Season of Madness

by Robert Scott

  Darrell also told Kaldor of being adopted and that he felt that he “was always at the bottom while they [the day care kids] got all the attention. I felt unloved and unwanted for as long as I can remember.” And then he admitted to two suicide attempts: once by shooting himself in the chest, and the other more recent one while trying to hang himself at the jail. Apparently, he didn’t bring up the incident where he shot over a policeman’s vehicle, in hope that the officer would kill him. Russell Swartz contended that all of these were signs of insanity. Dr. Kaldor replied that they were merely signs of multiple personality disorders.

  Darrell Rich’s mother, Lillie, testified that Darrell had always been a loner. She said he’d had no friends when he was young and spent most of his time in his room. Then Lillie held up a stuffed toy monkey for the jurors to see. She said, “As a child, this was his playmate.”

  Lillie added that her ex-husband, Dean, often argued with their son when Darrell was growing up. When Darrell tried to go to his room as refuge, Dean would beat him with a belt.

  Lillie agreed that Darrell had probably been upset as a child because she spent so much time with the other children at the day care center. But that was a necessary source of income, and she had to spend long hours with them.

  When Darrell was in third grade, Lillie said, she became very concerned about his ability to concentrate. Despite her husband’s objections, she had a psychiatrist check him out. According to Lillie, the doctor told her that there was nothing to worry about and the boy would grow out of it.

  Then, with her voice breaking, Lillie Rich said that in 1974, she actually contacted then–Shasta County DA Robert Baker and wanted to know why he hadn’t had a psychiatrist examination performed on Darrell after his arrest that year. The reason for his arrest was that Darrell had just struck a friend of his with a tire iron after being in an argument. Darrell was later sent to a California Youth Authority facility. Lillie testified, “I asked him [Baker] why Darrell couldn’t be sent to a place where he could get medical help. I felt that he needed medical help. He [Baker] walked away from me.”

  Lillie related that after Darrell broke up with his wife, Linda, in 1977, she noticed a marked change in him. “He became very depressed and wouldn’t eat regularly. He became more despondent, more distant, more closemouthed.”

  Raymond Tribe, Darrell’s uncle, testified that his nephew had become “nervous and upset” in the months before his arrest. He also said that the once-neat Darrell became “sloppy and wouldn’t eat properly.”

  When Dr. French was brought back for questioning, Russell Swartz asked him why French did not take into account Darrell’s state of mind before each murder. Dr. French replied, “All you would get would be a rubber stamp answer for each one.” And then Dr. French said, “Even if you asked Darrell Rich, was he crazy at the time of each crime, he’d answer yes. But more detailed questioning proves he knew what he was doing.”

  Darrell became very upset as he sat at the defense table during this questioning of Dr. French. He indicated that he wanted to leave the courtroom immediately. When Russell Swartz put his hand on Darrell’s shoulder to find out what was wrong, Darrell quickly brushed it aside. Due to the outburst Judge Taylor called for a recess until Darrell could compose himself.

  The next day Dr. Kaldor was back on the stand and said that Darrell Rich suffered from “severe masculine insecurity,” but he showed no signs of psychosis or major mental illness. Dr. Kaldor described him as a “selfish, childlike man.”

  More sections of Darrell’s confession to Detective Brewer were also admitted into evidence. In one part Darrell said, “I grabbed the girl (Annette Edwards) and bashed in her head. Two or three people at a nearby liquor store saw me. I damn well know they saw me. I don’t know why they didn’t report my license plate number.” Russell Swartz wanted this to come in to show how “crazy” Darrell had been in choosing locations where he could be seen.

  Robert Baker, however, got in a point that Darrell went on to say that he went through Edwards’s purse and kept some money. Then he stuffed her clothing into the purse and threw it into the Sacramento River. According to Baker, this showed that Darrell knew what he was doing.

  On a different situation, Darrell told Brewer that he’d bent a ring he wore while bashing in Pam Moore’s head with a rock. And as far as Linda Slavik went, Darrell admitted, “She had no choice but to go with me after I hit her in the face.”

