologists use it for treatment of organic brain illnesses.
Echols's mother refused Thursday to talk to a reporter about the prescription, then hung up.
Psychologist Charles Mallory of Little Rock, who performs mental evaluations for the Arkansas Division of Mental Health Services, said a history of taking Amitriptyline would not necessarily affect a defendant's legal competency or criminal responsibility for his acts.
A defendant is legally competent if he is able to assist in his legal defense. Responsibility involves the ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of an act and the ability to control one's actions.
"Medications such as Amitriptyline will not affect that control or appreciation," Mallory said.
