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Tag: Sandy Hook Advisory Commission

Is the 14-Year-Old Shooting Suspect in West Oak Middle School, SC Another Failed Outcome of Mental Health Treatment?

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Violence.

The 14-year old suspect in the Townville Elementary School shooting was expelled from West-Oak Middle School after bringing a hatchet to school last year, according to news reports.

West Oak Middle School expulsion policy requires the school to refer the student to the department of juvenile justice based on the fact he brought a weapon to school. The DJJ process clearly indicates the suspect would have undergone a mental health evaluation and had plenty of access to mental health treatment prior to the shooting.

What’s not clear, did the suspect receive mental health services and psychiatric drug treatment prior to the Hatchet incident at school? It is often difficult to gain access to early mental health treatment records. However, the public did gain access to the Sandy Hook mass shooter’s early mental health treatment records through the Child Advocate’s report, but didn’t gain access to the last five years leading up to the mass murder at Sandy Hook.  The State is still withholding those records.

Lanza’s primary treating psychiatrist, Paul Fox, who surrendered his license to practice is now facing felon charges for sexual abuse of a former patient. Fox told police during the Sandy Hook police investigation he still retains the billing records, but destroyed the actual mental health records of Lanza.  Fox failed to follow record retention law and public notification law that he was no longer practicing.  Connecticut didn’t enforce either one of those laws.

The Child Advocate’s report on Lanza actually showed he had plenty of access to mental health and participated in the birth to three mental health programs.  In addition, Lanza was home bound through Newtown public school system and under the care of discredited psychiatrist Fox at that time.  Dr. Robert King of Yale Child Study Center also treated Adam Lanza.  Dr. King is heavily involved in landmark mental health research that involves FDA approval.

The public would benefit from mental health billing information, the Yale file, and the diary of the mother, Nancy Lanza, found at the crime scene.

Dr. Robert King and Nancy Koenig of Yale claimed that Nancy Lanza refused treatment for her son; however, the police report indicates that Nancy Lanza reported an adverse drug event to Yale’s Koenig and Dr. King.  There was no indication that Dr. King or Koenig advised Nancy Lanza to report the adverse drug event to the FDA, instead Dr. King and Koenig of Yale labeled Nancy Lanza as noncompliant.

Time again the school shootings are linked to mental health “treatment” and deadly outcomes. This is an excellent time to question the condition of the mental health system, and ask two fundamental questions. Is the policies pushed in the aftermath of Sandy Hook of aggressive outpatient services, and “shy of forced medication” actually increasing our mental health crisis and the deadly outcomes?  The second question, Are public health departments, like Connecticut, protecting behavioral health vendors, bad psychiatrists, and covering up dangerous, experimental mental health treatment on children in crisis?

AbleChild contacted the SC Anderson County Sheriff’s office to encourage them to explore the psychiatric drug link, question the treating psychiatrist, and investigate any behavioral health vendor involvement.  AbleChild also asked if the suspect’s blood was taken at time of arrest.  The Sheriff’s office thanked AbleChild for our suggestions and didn’t have the information on the blood work up at this time.

AbleChild Attends Sandy Hook Psychiatrist’s Pre-Trial

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook, Violence.

July 26, 2016, Danbury, Connecticut Criminal Court, Paul Fox, is the last known treating psychiatrist of Adam and is facing criminal charges for multiple counts of sexual assault of a former patient. Beyond these charges, Fox could offer much needed information in the Sandy Hook investigation.

As is well known, Fox’s mental health assessment was incorporated into the final report that the State Attorney, Stephen Sedensky, used to prepare the final report on Sandy Hook, and Fox’s psychiatric assessment and treatment of Lanza was used in the mainstream media to profile Lanza and address the motive of the crime.

Sedensky, who released the final report that determined Adam Lanza acted alone in the Sandy Hook massacre, is prosecuting the Fox case and has an opportunity to provide to the public much needed mental health information from Fox.