  The prosecution said that Darrell Rich had thrown Annette Edwards’s

  purse into the Sacramento River after killing her, proving that he knew

  what he was doing. (Author photo)

  Then a new wrinkle was presented about that crime. Darrell said to Kaldor, “I told her, ‘I need help. I really need help!’ ” He supposedly told her this shortly before shooting her twice. After killing her, he wiped some blood off of his car seat; then he drove back to Chico and stayed in a motel room.

  The recollection of these specific memories made Dr. Kaldor determine that Darrell Rich had no organic brain damage. And yet, Kaldor added, Darrell had told him that he’d had nothing to do with Annette Selix’s murder. Apparently, Darrell had said, “I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that! I wouldn’t have anything to lose if I said I did.”

  To this, Dr. Kaldor testified, “The most likely conclusion I have about that is he denied it in an attempt to cover up his actions in a conscious manner. The general theme from Mr. Rich was that he was a victim of circumstances.”

  Dr. French also came back on the stand a week after his first appearance. He answered to questioning by Baker that Darrell Rich knew the consequences of his actions. When asked point-blank by Robert Baker if there was any mental illness or defect present that had kept him from forming the intent to kill, French replied, “No.”

  During the next day’s questioning, seventeen-year-old Lori Lewis was so nervous about testifying about her relationship with Darrell Rich that Russell Swartz asked the judge to close the courtroom to everyone except attorneys, bailiffs and jurors. Swartz added that when Lori Lewis had testified before, she had received a great deal of “negative reaction from her friends because of her association with Rich. She might be harassed when she did so again and it was reported upon.”

  Judge Taylor replied, “I can’t help it if the press feels salacious matters are newsworthy.” Taylor then denied the request.

  Lori was indeed nervous on the stand, but she said that she and Darrell had had a normal sex life. She could only remember him being really angry at her one time. Lori said that had occurred when they had been at a party and he saw her talking to another young man. In response, Lori testified, “He went to what he called his angry room in his home and lifted weights. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

  Another ex-girlfriend, Mary, said that she had dated Darrell for four years in the early 1970s. They had dated when they were teenagers and it had been okay, according to her. There was only one act of physical violence on his part, according to Mary. He had become angry and slapped her in the face, but that he never did it again.

  Asked if Darrell Rich attached unusual importance to sex, she replied, “It was what he wanted, what he needed, to be loved that way.”

  Frank Sauer, a Shasta County probation officer, testified about Darrell’s state of mind after assaulting a police officer in 1974 and had become a CYA inmate. What Sauer remembered in particular was a note by a psychiatrist who had examined Darrell. The note from the psychiatrist stated: It is imperative that I follow up on him immediately as an outpatient so that I can hospitalize him if need be. He has a profound sense of isolation.

  Darrell’s sister, Sharon Munroe, residing at that time in Georgia, had also been adopted when she was young by Dean and Lillie Rich. Sharon testified that Dean and Lillie were always arguing around the dinner table in front of her and Darrell. Sharon added, “Darrell tried real hard to make Mom and Dad happy. It was impossible, but he tried. He never played with other children when he was young.�
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  One of Darrell’s elementary-school teachers had written a report on him when he was in the third grade. The report stated: He is a restless child, inclined to mischief, but he wants to achieve. And an eighth-grade teacher recalled Darrell as being below average, but he “tried hard.”

  The next day it was Dr. David Wilson, of Redding, on the stand. He testified as to how he had treated Darrell after his arrest on August 23, 1978. Wilson had been hired by Swartz, and Wilson said that Darrell had a hard time communicating with his attorney.

  Describing their first meeting, Wilson said Darrell fluctuated from being despondent to joking and lighthearted. Darrell also described nightmares where he would see a young woman rising from the ground. She was flayed and bloody and she would tell him, “Darrell, don’t you remember me?”

  Wilson said that Darrell expressed fears of going to sleep. “He worried if he slept, the person who would wake up would not be him.” Wilson described Darrell as suffering from severe trauma.

