A friend may get out of jail and murder his wife. What should I do?
My friend, Eddie, and I were best friends for two years before it came out that he had kept his illness (paranoid schizophrenia) a secret for 10 years from his wife and all of his friends. Finally, when the voices were getting unmanageable and his behavior had gotten more and more erratic, his wife discovered that he heard voices AND discovered that he had spent all of their money, maxed out their personal and professional credit cards, and had gone to great lengths to keep her in the dark about their financial situation. A divorce ensued during which he would literally convince a psychiatrist or counselor that he felt great one minute, and then call me within four hours to say "Good bye, I'm committing suicide." It didn't take long to figure out that he was and had always been a master manipulator and for him to prove that he was very adept at fooling judges and health professionals into believing he was benign, sincerely sorry, not "that" man, etc.Finally, the drama culminated when he attempted to murder his now ex-wife. Journals found after his arrest showed that the voices were telling him that she was some sort of evil imposter -- that his real wife never would have left him. He has been in jail now for the past few months and is due for sentencing on November 10, in about a week. His now ex-wife, also one of my closest friends, is almost positive that he will be let out on probation. This would pose a VERY dangerous threat since he would undoubtedly come looking for her (he is obsessed with her) and since it could once again culminate in a murder attempt when she refuses to take him back.What should I do? He has very little criminal history before this. It's pretty much impossible to know whether he is taking his meds at any given time because, we have learned, you can't believe what he tells you. (He was going to a psychiatrist AND a counselor through the whole period when he tried to murder his wife.) If he gets back out on the streets, his ex-wife has very real reason to fear for her life. I fear for her life, too. Any suggestions?
Hello,
First of all, any psychiatrist or counselor who gets the inkling that their client is a danger to someone else needs to alert the authorities. That is their legal duty.
I have consulted with an executive director of an agency who has told me that if it's a question of attempted murder the person is most likely going to be sentenced to jail time.
Should he not, and even if he does and then is released at a later date, your friend (the ex-wife) may need to move out of her apartment or house and into another location.
The most important thing is that if he has paranoid schizophrenia he needs to be taking medication even if he has to be legally forced to take the medication. So ideally while in jail he would be medicated so that when he does get out he will hopefully not be violent.
Your friend may have the right to know where he is living so that she can take precautions to be safe.
Regards,
Christina
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