AbleChild contacted Sedensky regarding the police investigation conducted in the aftermath of Sandy Hook to inquiry about the key mental health records Fox claimed he destroyed two years too early, which is now known to be in violation of Connecticut law along with Fox’s failure to notify current and former patients he was discontinuing his practice.

The internal investigation conducted by the public health department, that prompted Fox to surrender his license, also was discussed with Sedensky. Since AbleChild’s inquiry, the former patient involved in the “internal” inquiry of Fox has come forward and Sedensky now is taking action against Fox.

However, one must ask Sedensky, why did he avoid the questions relating to the quality, methods, and ethics of the mental health treatment Lanza received under Fox while preparing his final report on Lanza? Why was this important information missing from his report?

The investigation conducted by the Connecticut State Police, and reviewed by multiple state agencies, led to the Governor appointing the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission to review the findings and make legislative recommendations.

Connecticut State Police detectives investigating Lanza’s mental health history first became aware of Fox’s relationship with the female patient for which Fox now has been charged with sexual assault. This information was held by the state agency on public health. Why, when public policy PA 13-3 was being rush through the State Legislature to increase mental health and pass sweeping gun control, was this information not share by the state agency with legislators?

Fox and his attorney brokered a deal with the State Department of Public Health’s Healthcare Quality and Safety branch, allowing the psychiatrist to surrender his license in Connecticut and New York.

The Sandy Hook police investigation would lead investigators to contact the “relocated” psychiatrist, in New Zealand, to inquire about the medical records of Adam Lanza.

According to the police investigation, Fox told the investigators he had the medical billing records for Lanza stored in the US, the next day when investigators called Fox back to obtain more information, Fox indicated he destroyed the medical records. So, does Fox still have the billing records? Why didn’t the State charge Fox for destroying the records 2 years too early according to Connecticut Law? Also, Fox had an obligation to notify his current and former patients he was discontinuing his practice. Why didn’t the State hold him responsible for the failure to follow that law?

While this case appears to compel the State to prosecute the already investigated internal sexual assault case, it does nothing to get to the mental health treatments provided to Adam Lanza.

Additionally, the years-in-the-making Child Advocate’s report appears to be an attempt to clear Fox of answering any questions relating to his treatment of Lanza and his relationship to Nancy Lanza and the Yale Child Study Center.

The Sandy Hook Commission, appointed by the Governor, also appears to have given a pass to Fox. No one from the State of Connecticut appears to want to consider the billing records that Fox claims are stored in the United States and may yield insight into the motive for Lanza’s behavior.

Even the small town newspaper, The Newtown Bee appears to cover news stories relating to Sandy Hook that seeks legislation regarding gun control, rather than covering news seeking legislation addressing whether the mental health treatment Lanza received was adequate or even necessary.

One would expect the news organization to provide accurate information about mental health records and facts surrounding the treatment of Lanza that apparently led to the massacre in its community.

The reporting on the fact that Adam Lanza was unable to attended school because of his deteriorating psychiatric condition as determined by Fox, but at the same time Lanza made the honor roll, still has not been adequately explained. But Fox, now within reach of the State’s Attorney, could provide important information.

AbleChild will continue to watch the outcome of this very compelling case, with the hope that the State may make inquiries of Fox about Lanza’s mental health care…even if that means just getting its hands on Fox’s billing records.

 

AbleChild Responds to Governor Malloy’s Clown Car Comment on Sandy Hook Legislation

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

“How many people can get out of a clown car at the same time?” Malloy asked. Dear Governor these are serious times with serious policy implications.

AbleChild working on behalf of the public made every attempt to be included in the legislative process in the aftermath of the murders in Newtown, Connecticut our access to this process was repeatedly denied.

Governor Malloy appointed a Sandy Hook Advisory Commission (SHAC) to review and make policy recommendations. These meetings were not open to the public and our submitted testimony on increased informed consent for the mental health consumer and implementation of the MEDWATCH program, the FDA consumer adverse drug reporting system, was never considered upon repeated submission.

