AUGUSTA, Maine — A man who was committed to a Maine psychiatric hospital after killing two nuns and hurting two others in a Waterville chapel in 1996 has been allowed to move into a new group home in Augusta.
Mark Bechard requested in court Friday that he be allowed to move from a group home on the Riverview Psychiatric Center campus to a new group home expected to open within a month on Glenridge Drive.
Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills approved the request Friday after hearing from psychiatrists and others involved in Bechard’s treatment, according to The Morning Sentinel.
But she denied a request for him to have three hours a day of unsupervised time in the community. Instead, he is required to be under 24-hour supervision.
Bechard was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental illness for the brutal attack, and was committed to state custody.
On Jan. 27, 1996, he entered the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament chapel in Waterville, where he stabbed, beat and stomped on four nuns, killing two and severely injuring the other two.
Mother Superior Edna Mary Cardozo and Sister Marie Julien Fortin were killed during the attack. Sister Patricia Keane was released from the hospital days after the incident, but has since died. Sister Mary Anna DiGiacomo was in critical condition for a month and was paralyzed on the right side of her body. DiGiacomo died in 2006 at the age of 83.
Before the attack, Bechard regularly attended services at the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Testimony at the trial revealed that he had a 20-year history of delusions. He didn’t say a word during the attack.
At a hearing at Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta in 2006, Sister Mary Catherine Perko said the nuns at the convent had forgiven Bechard but remained concerned if he was given more freedom.
Bechard has been on antipsychotic medication since the attack.
Changes were brought about in how Maine courts look at cases involving mentally ill people after the attack. Bechard reportedly had been in and out of the Augusta Mental Health Institute many times before the attack.
Michaela Murphy, now a Superior Court judge, was Bechard’s defense attorney.
“It would have been inconceivable before this case for the state to come in and say this is a mentally ill man, not a sociopath,” Murphy told the Bangor Daily News in 1997, a year after the attack took place. “I still believe the sisters made that possible because of what they testified about [Bechard’s] dramatic change in behavior and their compassion for him.”
BDN writer Alex Barber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Very bad idea.
Hmm, I live in Augusta and I would like to know how (and where!) many other mentally ill killers are living in group homes in the community.
a bunch of them live on sand hill.
Ask where the non-adjudicated sex offenders are placed while you’re at it. They are living all over and will never be on the list.
I am so sick of hearing this stuff regarding mental illness. Lets change the law. If a Psychiatrist lets a convicted murderer out of jail and he kills again, then not only is the inmate responsible, but the Doctor gets the EXACT same sentence…Maybe then they would be less likely to let these people go wandering around where they can hurt others.
He was never in jail and he is not being let free.
yes he is..
It is possible that this guy could be let free sometime in the future. I know of a girl that killed a man in her apartment that she was friends with and she was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental illness and she has a good chance of getting out if she shows “improvement”. I think that in alot of cases people should be charged with the freakin murder that they committed and maybe jail or a mental place. I hate the fact that families have to think about this. Their loved one was murdered and the killer may go free within just years of it happening.
Having someone watch you 24/7 is not freedom.
He’s going from a lock down facility to a group home. How is that not being let free? And if the doctors say that he is ok now, then good he should go right to Warren!
See above.
I agree JeffCol. Mental Illness is a REASON for someone to do something like this, it should not be an excuse to get off and not imprisonned. NO NORMAL thinking person does something like this so of course they have to be Mentally Ill or deranged.
Respectfully, I suggest you read up on the law. The defense is only available for serious impairment’s of intent. I think you disregard both the extent to which mental illness can cause someone to lose touch with reality as well as the evil intention of criminals who are not mentally ill. Also, the defense of not criminally responsible by reason of mental illness is an extremely tough defense to prove.
I wonder if you are also glad that this and other states have been cutting psychiatric beds since the 60’s.
Ok under ur thinking If a cancer patient goes into remission and the cancer comes back we I inject the doc with cancer. Why don’t u try some serious thinking for a serious problem?
Maine needs the “guilty but mentally insane” verdict as an option like some other states have. If the individual is later determined to be mentally sound, they would go & serve the remainder of the sentence in prison instead of being released.
And the shrink md’s expect us to believe that he is cured. I wonder who is dillusional now.
Did you read the article?
I have a great idea, Let him move in with Judge Mills if she feels that good about it.
I agree, let her accept her own judgement and live with it. I mean, he did kill two people and injured two more, that certainly was not a “mistake”, this person has some serious issues!
So….what is that all about? He can move to another location, but does not qualify for any type of release into the public? Why not just keep him where he is????