  Unfortunately for the defense, even Dr. Wilson said that he believed that Darrell Rich knew what he was doing at the times of the crimes, and that he was not insane.

  During a juror break Darrell asked to be taken back to his cell at the Yolo County Jail. He was told he had to be present for the trial to continue, and Judge Taylor was tired of his antics. Darrell’s attorney, Werner Ahrbeck, told him he had to be present, “or Judge Taylor will gag and shackle you to be here.”

  To this, Darrell responded, “Shit, this trial isn’t going anywhere, anyway!”

  In the end Darrell stayed put at the defense table and caused no further interruptions that day.

  Chapter 21

  “I Hit Her Damn Hard”

  The next day brought new revelations. While Darrell was under the influence of Amytal (sodium amytal), Dr. David Axelrad, of Sacramento, had questioned him. Sometimes this was referred to as “truth serum,” although it wasn’t that clear-cut. During the process Darrell said that he sought police help because he “couldn’t go on hurting people. I didn’t want to go to jail, but it was better than people losing their lives.”

  These interviews had been videotaped, and jurors saw Darrell speaking to Dr. Axelrad. In one section Darrell clearly asked the police for help. In another part Darrell spoke about asking Carl Frank to go to the Igo dump, where he knew bodies were buried beneath trash. Under the use of the drug, he said, “I didn’t know what to say [about all this]. I knew that if I did, someone would say, ‘Why did you do it?’ So I reported it to the sheriff’s department. I wondered if I didn’t report it, it [the murders] would go on and on. And I didn’t want it to go on.”

  Through most of these interviews, Darrell was crying. In one portion he said, “I wanted to have someone help me stop what was happening. I knew that people couldn’t go on dying. I couldn’t go on hurting people!”

  Darrell’s story was much different in one interview than what he’d stated elsewhere. It was about Annette Selix. Darrell related, “I never saw that girl. I told that to the police, too. I never saw her.” Why he kept blanking out on Annette Selix was not readily apparent. Some individuals in law enforcement believed it was because she was underage, as well as the very heinous nature of her death. They believed Darrell actually knew what he had done, but he wanted to pretend as if he didn’t know.

  In another interview while under the drug’s influence, Darrell said he had beaten the young woman (Annette Edwards) unconscious on Sulphur Creek Hill and had sex with her while she was dying. He added that he had been feeling lonely while driving along and had spotted her on North Market Street. In this version he asked her twice if she needed a ride, and she refused each time.

  And in this version he said he drove away after the second refusal and parked his car near a liquor store, and then he walked back toward her on foot. When he met her walking toward him, he grabbed her and they both tumbled down an embankment.

  Dr. Axelrad asked what he wanted from that woman. Darrell answered, “I wanted to be with her, make love to her and ask her why she didn’t want a ride from me. But she struggled and twisted and screamed and bit my finger. I picked up a rock. I hit her with it, again, and again, and again! I wanted to keep her quiet. But I hit her too hard. I couldn’t stop.” (This was, of course, different from the scenario of the garbage can lid as a weapon.)

  While saying all of this, Darrell swung his arms over and over, as if hitting someone with an object. “I hit her damn hard. Then I made love to her. She was moaning. I didn’t think she was gonna die.”

  On another videotape Darrell commented about one of the rapes where a girl survived. Darrell said, “I got mad at her (Jeanne Maddox) when she refused my ride near the Anderson Fairgrounds.” Axelrad asked if he thought the rapes were wrong. Darrell replied, “I never thought of them as being right or wrong.”

  On yet another videotape, Darrell said that he first took Linda Slavik out to the Igo dump to shoot her. But then he changed his mind and only wanted to show her the body of Pam Moore. Once there, he had sex with Linda and then decided once again to shoot her.

  As far as Annette Selix went, there was yet another videotape, different from Darrell’s version that he didn’t know the girl at all, and had had nothing to do with her murder. In this version he did pick her up. Darrell told Axelrad, “I drove and drove. I took her to Shasta Lake and dropped her off a bridge. I didn’t hear her hit any water. I wanted to drop her into water and let her swim to shore.”