AbleChild followed legislative protocol on every level. Senator Bye’s office refused our recommendations outright and our testimony was lost and was excluded from the public record until a general law committee clerk helped us restore it onto the public record.

The State’s police report illustrated the fact that Nancy Lanza attempted to report an adverse drug event from Celexa (citalopram) an antidepressant in the group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to Yale Child Study Center where her son was provided “mental health treatment.”

According to the State’s police report, Yale Child Study Center failed to advise Nancy Lanza to report the adverse event to the FDA MEDWATCH reporting system, instead labeled Nancy Lanza as non-compliant. AbleChild wants to change this conversation for the consumer.

The Sandy Hook advisory panel was comprised of “stakeholders” according to the Governor. The public was not considered “stakeholders” despite the fact the system is funded by taxpayers. However, Adam’s mental health providers, Danbury Hospital and Yale Child Study Center, were participants.

The commission’s recommendations were to increase forced mental health “treatments” just shy of forced medication.

The legislative circus continued as the public watched elected officials travel to the remote town of Sandy Hook to hold a televised closed legislative session for Sandy Hook residences only. A lottery system was implemented for entrance and the qualifier, Sandy Hook, Newtown residences only. The circus needs to be shutdown.

Newtown Panel to Deliver Final Report Friday, March 6, 2015

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

In the immediate weeks after the mass murder and suicide at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that left 20 first graders and seven adults dead, Governor Malloy selected 16 experts to make recommendations, many of whom have ties with the behavioral health industry and Yale Child Study Center, the last place Adam Lanza was treated.

Their task according to the New York Times article, Members of Newtown Shootings Panel Recall Toll Their Work Took, by Kristin Hussey, published on March 3, 2005, was “to examine the event.”

The two years of 29 closed sessions to the public were televised where selective “stakeholders” were invited to participate. The carefully scripted agenda did not focus on any material or physical evidence.

The first guest speaker invited by the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission (SHAC) was Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.  Governor Ritter did not discuss the mental health records of 18-year-old Eric Harris and his accomplice, Dylan Klebold who killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves in the Columbine High School massacre, a school shooting that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine.

Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox.  Klebold’s medical records remain sealed.  Both shooters had been in anger-management classes and had undergone counseling.  Harris had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting. Source: Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights.

The state police report, toxicology, autopsy, ballistics reports, and educational records were not incorporated within the hearings or incorporated in the recommendations.  The public was denied access to this critical information.

The public only had access to a fragmented 6,700 page police report that is often referred to in pharmaceutical litigation as a “data dump.”

The Sandy Hook Commission at one point criticized the State Police Report in the Connecticut Post.

“But there is one problem: the recently released State Police report the panel must rely on to understand the crime is all but indecipherable, some members of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission say. Indeed, the report is so disorganized that the commission has sought the help of a Hartford law firm to turn the 6,700 page file — an online collection of hundreds of individual documents, without a table of contents or index — into a searchable database. “I think all of us have gone into the document pages and were just never quite sure whether we missed something or have gotten to the thing that matters most to us,” said Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, chairman of the commission.”

The 6,700 pages were never indexed or placed in a searchable database as promised by the Commission.  In fact, AbleChild had to pressure the Governor’s office to release the name of the legal firm that offered it’s services pro-bono.

Furthermore, according to the New York Times article, “The Sandy Hook experts were struck by a common denominator in mass shootings:  the killer’s lack of social connectedness.”

It is easy to illustrate the common denominator with the material evidence that has been disclosed for multiple school shootings, which is more likely the mental health “treatment” itself, the mind-altering drugs.

According to the Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights who published documents showing between 1988 and January, 2013, there have been at least 31 school-related acts of violence committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in 162 wounded and 72 killed.

