From "Blood on Black: The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers, Volume I" by Gary Meece:
"A Bizarre and Unusual Manner"
Damien Echols was first referred to family treatment from the Department of Human Services on May 5, 1992, a year to the day before the murders. The family was living in Lakeshore.
The referral form, based on allegations from his sister Michelle, stated: “Child reported her step-father has been sexually abusing her for a long tim...
From "Blood on Black: The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers, Volume I" by Gary Meece:
"A Bizarre and Unusual Manner"
Damien Echols was first referred to family treatment from the Department of Human Services on May 5, 1992, a year to the day before the murders. The family was living in Lakeshore.
The referral form, based on allegations from his sister Michelle, stated: “Child reported her step-father has been sexually abusing her for a long time. Her mother knows about it but has done nothing to stop it. Sexual abuse reportedly occurred periodically from age 7 until present. The abuse included fondling.”
Charges were pending contingent on counseling.
According to records from the East Arkansas Regional Mental Health Center in West Memphis, the family was in deep disarray. Gloria Stevenson, the family service worker, reported: “It appears that the Echols family has extreme problems related to an ongoing history of sexual abuse, suspected emotions problems and undefined interpersonal relationship disorders. Mr. Echols admits to being overly affectionate with Michelle and to have been charged for indecently exposing himself to an older daughter, however, Mrs. Echols states that she feels Michelle is lying as she has been skipping school and sexually acting out. Michelle alleges to have had several miscarriages though the mother denies it. Damien Echols on the other hand, holds his adopted father in low regard and feels the allegations are in fact true. Mrs. Echols states Damien is in need of counseling and evaluation as he feels he is ‘smarter than everyone else’ and will verbalize this fact. He also reportedly has little regard for others and stated he feels people have no true feeling for each other; Their main purpose is to use and bring harm to others around them. Mrs. Echols reports that Damien has attempted to fight with her on occasion.”
Beyond the lack of consensus on reality among the Echols family, Damien’s mother described his persistent grandiosity and a view of reality typical of psychopathic personalities who have little empathy and view others as objects to be used. His mother gave the lie to Damien’s claim that he was not violent as a teenager.
She later told caseworkers that she “was most concerned about son ‘not learning to deal with anger and rages.’ {Mother} mentioned her belief that son may be responding to outside stimulation. Voiced fear ‘son may be crazy.’”
Besides the family drama, Damien’s teenage love life took a histrionic turn.
“By the age of sixteen Mr. Echols’ depression and hopelessness was written all over his body,” wrote Dr. George Woods in his 2001 report. “He wore black clothes, hair and nails. His strange, often flat affect kept him out of step with mainstream life in a small Arkansas town. Yet he found one person, a young girl with problems of her own, whom he felt could understand him. They developed a relationship and became inseparable. Her parents strongly opposed their dating and tried to keep them apart.
“Desperate to stay together, they planned to go to California. Mr. Echols’ mother, overtaxed with her own problems, did not intervene to keep the troubled teenagers near their parents. Instead, she gave them no more than $10.00 to $15.00 - the only money she had - as a contribution toward expenses.”
Echols and Deanna Holcomb, 15, had broken up earlier that spring at the insistence of her parents. Echols’ violent reaction brought charges of terroristic threatening.
Echols promptly found a new girlfriend, Domini Teer, but continued to pursue Deanna. Finally, Damien and Deanna decided to run away together to California. They didn’t get far.
The teens were reported as runaways on May 19, 1992. Police found them hiding in the closet of an abandoned mobile home in Lakeshore. The teens were “partially nude from the waist down,” according to the arrest report. Damien and Deanna were both charged initially with burglary and sexual misconduct and taken to the county jail. Juvenile Officer Jerry Driver was contacted, and the teenage lovers were permanently separated.
Echols shared a different, infinitely more romantic memory of his final encounter with Deanna in a May 14, 1996, letter to future wife Lorri Davis, as revealed in “Yours for Eternity”: “ … When I was 16, I was very much in love. Her name was Deanna. One day we skipped school together. We walked for miles until we found a place that was absolutely beautiful. There were hills, and the grass was so full and soft and green, the sky was grey and overcast. We spent hours talking, telling each other things that we had never told another living soul, our worst fears, our most wished-for dreams, and we made love several times. I never suspected that that would be the last time that I ever saw her. There’s no way that words can ever do this memory justice, but it’s a day that has returned to haunt me every day of my life.” This pastoral interlude set amidst the nonexistent hills of Crittenden County was a far cry from the reality of a rainy night in a ramshackle trailer.
