by Robert Scott
Pam said that was correct.
Frasier followed up with a question about how Gabe reacted when Pam told him she intended to keep going to the Bandon church.
Pam replied, “That was the first time Gabe really got upset with me. He was real agitated with me as I implored him to realize these were good men.”
Frasier wanted to know if Gabe told her where he was heading, when he said he was going away for a long time. Pam responded that he had not told her where he was going.
Fahy had just a few more questions for her on redirect. “Was the ‘we’ in the battle of Heaven, with him and God?”
Pam said, “No, when he was talking about ‘we,’ he was talking about him and me.”
“Are you aware of times he spoke of himself as Jesus Christ or Christlike?”
“He said he was the forerunner of Christ in preparation for the Second Coming.”
CHAPTER 45
It now became the province of the psychologists and psychiatrists on the stand. Fahy had Dr. Loren Mallory give all of his qualifications and the places where he had worked during his career. One of the main concerns for the defense was to refute what they knew Dr. Michael Sasser was going to present later for the prosecution.
Fahy asked Dr. Mallory what problems might have arisen by Dr. Sasser relying so heavily on the Hare test.
Mallory said, “Having a degree in psychiatry is not enough. You can’t just do things by the manual. Dr. Sasser was using an older version, and I filed an addendum to his report. I believe he is not correct.”
The next question was “You are aware the Dr. Sasser did not diagnose the defendant as being a psychopath?”
Mallory replied, “That’s confusing to me, because the score he gave Gabriel Morris is absolutely indicative of psychopathy. I did not see any psychopathy or antisocial behavior on Gabe’s part. I thought Dr. Sasser used a very structured and confrontive style. To really understand a person, it just can’t be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers to questions. My impression was that he gave a too-structured test. Sometimes Sasser would even answer the question himself and then have Gabriel acknowledge it. I reviewed Dr. Sasser’s DVD and Gabriel, in parts, tried to bring up his religious views. But the style of the interview tended to shut him down on those.”
Fahy wanted to know if there had been opportunities for Dr. Sasser to explore more about what Gabe was thinking.
Mallory said yes and added, “He just went on into other closed-ended questions. There were times it was almost argumentative. I believe it takes unstructured questioning to understand Gabriel’s delusions and his attitudes about others. You have to let him wind up and preach.”
Fahy wondered, “When someone suffers from delusional disorder, are they that way twenty-four /seven?”
Mallory replied, “No. Sometimes it’s more psychotic. Sometimes it’s more delusional. Underneath, I believe, the delusional beliefs are always there, but the external aspect can wax and wane.”
Fahy wanted to know what Mallory thought happened in the weeks prior to the murders.
Mallory said, “I think there is plenty of data that Gabriel was in an agitated, paranoid, psychotic state. And at the end, it’s a little unclear, and I don’t want to cross too many lines, because he says he has an unclear memory, but he remembers someone else being there, and someone else doing the shooting. He said his mom and her boyfriend left and then came back into the house. He did feel that Mr. Kennelly was trying to poison him and that Mr. Kennelly was dangerous to his mom. He said he took Mr. Kennelly’s gun and he had a small recorder set up to capture Mr. Kennelly’s conversation. He said he hid upstairs, but he saw through a doorknob hole another person go downstairs and do the shooting. That person then left, and Gabe ran out, grabbed his wife and child and they fled.”
Dr. Mallory was aware of the statements Gabe had given to the Virginia investigators after being arrested. Fahy asked how Mallory could resolve the issue that Gabe told the investigators he had done the shootings, and now he was claiming he saw someone else do them.
Mallory answered, “First off, Gabriel was not okay at the interview. He was quite delusional. He went on a long spree that was very disorganized. So there are a couple of possibilities. Out of kind of a weird motive, he made sort of a confession.”
Fahy said, “Let’s, for discussion’s sake, say that when Mr. Morris confessed to the killings, he was telling the truth. And then he comes here and begins to deny it. Is that something you have seen in research you have done?”
Mallory responded, “I think his delusional system is kind of a way of creating a story to cover up what he had done. Something might start out as a lie, but by the time he gets into these stories, he truly believes them.”
Fahy asked if Gabe was an intelligent person, and Mallory agreed that he was. Mallory also agreed that an intelligent person who was not suffering from delusions would come up with a better story than that he peeked through a keyhole and saw someone else shoot his mother and her boyfriend.
Mallory added, “It was my opinion that he was not able to appreciate the wrongfulness of what was happening nor to really control it. He believed he was in danger, and that Mr. Kennelly was poisoning him. He thought Kennelly was a danger to his mother and was carrying a gun. Mr. Morris was in a disorganized psychotic state and not in touch with reality. When you’re that completely delusional, you’re not in a place where you can make good judgments in understanding what you are doing is wrong. He was not able to just say ‘stop’ to the delusions.
“I’m a psychologist. I can’t divine what really happened, but I believe his delusional, paranoid, agitated, psychotic state made him see some little thing that happened, and maybe his police training took over, because he shot like a policeman. In a dangerous situation, policemen are trained to shoot until the person is taken out.”
“Would that carry over to his mother?”
