Manhunt for Man with Schizophrenia Exposes Media Bias

The picture taken from Phillip Arnold Paul's MySpace page defies the blood thirsty image of an "insane killer" formed by recent media coverage of his escape. But the caption of the news article reporting his recapture evokes a range of emotions from blood-curdling fear to a welcomed rush of relief and return to normalcy. The article tells us an "insane killer" was recaptured by the police wandering near a highway days after escaping from a hospital field trip. But all killers are not insane. And all who are insane are not killers.

Violent crimes are indeed committed by individuals who are not schizophrenic and who are not legally insane. The media coverage of this story, however, consistently correlates serious mental illness with horrific violent crime and fear. What needs to be done so that the stigma of violence unfairly cast on mental illness can be effectively removed?

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Insane Killer Phillip Arnold Paul Caught

Insane Killer Caught Near Goldendale, Washington

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Is It A Crime To Be Sick?

By some reports, half the population of U.S. jails and prisons suffer from some form of mental illness. "Faultlines" investigative journalism takes a closer look at the problem in this video report.

Fears Escalate after Man with Schizophrenia Escapes

We've all read the script... "homicidal maniac escapes and begins a reign of terror" in Anytown, USA. But have we honestly examined what shapes our fear and why these types of stories fuel so much anxiety and terror? What role does the way the media presents this information affect our perception of these events, and more importantly the individuals who are suffering with mental illness?

Phillip Arnold Paul by all accounts had a normal life until early adulthood when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His brother describes a deteriorated mental state to the media reporting on his escape and questions why he was released from the institution to go on a field trip. Hospital authorities had argued recently for Paul's release from the institution, apparently believing he had been stabilized and that his progress and recovery was sufficient to warrant his release.

The cursory information we obtain from the article about Phillip Arnold Paul's case provides many dimensions that must be evaluated and explored before we can form any judgment about his escape. An obscure but extremely important if not critical aspect of this case involves the NGRI (not guilty for reasons of insanity) defense, itself the subject of much debate. The article indicates Paul was acquitted in 1987 based on the NGRI defense and then committed to a psychiatric hospital. This in itself indicates that at some point he would be eligible for release based upon his treatment progress. Unfortunately, this information was not emphasized in the reporting of this event. In contrast, Paul's escape is portrayed very similarly to a convicted criminal escaping from jail

A more discriminating look at Paul's case seems to indicate it is more about what to do with individuals who are ready to be released back into the community post-recovery than it is about public safety. We can put forth the argument that individuals have a right to the highest degree of personal freedom possible that does not impede the freedom and safety of others. However, adequate social support systems must be in place to effectively support this argument.

In this particular case, we see evidence of inadequate support systems for Paul revealed in comments made by his brother in the article and his recent unsuccessful stay in a halfway house. We see, in other words, an attempt made to move this individual out of an institutional setting back into the community that unfortunately did not have a successful outcome. What we don't see and need to further explore are the reasons why. Media framing of the incident unfortunately creates a negative context in which the focus shifts to danger and fear instead of the underlying factors that may have caused the event.

The battle between public opinion on institutionalization and release of individuals into the community is disproportionately impacted by the way the media portrays these kinds of incidents, hypersentisizing us to conjure up our worst fears. This article frames the discussion from a perspective that equates schizophrenia with criminal behavior, suggesting that this in itself is the reason Paul should not have been on the field trip, dismissing any progress he may have made in his treatment. In the article, it is revealed he had been "in and out of institutions" and on several different medications and that the hospital administrators at Eastern State Hospital had previously petitioned for his release. This subtlely casts dispersion on the abilities of the clinicians who treated him to accurately manage his treatment. In other words, the subtext of this article suggests instead of being on a field trip at the fair, Phillip Arnold Paul should have been locked away. It also suggests that his treatment has been ineffective and useless.

Looking critically at this case, we have now moved away from our initial feelings of paranoid anxiety upon learning of Paul's escape in the media to needing to know more about him, his treatment, and the environment that lead to this event. We can reasonably say that perhaps Phillip Arnold Paul realized that even his best efforts toward recovery from serious mental illness was not enough in the court of public opinion to allow for his eventual release.

SPOKANE, Wash. – A criminally insane killer from eastern Washington is on the run after escaping during a field trip to the county fair that his mental hospital organized.

Why such a dangerous person was out in public was a question many, including Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, were asking as authorities searched for Phillip Arnold Paul.

Authorities at Eastern State Hospital, where Paul is a patient, are being criticized for allowing him to visit the fair despite his violent criminal past and a history of trying to escape.

"Why was he allowed to take such a trip?" the governor said Friday. "Why did they go to a location that was so heavily populated with families?"

Authorities believed Paul, 47, was headed for the Sunnyside, Wash., area where his parents and many siblings live.

Paul was committed after he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman, whose body he soaked in gasoline to throw off search dogs. Paul buried the woman's remains in her flower garden.

In 1991, Paul walked away during a day trip to a Washington lake and was later captured. He attacked a sheriff's deputy in the jail booking area, knocking him unconscious, and was convicted of first-degree escape and second-degree assault.

Spokane County sheriff's officials were told Paul had $50 when he escaped Thursday — enough money to buy a bus ticket, said sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan.

Paul also had time, according to a union that said hospital administrators waited nearly two hours before calling law enforcement. The union said workers alerted their superiors minutes after discovering Paul's escape.

"They believe he was an extreme escape risk and the administration should never have allowed him on the field trip," a statement from the Washington Federation of State Employees said. "The workers have unsuccessfully fought to stop the outings for murderers, rapists and pedophiles committed to the hospital as criminally insane."

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich also insisted there was a two-hour delay before law enforcement were alerted, while Susan Dreyfus, secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, said it was not clear how long it took.

Paul is a white male, 5-foot-8, 220 pounds, with brownish-gray hair, blue eyes, and a goatee. At the time of his escape, Paul was wearing a red windbreaker jacket, with a T-shirt and jeans.

Paul has been on and off a variety of medications over the years, and also been in and out of institutions, his brother Tom Paul said.

"He is in a bad mental state," his brother, Tom Paul, told The Associated Press. "Why would they load him on a bus and take him to a fair?"

Thirty-one patients from the mental hospital were on the trip Thursday with 11 staff members. Dreyfus said she did not know how many of those had violent criminal backgrounds.

Patients must be cleared by a treatment team before they can go on trips to stores, parks, and other sites, said Dr. Rob Henry, director of forensic services at Eastern State. They wear street clothing and staff members are required to keep each patient within eyesight at all times.

Henry said trips to the fair were an annual event. The last escape from the forensic unit occurred in 1992, he said.

It is possible a 15-day review, which will be in part conducted by the state Department of Corrections, will end such outings, Dreyfus said. She has ordered an investigation that includes both state mental hospitals.

The state Department of Social and Health Services, meanwhile, has ordered an immediate end to trips like the one taken Thursday to the fair and launched an investigation into the practice.

Paul had a normal childhood in Sunnyside, 200 miles southwest of Spokane, his brother said.

But he started acting strangely as a high school student, his brother said, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Paul was living in a halfway house in Spokane last year, but ended up back at the hospital in a very agitated state, Tom Paul said. Hospital officials said Paul hadn't exhibited violent behavior in years. They argued in the past that he should be released, but his petition for release was rejected in 2003.

The sheriff's office said Friday that Paul's medication should keep him stable for 14 days.