The Newtown Panel is expected to deliver their final report to the Governor, Friday, March 6, 2015.  We know from the New York Times article, that one panel member took a trip to Japan to deal with producing the long awaited report, while another panel member compared Adam Lanza and all children’s lack of social connectedness and isolation, as serious as taking a lethal dose of heroin in their bedrooms.  Very dramatic! Where are the facts to support such a comparison?  This type of “expert” authoritarian fear tactics erode informed consent protections for parents.

AbleChild has joined forces with 8 other parent right organizations to oppose these bizarre recommendations  given without supporting documentation.

In addition, AbleChild wants to clarify that PA 13-3 was passed before the state police report was released to the lawmakers as well as to the general public.

Within PA 13-3 legislation is a program called  “mental health first aid.” Mental health first aid provides training to teachers to screen and identify children without parental consent or the right to refuse.  This legislation was passed without open public meetings and is funded by a Presidential Executive Order.  In addition within that legislation was a mandate for a “taskforce” that believes the state policy should be just “shy of forced medication.” AbleChild strongly opposes PA 13-3.

AbleChild wants to point out that these screenings are subjective and lack science.  Adam Lanza was identified and screened by Danbury Hospital and released as not a harm to himself or others.  He was also provided “mental health treatment” at Yale Child Study Center. How does one return deadly mental health treatment and get a refund?

Mom of George Washington Carver Arts & Technology Student Wants “Nemphos” Mental Health Records Revealed for Public Safety

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Violence.

A Baltimore mother, who has a child attending the school where the recent aborted mass-shooting plot by 16-year old Sash Nemphos was foiled, has contacted AbleChild. This mother’s concerns shine a light on the idiocy of Connecticut Governor Malloy and his Sandy Hook Advisory Commission’s latest recommendations targeting homeschoolers in the aftermath of Sandy Hook mass murder. Governor Malloy’s Commission wants “special education program teams,” to conduct mental health assessments on children homeschooled.

Rather than address, and make public, the specific mental health history of Newtown shooter, Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission intends to force the State’s ever-broadening mental health policies on the families of those who choose opt-out of the public school system to homeschool.

The Baltimore mother only recently returned her child to the Maryland public school system after years of homeschooling. Having been acutely aware of the recent school shootings, this mother rightly questions, whether the would-be school shooter’s intended actions in any way were precipitated by psychiatric drugs, prescribed to “treat” an alleged mental disorder?

This Baltimore mother’s call for the attempted shooter’s mental health records further support AbleChild’s belief that the mental health/medication history of school shooters is a public safety issue across the Country.

According to police reports, sophomore Nemphos had homemade explosive devices and had a gun at his home, intending to go to the Baltimore area George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology and use these weapons to kill. The planned attack only was uncovered by police officers when they stumbled upon the plot while investigating a series of auto break-ins.

This question is as relevant today for this Baltimore area mother as it was on December 14, 2012 for the parents of Newtown, where Adam Lanza carried out a brutal killing spree, taking the lives of 26 innocent people.

What is odd about the Commission’s decision to drag homeschoolers into the mental-health mix, like every other aspect of the Lanza investigation, is that, to date, no factual, supporting information has been provided to back up this recommended action. The Commission has not provided the public with any specific information about Lanza’s education history, including any specific information about the reported years Lanza was homeschooled.

The fact that the Commission has inserted homeschooling into the Sandy Hook mental health equation becomes even more bizarre when one considers that according to publicly available information, the only time Adam Lanza was “homeschooled” was for a few months in the fall of 2005 – seven years prior to the shooting incident. During this time, a psychiatrist, Paul Fox, saw Lanza. Between 2006 and 2007, mental health professionals at the Yale Child Study Center also saw Lanza. And, in 2006, Newtown High School psychologist, Michael Ridley, evaluated Lanza.

While the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission would like to suggest that because Lanza was homeschooled he, therefore, slipped through the mental health cracks, no information has been made publicly available to support these assertions.

