jelli
Music Lover
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: WED 02/13/02
Section: A
Page: 33 metfront
Edition: 2 STAR
In a rage over words /Fear of 'New Jersey ' blamed for shooting
By KEVIN MORAN
Staff
GALVESTON - A Texas City man with a long history of mental health problems shot his girlfriend because he thought she was about to say words that inexplicably send him into a rage, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Thomas Ray Mitchell suffers from several psychiatric conditions that include a violent reaction to the words New Jersey , Wisconsin, Snickers and Mars, said his attorney, Maria Luisa Mercado.
Mitchell has spent time in mental health facilities in at least three states since 1978, Mercado said. He went on trial in Galveston on Tuesday, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In a statement to police after the March 9, 1999, shooting of Barbara Jenkins, Mitchell indicated that he had wounded her with three bullets from a .38-caliber pistol because she was about to say "New Jersey ." The shooting occurred at the Texas City apartment complex where Jenkins and Mitchell lived in separate units.
"I had seen that word at my mom's house, and then Barbara said what she said (and) I just snapped," Mitchell said in a statement to Texas City police.
Although he said that he shot Jenkins because he believed she was about to say "New Jersey ," Mitchell did not react when that state's name was mentioned twice during the first day of his trial.
The words were audible to people seated in the courtroom.
Mitchell, 54, who has no felony criminal record, is not expected to testify. It was unclear after prosecutor Mo Ibrahim rested the state's case Tuesday afternoon whether Mercado will present pyschiatric testimony when the defense case begins today in state District Judge Frank Carmona's court.
During an April 2001 hearing at which he was found competent to stand trial, Mitchell became enraged, cursing and yelling after seeing a flash card bearing the word "Snickers," Ibrahim said.
The outburst occurred while the jury was out of the courtroom.
That word and others known to upset Mitchell had been placed on cards so that people testifying would not have to say them aloud, Ibrahim said.
Late Tuesday, Ibrahim revealed that Jenkins, 54, had died in the past few days and was buried Sunday in Louisiana. He said he did not have details about her death, but that it was not related to her gunshot wounds.
Former neighbors of Jenkins and Mitchell testified that Mitchell calmly got into his car and left the apartment complex with his pistol after shooting Jenkins.
He was arrested minutes later at his mother's home about 15 blocks away.
In questioning prosecution witnesses, Mercado suggested that police knew before they took his statement that Mitchell had mental problems and should have been treated as a mental patient. She contended that Mitchell did not know what he was doing when he repeatedly waived his right to refuse to talk to police.
But investigators and Municipal Judge Thomas Cain, who twice read Mitchell his rights, testified that he appeared to fully understand what was going on.
In his statement, Mitchell told police that Jenkins "will do things that she knows makes me want to explode.
"She had been trying to get me committed so that she could take over my affairs, I mean take over my money and all," Mitchell said.
Mitchell sat with his head bowed through most of the day's testimony, his hands resting in his lap or his arms resting on the arms of his chair.
Date: WED 02/13/02
Section: A
Page: 33 metfront
Edition: 2 STAR
In a rage over words /Fear of 'New Jersey ' blamed for shooting
By KEVIN MORAN
Staff
GALVESTON - A Texas City man with a long history of mental health problems shot his girlfriend because he thought she was about to say words that inexplicably send him into a rage, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Thomas Ray Mitchell suffers from several psychiatric conditions that include a violent reaction to the words New Jersey , Wisconsin, Snickers and Mars, said his attorney, Maria Luisa Mercado.
Mitchell has spent time in mental health facilities in at least three states since 1978, Mercado said. He went on trial in Galveston on Tuesday, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In a statement to police after the March 9, 1999, shooting of Barbara Jenkins, Mitchell indicated that he had wounded her with three bullets from a .38-caliber pistol because she was about to say "New Jersey ." The shooting occurred at the Texas City apartment complex where Jenkins and Mitchell lived in separate units.
"I had seen that word at my mom's house, and then Barbara said what she said (and) I just snapped," Mitchell said in a statement to Texas City police.
Although he said that he shot Jenkins because he believed she was about to say "New Jersey ," Mitchell did not react when that state's name was mentioned twice during the first day of his trial.
The words were audible to people seated in the courtroom.
Mitchell, 54, who has no felony criminal record, is not expected to testify. It was unclear after prosecutor Mo Ibrahim rested the state's case Tuesday afternoon whether Mercado will present pyschiatric testimony when the defense case begins today in state District Judge Frank Carmona's court.
During an April 2001 hearing at which he was found competent to stand trial, Mitchell became enraged, cursing and yelling after seeing a flash card bearing the word "Snickers," Ibrahim said.
The outburst occurred while the jury was out of the courtroom.
That word and others known to upset Mitchell had been placed on cards so that people testifying would not have to say them aloud, Ibrahim said.
Late Tuesday, Ibrahim revealed that Jenkins, 54, had died in the past few days and was buried Sunday in Louisiana. He said he did not have details about her death, but that it was not related to her gunshot wounds.
Former neighbors of Jenkins and Mitchell testified that Mitchell calmly got into his car and left the apartment complex with his pistol after shooting Jenkins.
He was arrested minutes later at his mother's home about 15 blocks away.
In questioning prosecution witnesses, Mercado suggested that police knew before they took his statement that Mitchell had mental problems and should have been treated as a mental patient. She contended that Mitchell did not know what he was doing when he repeatedly waived his right to refuse to talk to police.
But investigators and Municipal Judge Thomas Cain, who twice read Mitchell his rights, testified that he appeared to fully understand what was going on.
In his statement, Mitchell told police that Jenkins "will do things that she knows makes me want to explode.
"She had been trying to get me committed so that she could take over my affairs, I mean take over my money and all," Mitchell said.
Mitchell sat with his head bowed through most of the day's testimony, his hands resting in his lap or his arms resting on the arms of his chair.