As he was being held in a police car, Echols later told a psychiatrist, he witnessed his girlfriend’s father coming toward her as she waited with officers. Damien “states that he was able to work his fingers loose, moved over and was able to slip the safety off of the police officer’s gun which had been left in the police vehicle. Damien freely admitted he had plans to shoot the girlfriend’s father if he acted in an aggressive manner toward the girl.” As part of his rich fantasy life, Echols’ thoughts often turned to homicide.
Sheriff’s Department investigators searched the Echols home and confiscated a number of items that would show up at his murder trial, including a dog skull that Echols explained was “a decoration for my room” as well as a “Book of Shadows” detailing his progress on the Wiccan path.
“Mr. Echols was taken to a juvenile facility where he attempted to hang himself,” wrote Dr. Woods. “Following their arrests and initial evaluations both youths were placed in psychiatric hospitals.”
Echols was sent first to the Craighead County Juvenile Detention Center in Jonesboro and then, after the suicide threat, to East Arkansas Regional Mental Health Center.
On May 28, 1992, Echols was given a Millon Adolescent Personality (MAPI) test, designed especially for teenagers, which reported “The behavior of this youngster is characterized by impulsive hostility, an apprehensive distrust of others and an edgy defensiveness against criticism. Fearing that others will dominate and possibly brutalize him, he puts forward a socially blunt and aggressive public posture. He fantasizes being all powerful so as to block others from possessing the means to be belittling and harmful. He believes that only alert vigilance and vigorous counteraction can prevent the malice of others. Closeness to others, displaying weakness and a willingness to compromise are seen as fatal concessions.
“The desire to gain power and demean others springs from animosity and a wish to vindicate past grievances. Although frequently unsuccessful in these aims, this teenager believes that past degradations may be undone by provoking fear and intimidation in others. He often loses his temper, gets into fights and acts in a daring fashion. He avoids displaying warmth, gentleness and intimacy. Defiance and disobedience are rationalized into virtues. …
“Inadequacy and failure are intolerable to him, and blame is quickly projected outward.
“Disposed to be headstrong and able to inspire discomfort and anger in others, he may use his position in the family to bully young sibs into submission. … He is rarely able to submerge the memories of past humiliations and this resentment may break though … in impulsive and irrational anger. …
“Cool and distant, this youth demonstrates little or no compassion for others, viewing their difficulties as the product of their own weaknesses. He is likely to feel no compunction about ignoring their needs and sensitivities. This lack of empathy may lead this youngster to serve only himself regardless of the consequences for those around him.”
Among the statements about himself that Echols designated as “true”: “It is easy for me to take advantage of people. … Punishment never stopped me from doing whatever I wanted. … I have a pretty hot temper.”
He was diagnosed as “adjustment disorder with disturbances of conduct.”
Among the therapeutic implications: “Teenager may relate to the clinician in a polite, though passive way. … Difficulties will be attributed to others who are claimed to be the source of problems…. Efforts to be what may be called a good and cooperative patient will be exhibited, even when restraining strong and angry feelings.”
Dr. Woods reported: “Personnel at East Arkansas Regional Mental Health Center described Mr. Echols as very disturbed. He was withdrawn, spoke little, and rarely had eye contact with anyone: ‘he stared at the wall or cast his eyes downward.’ He appeared ‘confused,’ and dressed strangely -- ‘all in black.’ He was preoccupied with his fingernails, which he ‘filed to points.’ Concerned about the nature and complexity of his problems Mental Health Center staff recommended that Mr. Echols immediately be involuntarily committed to Charter Hospital in Little Rock for more extensive evaluation and treatment.”
A request for service dated June 1 recorded a threat “to hang himself while in custody.” The intake sheet noted that Damien and Deanna had a pact to commit suicide if they could not be together and that Damien was continuing to express suicidal thoughts, voicing plans to use a sheet to hang himself. Damien admitted to the suicide plan: “It would have been necessary if her parents would not have let us see each other.”
Driver had Echols admitted to Charter Hospital in Little Rock for a monthlong stay. Admission papers noted: “He has a history of extreme physical aggression toward others.”
Criteria for the emergency admission included:
“1. Fire setting behavior by history.”