The available information paints a very different picture. Lanza’s mental health issues were known throughout his public school years and accommodations were made by the public school system to help the family with Lanza’s reported deteriorating mental health.

The Baltimore mother who contacted AbleChild summed up what really is at the heart of the Sandy Hook tragedy when she wrote, “More now than ever, our children are being placed on psychiatric drugs, which carry warnings of psychosis, suicidal and homicidal thoughts and tendencies. Many of these kids will tell their parents that they don’t like the way these drugs make them feel, but are forced to take them anyway. For every one of these children who carries out an act of violence there are hundreds more screaming for help, but the only help they get is more drugs.”

This mother wants to know whether the would-be child killer in Baltimore was taking psychiatric drugs. Like AbleChild, she believes that it is a matter of public safety. The people of Connecticut have yet to learn the motive behind the Sandy Hook attack and, as the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission seems more interested in creating new victims of the mental health system at the expense of homeschoolers, it seems likely they never will. The Commission’s unwillingness to reveal Lanza’s mental health/medication history does nothing to ensure the public’s safety.

 

 

Sandy Hook Advisory Commission and Child Advocate’s Office to Provide Lanza Mental Health “Narrative”

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission met again last Friday only to provide a somewhat confusing discussion about the mental health information that has been considered about Newtown shooter, Adam Lanza, by not only the Commission but also the State’s Child Advocate’s Office.

Apparently the Child Advocate’s Office has had the ability to review Lanza’s school records and has put together a “narrative” for the Commission to review. The Commission, on the other hand, has reviewed some, but not all, mental health records and will have the opportunity to review the Child Advocate’s report with the intent of combining information to ensure there are no “omissions.”

This is good news. It’s been nearly two years since the shooting at Sandy Hook and, finally, it appears that some information – if only in narrative form – about Lanza’s mental health may come to light. The question, though, is how much information will be made publicly available?

This is no small issue. Ablechild long has held that the mental health history of Lanza should be made publicly available, if only for the purpose of justifying the State’s enormous increases in mental health services funding that was instituted within months of the shooting.

More importantly, though, is Ablechild’s concern that, with all of the costly and sweeping mental health increases, the State’s children will be unnecessarily identified and labeled with mental illnesses, based on the actions of Lanza, of which, the State has provided no supporting information.

In other words, to date, there is no detailed information about Lanza’s mental health, or lack thereof, that would suggest the need for increased mental health services. In fact, based on all available information, it appears that Lanza received mental health services from a very young age and was seen by the best mental health professionals money could buy, including the prestigious Yale Child Study Center.

The problem, as Ablechild has written on numerous occasions, is that there is no publicly available information about Lanza’s mental health services after 1997 – five year prior to the shooting. Will the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission and the Child Advocate’s Office make public any information about the five years leading up to the shooting that so far remains a State secret?

Furthermore, will either entity allow the public to review the “narrative,” and will the supporting documentation be made available for discussion? Because the mental health of the State’s children rests on the information provided by these two groups, it seems inconceivable that Lanza’s actual mental health record would remain shielded in secrecy.

The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission meets again on September 23rd to take up the differences in “narratives” collected by both groups. Ablechild believes the people of Connecticut have a right to know all the details of Lanza’s mental health treatment, especially if it is Lanza’s mental health treatment that has spurred the costly increases.

 

Sandy Hook Advisory Commission Becomes Irrelevant

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

What’s the point of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission? According to the recent article in the New Haven Register, Sandy Hook report unlikely to include analysis of gunman, the Commission has spent twenty-months preparing a report that apparently will not specifically address the mental health treatment received by Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza.

While it’s not surprising that the Commission has decided that “our report is not going to be a deconstruction of Adam Lanza,” this announcement is embarrassing. The Commission was set up by Governor Dannel P. Malloy to make recommendations about a host of issues, including mental health care in Connecticut, based on the tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Without specifically addressing Adam Lanza’s mental health treatment leading up to the shooting, one can only speculate whether this entire exercise is simply fulfilling a prearranged mental health and gun control agenda.

