Judge orders new treatment for ex-doctor found insane after killing wife

PORT ANGELES -- A former doctor sent to a locked ward for the criminally insane after his wife's slaying in 1998 will be moved into a new treatment program in a less secure part of Western State Hospital, a judge ruled yesterday.

Bruce Rowan, 38, will continue to receive counseling and medication for depression in a community program housed in an unlocked ward at the hospital in Lakewood, south of Tacoma, Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood said in his ruling.

Rowan will not be allowed off hospital grounds for overnight stays during the first year of his two-year confinement there, and he will not be permitted to contact his daughter. He will be prohibited from having romantic relationships unless approved by hospital staff.

"He is simply not prepared to enter the community," Wood wrote. "As herein found by the court, recent management of a severe and chronic condition that has been lifelong and will continue to be lifelong, a condition that produced a violent death, does not and should not suggest a soon return to the community without further treatment in a controlled setting."

Rowan was committed to Western State in 1998, after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the killing of his wife, Deborah, 33. He was accused of using a baseball bat and an ax to kill her on the day her $500,000 life-insurance policy went into effect, then trying to disguise her death as a traffic accident.

While acknowledging psychiatrists' assertions that Rowan has showed significant improvement in the past year, Wood said it's clear that the man needs continued supervision.

The average stay for patients in Western's community program is 14 months, but Rowan's psychosis warrants a more lengthy confinement, Wood said.

"Twelve months of successful management hardly brings assurance that within the average time of 14 months Mr. Rowan will be prepared to enter the community and to deal with the stresses of living in a largely uncontrolled environment," Wood wrote. "A greater history of self-management and a greater exploration of the causes of an illness that consumed a man's life for 25 years, ending in a brutally violent episode, appears logical ...especially when the safety of the community is involved."

"I think it was a good compromise," Shea said Friday afternoon. "To tell you the truth, I think the judge did more to alleviate our concerns that I would have expected. He really put some tight controls on him."

"I think the restrictions are very reasonable... so no qualms on our part," Allen said.

This is Washington state justice:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/81285_viagra03ww.shtml

Chemically castrated predator wants Viagra for marital sex

Saturday, August 3, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A chemically castrated sex predator who hopes to have sex with his wife has asked a judge for permission to begin taking Viagra.

Donald Henrickson's doctors support his request, saying it would be theraputic for him to form an appropriate sexual relationship. But the King County Prosecutor's Office and the state Department of Corrections oppose it, saying the drug could foster violent sexual urges.

Henrickson, 53, of Olalla in Kitsap County, has sex crime convictions dating back to 1973, including offenses in King and Pierce counties. He has confessed to molesting more than 30 girls.

After doing time in the state's sex predator program, he was released in 1999 under a slew of conditions -- including one that he receive monthly injections of Depo-Lupron, a drug that reduces testosterone production and inhibits sexual function.

Doctors have already tried reducing his dosage to help him have sex with his wife, but that didn't work. So now they propose letting her administer eight Viagra tablets a month, without taking him off the Depo-Lupron.

He would not be allowed to leave his house for 10 hours after taking a pill, and after a month or so of taking the pills he would have to submit to a polygraph test about his reaction to them.

His doctors include David Yanisch, a forensic services manager at the Special Commitment Center, and state psychiatrist Mark McClung.

But the request was a surprise to Steve Williams, spokesman for the Department of Social and Health Services, which runs the sex predator program.

"The (Special Commitment Center) will begin a review of the recommendation Monday morning," Williams told The News Tribune of Tacoma. "First thing."

McClung said he doesn't expect Viagra to increase Henrickson's deviant sexual urges, but simply to improve his ability to have an erection.

Prosecutors consulted Douglas E. Tucker, a psychiatrist from Berkeley, Calif., about the matter. Tucker told them in a letter that he wasn't aware of any medical literature on the safety of mixing Viagra with Depo-Lupron.

Furthermore, he noted Henrickson's history of failed treatment and dishonesty with the people who treat him.

"It would seem inappropriate to experiment on potentially risky treatment strategies with him," Tucker wrote.

King County Deputy Prosecutor David Hackett agreed.

"If you're going to experiment with two drugs that have opposite effects, it's not a good idea to do that on someone as dangerous as Mr. Henrickson," he said.

If the request is approved, the state would pay for the Viagra, which costs about $10 per pill.

"Please tell me that he isn't getting that insurance money." Why must you be so punative! So negative! He NEEDS the insurance money - he could use it to pay for more counselling. I noted that the poor fellow was getting counselling. Yes, that will solve everything.

What is the name of that other case - a doctor somewhere in America - he outdid this one, murdered his wife and children by bashing their heads in. Found to be insane and served some remarkably short time (less than 2 years?) and was set free. Of course, some woman had fallen in love with him when he was in prison, and she married him as soon as he came out ...

"Unsupervised passes for the day off?" Yes. This type of thing is a scandal. When one hears of someone having a prison sentence, one expects them to be banged up. In Australia, there have been several horrific cases of sex offenders repeating their crimes during a sentence - which they were serving on "weekend detention" and other nonsense. The response of the authorities is to try to keep these cases out of the media. They (that is the Australian courts) say that if there is too much publicity he will be denied a fair trial (for the new offense.) Yeah, what a pity.

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