“2. Potential danger to property.”
“3. Excessive irritability and anger that is potentially dangerous and persistent.”
“4. Involvement in bizarre and unusual behavior.”
A case file from June 1 reported that Echols “admits to having seen suspended 7X this past semester for inciting fights at school, starting small fires, cussing. States in one fight he almost gouged out the victim’s eyes.”
A report on June 2 stated: “He has been suspended x7 due to negative behaviors in the classroom. Information does suggest that Damien has set fire to his academic classroom on two occasions, that he has also been truant, engaged in physical confrontations while on school grounds and has, often times, threatened to put ‘hexes’ on school instructors.”
Echols admitted to being a “practicing warlock” while denying devil worship. He had a “blood brother” with whom he exchanged blood. Damien said he had one friend: “A friend is someone who would die for you — everyone else is only interested in themselves & what they want.”
Deanna was also admitted for mental treatment, at Mid-South Mental Health; Echols had been scheduled to go there but because his girlfriend was there, he had been sent to Charter.
Concerning allegations about abuse in his family, Damien denied he had been abused, an assertion “strongly questioned.” He denied feeling violent, saying he saw fighting as a release: “Sometimes I have to do this not because of feeling angry — sometimes I’m confused.”
On the home front, Jack Echols was gone, and Pam Echols had reunited with Joe Hutchison after little or no contact over the past seven years.
Damien admitted to using drugs, including speed “over a month ago.”
Glori Shettles’ “attorney work project” for the Echols murder defense quoted the Charter records: “Information from detention center — Damien and girlfriend to have baby and sacrifice it. Damien denies this. Says he is involved in witchcraft, not satanism. Alleged to have chased younger child with ax and attempted to set house on fire. Damien denies this. States girlfriend’s family wants him in trouble. Admits to violence … Suspensions and disruptive at school. Has heart problems, asthma, bronchitis and migraine headaches.”
Damien underwent a psychological evaluation.
He also explained his name change. He repeatedly has denied that “Damien” was inspired by the diabolical child in the 1970s hit movie “The Omen,” instead claiming he took the name from a Catholic priest who worked with lepers. The name was shared by one of the main characters in “The Exorcist.” A character in that book explains, “It was the name of a priest who devoted his life to taking care of lepers on the island of Molokai. He finally caught the disease himself.” Among the books found in Echols’ room at the time of arrest was a copy of “The Exorcist.”
Echols later testified: “… I was very involved in the Catholic church, and we were going over the different names of the saints. St. Michael’s was where I went to church at. And we heard about this guy from the Hawaiian Islands, Father Damian, that took care of lepers until he finally caught the disease himself and died.” Echols said that was the reason he chose the name and it had “nothing whatsoever” to do with “horror movies, Satanism, cultism, anything of that nature.”
Progress notes at Charter indicated depression and bizarre behavior but that Echols was making progress.
Echols was prescribed Imipramine at 50 mg on June 5, increased to 100 mg on June 12. Psychological testing by Lewis F. Bracy, PhD, on June 8 showed that Damien was depressed and did not trust others but was not psychotic.
The psychological report revealed Echols had a verbal IQ of 101, a thoroughly average score. Bracy’s battery of tests found no evidence of psychosis but the possibility of a thought disorder. “The most prominent finding is that he has a rather strong depression process going on and has real difficulty making contact with people.” The diagnosis: depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.
The assessment of his art produced in the psychological testing could be applied to his current projects: “Damien’s drawings reflect rather impoverished, empty appearing figures. They lack enrichment, color, life and emotion. They appear to be primarily depressive, helpless and in poor contact with reality. … He appears to be a very concretistic person who is arrested in his imaginative function. He would be expected to see things in a rather simplistic, overly constrictive manner.”
Based on a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Disorder (MMPI) exam, Echols was given preliminary diagnoses of schizophrenia, disorganized type (paranoid and catalytic types also possible) and bipolar disorder, manic.
It was noted: “These persons spend much time in personal fantasy and daydreaming, often with themes of sex or power.”
Dr. Woods’ affidavit from 2001 described Echols’ first trip to Charter in detail, much of which was echoed in trial records:
“Mr. Echols was provisionally diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, single episode and medicated with Imipramine, an anti depressant drug. ... The staff psychiatrist who conducted a mental status exam upon admission described the 17-year old as ‘cooperative and polite’ with ‘an odd stare,’ and flat affect. ... The psychiatrist had ‘major concerns that this young man was exhibiting disturbed, bizarre and unusual thinking.’”