Ablechild certainly understands the difficulties associated with obtaining Lanza’s mental health records, as our non-profit sued the state for the records and was arbitrarily denied, based on the state’s opinion that we were not stakeholders. Ablechild, of course, would argue that everyone in the state and throughout the country is a “stakeholder.”

But what are the odds that the state would refuse to provide this information to a Commission set up by the Governor for the specific reason of understanding the shooter’s state of mind at the time of the shooting? It defies all reason and, therefore, makes any “recommendations” of the Commission irrelevant.

For that matter, what are the odds that Peter Lanza, father of the shooter, would deny the Commission information about his son’s mental health? After all Lanza opened up to The New Yorker magazine, providing specific information about Adam’s antidepressant use. The Commission admits that it met with Peter Lanza. If not Adam’s mental health, what exactly was discussed? Really, what could Lanza offer other than information about Adam’s mental health?

Moreover, Advisory Commission Chairman, Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, explained that although a request was made, the state’s Child Advocate office apparently failed to deliver information about Lanza’s mental health. Is it possible that the Commission could not lean on the Governor to make this happen? It simply defies logic that a state agency would deny the Governor’s request, unless, of course, the Governor, and the Commission, simply has no interest in getting to the answers that might have contributed to Lanza’s violent behavior.

Commission Chairman, Jackson, says the report would “not be an intellectual exercise.” Is this a joke? Based on the fact that the Commission apparently has no intention of including Lanza’s mental health records, “intellectual” is the last thing this report could be called. A waste of time, energy and resources seems a more appropriate description of the Commission’s efforts.

In fact, there seems little reason to even attach the words Sandy Hook as part of the Commission’s title. It should, at this point, simply be referred to as the Governor’s Gun Conrol and Increased Mental Health Advisory Commission.

Without any discussion of Adam Lanza’s mental health treatment, leading up to the shooting, no one can claim the Commission’s report has any relationship to the murderous actions that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The families of the victims and people of Connecticut should be disgusted. They will pay the bill and bear the brunt of the Commission’s baseless “recommendations.” Ultimately, though, one has to wonder what is the “state secret” surrounding Adam Lanza’s mental health treatment?

 

 

Is the CT Governor’s Sandy Hook Commission at Variance with the Police Report?

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

What will it take to get a report from the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission? Apparently the immediacy of the task has faded, as the Commission did not find it necessary to have a meeting in July.

On one level the Commission’s lack of urgency seems understandable, as the state long ago passed sweeping mental health legislation, so one can only speculate about what additional recommendations can be made that haven’t already been instituted.

Recall that the Commission was the pet project of Governor Dannel P. Malloy to reportedly get to the bottom of what might have driven Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, to commit such a heinous attack. That was the plan eighteen months ago.

Since its inception, the Commission has whined about the lack of funds, the need for lawyer assistance in cataloguing the Sandy Hook investigation in order to understand the nearly 6700- page report, its inability to get a hold of Lanza’s mental health records and a host of other difficulties.

However, despite these stumbling blocks, the up side is that the Commission has had the opportunity to speak with Peter Lanza about his son’s mental health, they have met with victim family members and had access to records that the public, so far, has been denied. So, where’s the Commission’s report? What are the Commission’s conclusions?

More importantly, will the Commission address the obvious problems within the State Police investigation? Have the members thoroughly considered the physical evidence that screams for answers?

Specifically, has the Commission made an effort to obtain additional information about the sealed, stamped envelope found in the Lanza home and addressed “For the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School?” DNA testing of the envelope revealed that Nancy and Adam Lanza were ruled out as DNA contributors. The DNA did, however, match that of a convicted offender in New York.