I would think that it’s a bed shortage. In all likelyhood it was a bed shortage that had him out when he killed the nuns.
It’s all about the money. The KJ reported earlier that this step was taken because the on-campus halfway houses at AMHI were not eligible for a type of federal reimbursement for which Maine had been billing the feds for years.
Send him to Rome and let the Pope deal with him.
like he dealt with the child molesting priests?
The law needs to change! He will be concidered not guilty because of the way the law is.
I have experience working with people with mental health issues and I know that there are some ways to predict risk and some ways to mitigate risk. But I don’t believe it will ever be eliminated entirely. So we have to take a look at what both protects the public and the rights of the convicted mentally ill killer. It is a delicate balancing act for sure.
“A convited mentally ill killer’, balancing act. It was not for those he killed.
I am not saying I think he should be released. In my humble opinion, once a person has killed people but hospitalized due to mental illness, they should go to a correctional facility once they are stabilized and serve out their sentence there. But I know that there are a number of people in the mental health field who would disagree with me.
Roughly 30% of the prison and jail inmates are classified as having mental illness.
I know that. But most of those are not convicted of killing someone. And sadly, most of them get the only “treatment” and medication they are eligible for after they are locked up because the social safety net has some gaping holes in it.
Too true. The jails and prisons are hopelessly ill equiped to properly treat mental illness. If they had one of the more popular illnesses that bring out the hollywood stars to run benefits for a cure, we might see a change.
How about some details regarding this “group home” at Riverview and the one he will be moving to. If the judge won’t allow him to be out 3 hours a day without supervision I definitely think he needs to be in secure (locked) facilities. I also want to know if the person “supervising” him when he goes outside is capable of controlling him. I only know what I have been told by some people who do that kind of work in Maine. It’s not pretty.
This is insane and so is the legal system. What a crying shame and this would the time for our so called wonderful Govenor to step in and say NO. He does not belong on the streets.
Our wonderful Governor LePage has, along with other politicians, done their best to ‘CUT’ funding for mental health hospitals.
He doesn’t need a ‘mental’ hospital. He needs prison. Don’t care one iota about his rights.
Is that your attitude toward all people with mental illness? Or just this particular individual?
I now and half of them in Whitehouse in Augusta need to be mental healthcare of some kind!!!!
HUH ? Say what ?
Maybe you could comment again so it could be understood??
I now and were are they. Just running the streets wild.
Yeah, we all know that if they had more money this wouldn’t be happening. What a bunch of hogwash. Stop whining. The problem here is the liberal justice system. Period!
So stop whining about the criminal justice system. The fact is that if this guy would have been kept in a mental institution and or monitored properly, those two nuns would not have been murdered.
“Michael Murphy, now a Superior Court judge”
I wonder if this judge Michael Murphy knows of any lawyers that have told lies in a courtroom. I know of one
Michaela Murphy…
I can see the really smart compassionate simpletons are weighing in on this one. These are diseased minds we are talking about. Locking these people up and throwing away the key is not the answer. Although I do hope the law has changed that if they want to be unsupervised in public they are forced to take their meds. My understanding is they feel so normal they stop taking the very meds that keep the delusions away.
personal attacks such as this person has made should not be allowed – PERIOD!
Once again justice dose not prevail! This is proof once again that our judicial system is a joke and does not work. I trust our judicial system as far as I trust our Government, NOT AT ALL!
Mr. Bechard was found NCR due to psychosis (not anti social behavior- ASPD.) So long as he takes his antipsychotic medications (court ordered) and remains stable (under supervision) there is no reason to believe Mr. Bechard poses a risk. He is still on NCR status and still under the care and custody of the state…this is a very slow and deliberate process to insure that the community is safe. Mr. Bechard isn’t going to be out and about without supports or without stringent court ordered mandates that he must follow. If an individual who is deemed NCR fails to follow just 1 of the mandated court requirements they are immediately taken to Riverview and the process begins again…which takes years.
With all due respect Sir, do not delude yourself into believing that a profoundly mentall ill person is going to obey “stringent court-ordered mandates.” Also please research the incidents of the mentally ill who have comitted horrific crimes and later ran away from support staff while out in the community. The vast majority of mentally ill folks pose no risk to others but this man requires
a secure enviroment for the duration of his life. Recognizing that he is ill, we owe him, and more importantly his victims and us, nothing less.
And with all do respect -you clearly have no understanding of what NCR means nor what it requires of a person. I have worked at Riverview on the forensic unit with the NCR patients there including the person you are speaking about- you, I surmise, have not.
