A criminally insane killer who escaped during a mental hospital field trip to a county fair remained on the run, and furious residents and officials wondered why such a dangerous person was out in public.
Authorities believe Phillip Paul, 47, is heading to the Sunnyside, Washington, area, where his parents and many siblings live.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office used a helicopter to search for him on Friday, while officers searched transient camps along railroad tracks in the area.
“He is in a bad mental state,” said his brother, Tom Paul. “Why would they load him on a bus and take him to a fair?”
That’s a question many are asking. Eastern State Hospital is being criticized for allowing Phillip Paul to visit the fair despite his violent past and history of trying to escape.
Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard has called it unacceptable, and the state Department of Social and Health Services ordered an immediate end to such trips and launched an investigation into the practice.
Phillip Paul was committed after he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman in Sunnyside.
“Why was he allowed to take such a trip?” Washington Governor Chris Gregoire asked on Friday. “Why did they go to a location that was so heavily populated?”
Susan Dreyfus, secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, said those questions would be answered in an investigation she has ordered.
Dreyfus said it is not unusual for “forensic” patients who are being held against their will to earn the opportunity to go on field trips as part of their therapy.
Tom Paul said his brother was a junior-college wrestler and martial artist who should not be approached.
This is the second escape for Phillip Paul. In 1991, he walked away during a day trip in Medical Lake. He attacked a sheriff’s deputy in the jail booking area, knocking him unconscious, and was convicted of first-degree escape and second-degree assault.
Phillip Paul had a normal childhood, but as a high school student began hearing voices and thought they were witches, Tom Paul said. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Phillip Paul has been on and off a variety of medications over the years, Tom Paul said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was