Has the Commission addressed this issue? Has the Commission been made aware of the contents of that envelope and, if so, will that information be made available to the public? Clearly, one cannot help but wonder if the information found in this envelope may shed some light on the motive behind the attack.

The envelope was of great importance to the State Police. Out of the thousands of pieces of paper removed from the Lanza home, it was this piece of evidence that was finger printed and tested for DNA. Why? Is the Commission even curious about the envelope’s contents?

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that whatever the Commission recommends it will be costly. One only need recall Public law 13-3, passed in the wake of Sandy Hook and based on no supporting documentation. That legislative nonsense cost the taxpayers millions and not one lawmaker is capable of accurately describing Adam Lanza’s mental health care in the five years leading up to the shooting incident.

But the Commission, apparently, has taken a hiatus from its important task and the people of Connecticut will just have to cool their jets, left to wonder what the impact of the Commission’s recommendations may be on their wallets. If history is any indication, it doesn’t look pretty.

The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission and the Evidence of a “Convicted Offender.”

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Last week the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission threw another crumb to the masses, letting them know that, well, even though they can’t get any of the records and documents they want, they’ll forge ahead and produce a report, making mental health recommendations, that has absolutely nothing to do with Adam Lanza’s mental health history.

In the seventeen months that it has taken the Commission to get to this point, it is interesting how it repeatedly complains about being unable to obtain mental health records relating to Adam Lanza. Okay. Got it. But what about the records the Commission does have access to?

Remember that the Commission enlisted the services of a law firm to make sense of, or “catalogue,” the State Police Report of the shooting, so making sense of the 6700 pages of investigative material should not have been too terribly taxing for the Commission. And if the Commission took the time to read the investigation, then they are aware of an interesting piece of physical evidence that may shed light on the motive behind the shooting.

As part of the State’s investigation of the shooting, a sealed and stamped white envelope addressed “For the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School,” was removed from the Lanza home and entered into evidence.

Both finger print and DNA testing was performed on this sealed envelope. No finger prints were found on the envelope but, more importantly, Adam and Nancy Lanza were eliminated as possible contributors to the DNA found. A positive DNA profile was identified. Whose DNA was found?

According to the Police investigation “the DNA profiles from items #3G1 (swabbing of envelope flap) and #4-2S2 (swabbing .22 caliber cartridges) were searched against the Connecticut and National DNA Databases. On January 7, 2013, a hit was obtained with the Convicted Offender DNA profile from New York State Police Investigation Center DB#Y10011106A.”

Wow, the DNA of a “Convicted Offender” in New York was found on the envelope; that was found in the Lanza home; that was addressed to “the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School.”

The obvious question is how did the DNA of a “Convicted Offender” in New York get onto the envelope, that was addressed to the “young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School,” that was found in the Lanza home? Who is this “Convicted Offender,” and what is his connection to Nancy and Adam Lanza and, for that matter, what is his connection to Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting?

More importantly, what was found inside this sealed and stamped envelope? Did a “Convicted Offender” write a letter to the “young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School?” It’s anyone’s guess. The State Police investigation does not provide any information about any follow up about the “Convicted Offender,” what was found in the sealed and stamped envelope, or how it could have gotten into the Lanza home. Why?

This is an important piece of evidence that may shed some light on the murderous actions of December 14, 2012. Why would the State Police believe it was of interest to list the sealed envelope as evidence, test it for finger prints and DNA, provide the results, but not provide any information about the contents of the envelope – even if the envelope was empty?

This evidence should be of interest to the Commission simply by virtue of the possibility that it may provide insight into a motive behind the attack. Has the Commission requested this information from the State Police? Will the Commission provide this information as part of its final report?

Only time will tell. But it sure seems like this is physical evidence that the Commission would find of some use.

 

 

 

 

Sandy Hook Commission Whines About Lack of Funds and Information

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Lawmaking, Sandy Hook.