That being said, you cannot legally hold someone criminally accountable if they are found NCR- that means they are not responsible for what occurred due to mental defect or disease period. It’s the law like it or not. Some comments have said Mr. Bechard should go to jail. You cannot send someone to jail who has been deemed NCR- again they are not legally responsible for what took place. Did Mr. Bechard kill 2 people? Yes he most certainly did and what a horrible and sad thing to have happen. Legally he is not responsible due to his mental illness.
If you have statistics which can support that more mentally ill people (who ‘run away’ from staff and then commit more crimes) commit more crimes than those individuals who have been found guilty of a crime and served time and then have committed more crimes once they have been released. Please do share. I will bet you will find that mentally ill people commit far less crimes than those people who are considered not mentally ill.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/20/health/la-he-mentally-ill-violent-20110116
People who advocate for the mentally ill are deeply admired by me, but in my response to you I clearly was not referring to all who have a diagnosis of mental illness but only that small number who have killed and maimed. I agree that he is not responsible because of his diagnosis but that in itself is all the more reason to house him in a secure environment and provide for his needs in a humane manner while still keeping the community safe. Group homes were not designed for this
type of extreme patient. My concerns ultimately are for the nuns who were horribly victimized by
this guy and who the court turned its back on. There will always be people who will advocate for the rights of Mr. Bedard but who stands up for the victims here?
This murderer,spent a lot of time in Belfast Maine.We all knew that there was something very very wrong with him,Then he disappeared,and we heard that he beat two nuns in Waterville to death.We were not that surprised.Was DOES surprise us is that he is getting out! Has the blood on the alter even faded yet? Terrible…
What happened was terrible. He was mentally ill and psychotic and not in controll or understanding his actions – hence NCR . He is not ‘getting out’ he is on NCR status….he has been stable for many years and has not be violent since 1996. People who are committed to forensic hospitals spend far more time being ‘detained’ and treated than people who are found guilty and sentenced in prison (who get zero treatment)…..research a manslaughter conviction……do you know anyone else who has spent 20 years in an institution for a manslaughter charge? It usually runs about 7 to 10 years and with time off for good behavior less.
I practiced psychiatric nursing for over twenty-five years and was a conservator for many profoundly
mentally ill men and women. It is a fact of life that not every mentally ill person can be mainstreamed.
Some patients must be housed in secure facilities for the safety of themselves and others. This is what
we once did in a humane society. Now we are politically correct and think we can return everyone to a normal life with the taking of a pill. My fear is that this man will stop taking his meds and destroy more lives, and I am sure we have not heard the last of him. It is equally outrageous that the concerns of the nuns who were so badly harmed by this man were not heard, especially since this person may gravitate
back to them at his first opportunity. Sisters, please remember your 2nd Amendment Rights.
Can and should everyone be ‘mainstreamed?’ No of course not and there is a mechanism to make sure those people who pose a risk to the community do not return to the community. If you had worked with the forensic population and a psychiatric RN you would understand this process more clearly.
I am in complete agreement with you and I thought that’s what I had expressed. Most of my associates in the field are of one mind about the level of care and supervision required for those those that have committed the type of atrocity we are discussing. Personally I believe that the mechanism you are referring to doesn’t work when lawyers and judges get involved, but that is just my opinion.
Judges and lawyers are what make the mechanism work….if they didn’t do their jobs many more people would be living next door to you that would pose a bigger chance of violence than you or I could believe……do you really ‘know’ who lives next door to you? I certainly don’t…..but I certainly know who and what are out there and Mr. Bechard is the least of our worries.
We have many people in our society that have never murdered anyone who are on waiting lists to get into group homes for debilitating illness or injuries, etc. Let’s make sure the murders get taken are of first in a gleaming new facility. Will this idiocy never end???
Hope there aren’t any Catholics in the group home.
This makes me sick!! He should have to stay in an institution for the rest of his life so he has a mental illness, if someone has cancer and murders someone do they get locked up for life?
The nuns are concerned if he is given more freedom—Was the judge listening to them? Two died and two were critically injured in the attack and the best the courts will do to keep him contained is put him in a group home? If he manages to escape the group home, will the judge and his psychiatrist feel remorse when someone else is killed or beaten almost to death? Someone with this kind of mental illness will never be even close to normal with meds.
Before the attack, Bechard regularly attended services at the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. So he was an active member of this church and attended services prior to comitting this crime, that is scary and sad. These nuns probably had a relationship with this man so they saw to threat in him being there. I hope he is never given unsupervised time in the community again. Very sad.