12/06/2007
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Staff Photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
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Justice Joseph Jabar's finding means that Curry, 40, of Palmyra, will be committed to a mental health institution for treatment. He was originally charged with murder.
The finding came after a psychologist and a psychiatrist testified that Curry suffers from bipolar disorder and was in the grip of a profound psychosis the morning he picked up an assault-type rifle and gunned down Anthony Tucker.
Tucker, who was described as mature beyond his years and protective of his siblings, was the last to leave the home his family shared with Curry on Warren Hill Road on Nov. 28, 2006.
That morning, Curry, who had not slept the night before, became increasingly violent, threatening himself, his girlfriend April Cooley, and their infant daughter, Alyssa, before finally killing Anthony.
In a rambling, disjointed statement, Curry said that he thought someone was contacting him with a message to kill one person in the house to save the world.
"I thought of the whole world and I said to myself 'I can beat this, I am just going to kill myself,' and then I put something up to my throat. April said 'no' .... and then all hell broke loose," said Curry.
Several times during his short speech, Curry broke down. At one point, his attorney, Janet Mills, asked him if his recollection of the day differed from the accounts of the psychiatric experts.
Curry said "no," and then apologized to the parents and sister of Anthony Tucker.
"I want to say I am very sorry to April and Randy (Tucker) and Adrienne (Tucker). I wish this whole thing never happened. He was the greatest kid in the world," Curry said.
As he finished his statement, Cooley, who attended the hearing with a female friend, was in tears.
Curry's father and sister were also in the courtroom Wednesday, along with a handful of other people.
Curry, who is about 5-foot-6-inches tall, wore handcuffs and leg shackles as he entered the courtroom and appeared deeply despondent.
He spent most of the hearing slumped over in his chair next to his attorney, his eyes often closed, at times his head almost touching the table in front of him.
Janet Mills, Curry's attorney, told Jabar that she had hired her own investigator, visited the home where Curry lived with Cooley and the children in chaotic surroundings, and had gone through many pages of psychiatric records.
"There is nothing that I have uncovered that would be different than what the psychologist and psychiatrist told you today. No facts, frankly, that belie this legitimate, sincere and warranted defense," said Mills.
The plea agreement reached between Mills and Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson had two parts -- that Curry intentionally caused Anthony Tucker's death, but that he was legally insane when he pulled the trigger.
Under Maine law, a person is not criminally responsible if he or she is unable, by reason of mental disease or defect, to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her actions.
Curry, who suffered a serious brain injury in a 1986 automobile accident, has bipolar disorder with psychotic features, according to Dr. Andrew Wisch, a psychologist who examined Curry over a period of months.
Because Curry's mental illness was complicated by the injury, his mental state was more fragile, making him vulnerable to dramatic shifts in mood, said Wisch.
The psychologist said the condition could also worsen with stress or the use of marijuana or alcohol.
Wisch said his investigation indicated that in the week before Tucker's death, Curry became increasingly psychotic -- a state characterized by a loss of contact with reality.
Curry apparently believed that members of a motorcycle gang were after him and he spent all of one night behind the door of a hotel room in Old Orchard Beach, holding a knife.
At other times, he believed that the police and aliens were involved in a conspiracy against him and that the Secret Service was escorting him as he drove back to Maine from Boston.
The night before the shooting, Curry stayed up all night, said Wisch.
In the morning, his actions became increasingly erratic and violent as he whipsawed from one delusion to another, according to testimony and court records.
Early that morning, he proposed to Cooley and told her he was going to be the President of the United States.
Then, taking a cast iron poker from a wood stove, he threatened to harm first himself, then Cooley and Alyssa, according to an affidavit signed by State Police Detective Christopher Tupper.
After Curry retrieved an assault-type rifle and used it to strike her, Cooley fled, yelling to then-10-year-old Adrienne Tucker to follow her, according to the affidavit.
Adrienne woke up Anthony and grabbed her baby sister Alyssa, then less than seven months old, and left the home.
She was outside when Anthony was shot down before her eyes. He was killed by "multiple" bullets to the head, according to the state Medical Examiner's Office.
Wisch said he believed Curry was "extremely psychotic" at the time of the shooting.
"It is quite possible that he thought he was saving the world or doing something good at that moment," said Wisch.
Alan Crowell -- 474-9534, Ext. 342
acrowell@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
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previous page | next page1-10 of 26 comments:
Women in abusive relationships lose their ability to see an "out", they feel as if they can't make it without their abuser, and often blame themselves for being abused. Add the mental disease involved in this case and I myself can't even begin to imagine what it was like to live with this man. Yes, her children deserved to be protected and to have better lives; but I highly doubt that their mother stayed out of a lack of love or concern for her kids.
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Nonetheless, just to show that my editorial blog is fair and balanced, I was also not content reading back in 1996, of the release of Mark Bechard (State of Maine vs. Mark Bechard) by another Superior Court Justice, who back stood accused of savagedly killing two Catholic nuns; and yes, I realize that infamous case was a litmus test of the years to follow.
Citizens of Maine, perhaps it is time to for Court Justices to take a second look at the "volitional" test- one in which a defendant, although without question is guilty, and yes are able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his/her actions,yet they were unable to control their impulses;how convienient an excuse for not taking accountability of one's own actions! and instead, go back to the days of old, of the "cognitive" test-one in which an individual has the plain outright inability to know right from wrong.
In closing, I have spent the last ten years as a licensed funeral director and embalmer in the state of South Carolina who has had to deal with the aftermath domestic violence, only to see families have to relive the entire scenario all over again, in those supposed "hallowed halls of justice".
Brice G. Harris
formerly of Waterville, ME
Irmo, South Carolina
Kabul, Afghanistan
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Ick. That spin's making my stomach turn.
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This man has had multiple incidents in his lifetime that require him to be protected from himself, considering what he does during his psychotic episodes. Protecting all others from him becomes a very real necessity. Telling us in another 15 years or so that this man is now 'mentally healthy enough to be released' is not something we want to visit on our grandchildren. Ever.
In paraphrasing RPC's statement in the KJ...I say: treat him now, make him give up his rights to life once he's back 'in control...'
Who knows how long 'in control' will last then, as bipolar sufferers must be watched just to be sure they take their meds. Is some other woman down the line going to have to be responsible for that? And if she is, will she be blamed for any consequences that erupt from his illness, should it recur? We really cannot blame this woman...she was tossed back and forth herself.
They had a child together. Believe me, this does make a big difference, yet tears apart this 'family' even more.
'We' here have no real answers. Only opinions.
And 'on the other hand'?
Loving a bipolar person who's 'in control at the moment' is like loving a normal person. It's also like flying without wings for the loving one. Even the slightest change in their behavior brings apprehension and watchfulness AND protectiveness for the children. This mother ran and roused...but this young child, just a boy, got caught in the middle. And died helping her to protect 'his' family. A hero.
God be with Anthony's family. And with Curry's. Both will suffer always.
Although I have not witnessed a psychotic episode, I love and do know one with this illness and must flow with the changes we see on occasion, yet not drive her to further self-flagellation/condemnation. It's a very difficult illness to live with...and those medications are all-important.
Will we ever understand? I don't believe so.
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