This week The Hartford Courant reported that the Sandy Hook Commission is “hampered by secrecy and lack of funds” and, as a result, there are “serious doubts” of producing a definitive exploration of what occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Oh, puh-leeze!  Say it isn’t so, Governor Malloy.  Isn’t the Governor the man who said “we don’t yet know the underlying cause behind this tragedy, and we probably never will.  But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. I want the commission to have the ability to study every detail, so they can help craft meaningful legislative and policy changes?”  “Every” detail?  That’s just sad. The Governor’s commission can’t get any details.

The Commission doesn’t have access to Adam Lanza’s records? The Commission has no budget?  Really? Is this just now, three months from its deadline, occurring to the Commission?

Psychiatrist and Commission member, Dr. Harold I Schwartz, reports that the Commission has been fortunate to have the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter catalog the State Police Report of the shooting incident, but it’s “laborious” to use.

Can’t argue with the good doctor on that point. Not only was going through that report “laborious,” it was downright irritating.  Ablechild spent three full days going through each and every document (if you can call the redacted pages “documents”), and could have saved the Commission a lot of time and frustration.

The fact is, for the last five years of Adam Lanza’s life, there are no medical/mental health records provided in the State Police Report and Ablechild gladly would have shared that information with the Commission months ago, saving it a great deal of time.

Without those mental health records, Dr. Schwartz is absolutely correct when he reported last year that “to write a report now, with what we have, would almost be embarrassing.”  Unbelievably, today, despite still having no records about the last five years of Lanza’s mental  health treatment, Schwartz says,  “I still think that we can issue a report with important recommendations about mental health services, gun safety and school safety. We have spent a lot of time assessing the current state of all three – hearing extensive testimony from officials and experts who have dealt with mass killings.”

Schwartz is admitting that the Commission is clueless about Adam Lanza’s mental health history but, because the Commission has heard from officials and experts about other mass killings, important recommendations still can be made.

This is utter nonsense.  The Commission has spoken with  Peter Lanza.  Did Lanza refuse to share information about Adam’s mental health?   This seems odd given the fact that Lanza obviously shared information with The New Yorker reporter, Andrew Solomon.  Solomon reported that in 2007 Adam had been prescribed the antidepressant, Lexapro. This information was NOT part of the State Police Report.

Additionally, the Commission might consider an interview with the honchos at The Courant, as it reported, based on information it had obtained, that Adam had been treated at the Danbury Hospital, which also was NOT part of the State Police Report.

Schwartz also may be enlightened if he were to understand the State’s absolute refusal to make public Lanza’s toxicology and medical/mental health records.  Ablechild sued the state for these records last year and the reason for the lock-down on the records was made clear by the State’s Assistant Attorney General, Patrick B. Kwanashie, explaining “it would cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications.”

Based on the information provided in the State Police Report, Adam had been prescribed the antidepressant, Celexa in 2007.  Add to that reporter Solomon’s new information that he was also prescribed Lexapro, and suddenly it becomes clear that Adam had been on multiple mind-altering drugs.

But that drug information ends five years before the shooting incident.  What is the big secret?  Was Adam prescribed so many psychiatric drugs that the information would be an embarrassment to his psychiatrist(s) and the pharmaceutical industry?

Obviously, it’s impossible to know without the mental health records. But the Commission’s final report is supposed to focus on recommendations into the mental health area.  Really? Based on what information?  If the Commission has no records on Adam Lanza’s mental health for the last five years of his life, what’s the point?

If the Commission intends to provide mental health recommendations, which are not the result of having reviewed the mental health records of the shooter, then don’t bother.  Stop now.   Accept that the Commission’s efforts were a complete waste of time and stick to the original opinion that “to write a report now, with what we have, would almost be embarrassing.”

Since Schwartz’s first admission nothing has changed. The fact that Lanza’s mental health records are shrouded in secrecy, and the state is instituting costly mental health changes merely based on the assumption that Lanza’s mental health played a role, isn’t “almost embarrassing.” It is embarrassing.