Dr. Woods continued: “Mr. Echols’ delusional thinking was evident throughout his hospitalization. He explained that he had ‘no feelings about suicide’ because he thought he could ‘be reincarnated.’ He indicated to others he thought he possessed special powers. A social worker reported Mr. Echols ‘appeared to be sniffing the air around him as if he were responding to an external stimulus.’ He smiled inappropriately and ‘cut his eyes in one direction or the other, as if he were hearing or thinking of something before he spoke.’ The social worker concluded he was ‘responding to an outside stimulation’ and ‘may have been experiencing auditory hallucinations.’ Visual hallucinations also may have been present. Mr. Echols said he thought the furniture in the psychiatric unit ‘was causing blurred vision.’
“Mr. Echols exhibited ‘a bizarre and unusual manner’ of adjustment to the psychiatric unit that was also reflected in his ‘bizarre and unusual thinking pattern.’ He was ‘preoccupied with witchcraft’ but consistently denied any involvement with satanic worship. He was observed ‘meditating in his room in a bizarre and unusual fashion,’ ‘wrote some very unusual poems,’ and remained on ‘the peripheral of the group throughout’ his hospitalization. He made unusual and bizarre sounds ‘with his mouth that sound[ed] like a cat purr.’ He had ‘trouble making eye contact’ and was ‘quite paranoid.’ He told staff there were ‘survelance [sic] cameras behind his mirror and under his desk’ and cautioned other adolescent patients that staff were ‘constantly watching them.’ The hospital staff observed him sitting and ‘rocking methodically back and forth,’ daydreaming, and staring into space. When interrupted, he appeared startled. He wanted to ‘calm down’ and said he ‘was feeling “jittery’’ internally.’ Hospital staff noted he showed ‘no aggressive behavior’ in the hospital.
“Mr. Echols’ behavior demonstrated ‘a pervasively depressed mood throughout most of his hospitalization.’ He withdrew from family and friends, had a ‘sad facial expression’ and ‘spent long intervals alone.’ He lost interest in eating, had difficulty going to sleep, and planned ways to commit suicide. He repeatedly thought about wrapping the sheet from his bed around his neck and ‘trying to hang’ himself.
“Mr. Echols’ psychiatric care was interrupted by his parents who removed him from the hospital June 25, 1992, and moved to Oregon. His discharge diagnosis was major depression, single episode, dysthymia and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. He was instructed to continue taking 150 mg. of Imipramine daily.”
Driver was designated to monitor Echols. “Family indicated that they were moving to Denver, Colorado. Prosecuting Attorney was in agreement with Damien leaving State. Not felt to be a danger to himself or to others per doctor.”
Echols apparently did not leave the state until weeks later as he was referred again to Charter on July 24 for a screening. That intake report noted: “Dresses all in black — T-shirt slacks & shoes, Wears small gold cross stud” earring in left ear. “Nails are clean & filed to points.” Damien presented himself as intelligent, generally honest, calm and coherent, expressing mostly his desire to be with his girlfriend. He denied feeling angry or depressed, “but appears depressed — voices apathy — blunt affect.”
Damien admitted to the suicide pact: “It can go either way now.” “Question of satanic involvement” still lingered.
“Extremely dysfunctional family however.”
With Damien diagnosed with major depression, dysthymia and a conduct disorder, the preliminary treatment plan was for a resumption of hospitalization due to suicidal thoughts and a range of other issues. But the case was closed because of his parents’ plans to move.
Woods described Damien’s patterns of continued drug use: “Mr. Echols’s mental illness did not improve after his hospitalization. He remained in excruciating emotional pain, betrayed by his mind and body. The world was an unsafe, unpredictable maze from which he desperately looked for an escape. He finally found relief in his own form of medication. He instinctively turned to inhalants and began ‘huffing’ gasoline; he thought he ‘invented it.’ Later he tried marijuana a few times before his arrest, but it did not become a habit. He also used the medication prescribed for his migraine headaches — Midrin — as a means of tolerating stress and fear of attending school. ... Unable to outrun his terror, he withdrew from school in the ninth grade and tried to insulate himself from the external pressures that contributed to his mental illness.”
Moving to Oregon would provide no relief.
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