  By the next day there was yet another psychiatrist on the stand. Dr. Thomas Morrison, of the University of California, Davis Medical Center, saw Darrell six times over a period of a month. Morrison testified that Darrell suffered from a rare mental disease, “intermittent explosive disorder.” A person who suffered from this could suddenly go into uncontrollable rages, followed shortly thereafter by remorse. Morrison said that Darrell suffered from disorders to the extent that put him in a category between neurosis and psychosis. Dr. Morrison was the first psychiatrist to say that Darrell Rich was insane at the times he committed the murders of Annette Edwards, Pam Moore and Annette Selix. He could not determine if that was the case with Linda Slavik.

  On cross-examination Dr. Morrison admitted he had only been an expert witness on two previous court cases.

  After Dr. Morrison, Dr. Axelrad was called to the stand once again to give his diagnosis of Darrell Rich. And just like Morrison, he thought that Darrell was insane at the time of the killings of Annette Edwards, Pam Moore and Annette Selix. In other words, Axelrad maintained, “he could not premeditate, deliberate or form intent to kill.” A person had to do these things legally to make it first-degree murder.

  Special Prosecutor Robert Baker knew that if even one of the jurors sided with either Dr. Morrison or Dr. Axelrad, then Darrell Rich was not likely to be convicted of first-degree murder on at least three cases. Baker questioned Axelrad very hard on cross-examination and wanted to know why, if Darrell was insane, he took three of the victims’ purses. Baker contended a truly crazy person would not do this. Axelrad disagreed with this scenario and said that was not a factor in whether a person was insane or not.

  Baker also contended that Darrell Rich knew Annette Selix before he kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Several witnesses said that he absolutely knew her. And as far as Annette Edwards went, Baker said that Darrell spoke of cutting off her screams because he knew police were nearby. That showed intent, according to Baker.

  Next there was a neuropsychologist on the stand, Dr. Damien McCann. He said that tests proved that Darrell suffered from a mild brain dysfunction caused by an injury years before. McCann reached this conclusion after administering more than three hours of tests to Darrell.

  On cross-examination McCann admitted that under the parameters of those tests, nearly 5 percent of the adult population in the United States would have the same results. And he agreed that those people did not go out and murder others.

  Still, another psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Satten
, of San Francisco, backed both Dr. Morrison and Dr. Axelrad with his conclusions. He agreed that Darrell Rich suffered from an “intermittent explosive disorder,” and was not able to form intent at the times of the murders.

  The jurors got a well-deserved week off around Thanksgiving. For a case that was supposed to last six weeks, it had already lasted ten weeks and was not over yet. When it resumed, Robert Baker and Frank O’Connor called a Southern California doctor to the stand: Dr. Thomas VonDedenroth, a Camarillo psychiatrist who doubted Dr. Axelrad’s methods.

  Dr. Axelrad had used hypnosis on Darrell Rich with the use of Amytal (sodium amytal). Axelrad had also used the method of Ericksonian Hypnosis. Dr. VonDedenroth, however, had actually been Milton Erickson’s student and had been Erickson’s personal physician. He attacked Axelrad’s methods, saying they were incorrect. He claimed that Axelrad’s questions were leading, and that Darrell had not been in a true trance while questioned.

  VonDedenroth added that Darrell’s responses had not displayed the emotional and physiological responses of someone in a trance. As an example of this, VonDedenroth said, Darrell spoke of sweating at the time of the murders. However, a person under a trance wouldn’t just talk about it. Instead, he would actually sweat, as if he were really back at the time of the event.

  Dr. John Robinson, of Sacramento, was called by the prosecution as well. He testified that he believed that Darrell was faking when he told other psychiatrists he couldn’t remember many of the events that had occurred around the times of the murders. Robinson had become involved on the request of Dr. Kaldor. Robinson administered a battery of tests to Darrell. These made Robinson believe that Darrell was not only faking answers, but was trying to elicit sympathy.