News: Boy’s Killer Has Personality Disorder
(Long Island, N.Y.) The suspected killer of an eight-year-old boy from Borough Park, Brooklyn was evaluated by medical experts this week. After being screened at Bellevue Medical Center for various psychiatric disorders, the alleged murderer was diagnosed with a personality defect and schizoid tendencies. This news comes after a previous evaluation that determined he was fit to stand trial.
The recent evaluation is the first of many expected exams that are set to question the suspect’s level of sanity and whether he can plead not guilty with such a defense. Reports stated that he never received the psychiatric help he needed, and it is uncertain whether he was previously treated. Sources claimed that he suffered a head injury as a child, though it is possible that the suspect could be misleading experts with his various claims.
According to reports, the alleged killer claimed to have been embarrassed over hearing voices, explaining why he didn’t seek help for his condition. He stated that he doesn’t remember experiencing anything stressful during the time the voices were heard. However, he did claim that the voices spoke to him before and after the death of the child.
One of his diagnosed conditions, adjustment disorder, has to do with a subject’s response to given stressors. A person who suffers from the disorder will overreact to a stressful circumstance and may even experience impaired function. The suspected murderer’s initial statement was that the voices told him to harm himself and others, but sources said that he has recanted this claim.
Reports stated that the alleged killer began hearing voices about a year prior to the incident, but that he was unable to determine what was said. Critics of the clinical terminology of adjustment disorder have claimed that the criteria for diagnoses are too vague to provide for meaning. It’s been stated that schizoid tendencies are more commonly prevalent when a family member suffers from the same psychiatric disease/disorder.
The recent evaluation also revealed that the suspect’s sister suffered from schizophrenia. She allegedly died when she was twenty-four after being institutionalized and had committed suicide. Reports stated that officials from the office of the Medical Examiner contained a record of a woman with the same name who died on the same day.
The day was April 6th, 2009 and sources claimed that the suspect’s sister had lived at the same address where he was accosted at one point in her life. According to sources, the alleged murderer spent a lot of time alone or on the Internet. He was said to have stored a lot of audio and video recordings of himself doing karaoke.