“I will say to a psychological degree of certainty, something happened, he started shooting and shot until it was over. I believe it happened because of the mental illness. At the very end, he believed his mother was poisoning him. His delusions were growing bigger and getting out of control. You can’t make rationality out of the irrational.”
Fahy asked why Fred Eschler thought Gabe was in control of his actions not long after the shootings took place.
Mallory replied, “It probably looked like organized behavior that seemed to show he was in control of himself. But it was organized around a completely psychotic delusional-belief system. He was running from the area because he believed people were after him. He left with his family in their pajamas, with no socks on their feet, no money, no ID. Just because it was organized to a certain sense didn’t mean that it was rational and in touch with reality.”
In essence, it was now DA Paul Frasier’s job to bring into question Dr. Mallory’s diagnosis of Gabriel Morris. If Mallory was seen to be correct in Judge Stone’s eyes, then, by default, Dr. Sasser’s diagnosis had to be wrong.
Frasier began by pointing out all the lying Gabe had done to others when it came to why he had left the ROTC. Frasier viewed this as antisocial behavior, not delusional behavior. And this lying had started clear back in Gabe’s days at BYU.
Frasier said, “Your first report was that the defendant was not competent to proceed to trial?”
“I was real concerned about it.”
“Did you make any recommendations to make him competent so that we could proceed?”
Mallory answered, “Some medication and therapy. And then reevaluate him.”
“Isn’t it true he has not received any therapy in jail?”
Mallory said he wasn’t aware of Gabe getting any therapy.
“Is it true he has not received any medication while in jail?”
Mallory replied that he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
Frasier then said, “Well, somewhere along the line, this guy changed, or we’d still be arguing that he was not competent to stand trial.
Is that correct?”
Mallory responded, “No. I still have concerns that he might be delusional, so that [way], he could not aid and assist his counsel.” And then Mallory pointed out that the “aid and assist” matter became moot when Gabe made a plea deal through his lawyers.
When Frasier wanted to know if Mallory diagnosed Gabe with any other psychological disorders, Mallory said, “I deferred on Axis II disorder. I couldn’t find enough data to diagnose a personality disorder.”
Frasier asked what a personality disorder was, and Mallory said, “A persistent disorder that causes problems for the individual.”
Frasier then asked if Mallory thought that Gabe had a conduct disorder. When he said no, Frasier queried, “Do you recall Esther Eschler saying that before joining the Mormon Church he was using marijuana, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms and drinking alcohol? He had no ambitions in life. He did not work or apply himself in school. Did you take that statement into account when you considered if he had an antisocial disorder?”
Mallory said that he did, and that was inadequate to be a conduct disorder.
Frasier continued, “She said that looking back on her relationship with Gabriel Morris, she realized how selfish he was. He did what he wanted, not caring how it made her feel. She frequently paid for their dates. He often asked her to make a meal for him or lunch. If she hesitated, he made her feel guilty. He once made her say she loved him, and she wasn’t ready to do so. So he made her feel guilty so that she would say it. She said of him, ‘He was charming, well-liked, but very self-serving. ’”
In this exchange, it was actually Dr. Mallory who asked a question. “How old was he then?”
Frasier replied, “Up to the age of twenty-two.”
Mallory retorted, “Well, those are not positive behaviors, but I don’t feel that it [is] strong enough evidence to diagnose an antisocial or conduct disorder.”
Frasier asked, “So, when did all this delusional stuff start?”
Mallory replied, “I believe the delusions started long ago, but he could keep them under control. He could keep them inside. People saw them occasionally, but he kept them under control for a lot of years.”
“So, what is the definition of a delusion?”
Mallory read from the manual, “‘The presence of one or more non-bizarre delusions that persist at least one month. Delusions are erroneous beliefs that usually involve a misrepresentation of perceptions or experience.’”
“Okay, you diagnosed him with a delusional disorder with religious overtones and grandiosity. What are the religious delusions you think the defendant is having?”
Mallory said that Gabe believed he was Jesus Christ or a Christlike figure. He also believed he was a prophet and that he was receiving messages from God in a very special way. Mallory added, “I go to church. I’m a Christian, although not Latter-day Saints. But I give room for appropriate religious behavior. I do not think every religious belief is a delusion. But I believe he crossed the line very clearly.”
CHAPTER 46
Frasier wanted to know how Gabe supposedly received his messages from God, and Mallory said, “It was something he shared with God daily. Sometimes he heard voices. Being a prophet or Christlike figure was more pervasive.”
“Not everyone who proclaims to be a prophet is delusional. For instance, in the Latter-day Saints, the head of the church is proclaimed to be a prophet. Does that make him delusional?”
“I don’t know how to answer that. We would have to consider that in the realm of a shared and normal-belief system.”
“So, when diagnosing a delusional disorder, you have to take into account the person’s cultural-belief system?”
Mallory said that was true, but he added that even the Mormons who knew Gabe spoke of his bizarre, agitated and disorganized thoughts.
Frasier said, “There were Ms. Hansen’s statements, and most of what he told her conformed with Mormon theology, correct?”
“I don’t know much about that.”
“Are you aware that the Church teaches that all members are able to receive revelations from God?”
“Sure.”
Frasier stated that if Gabe was saying he was receiving inspiration from God, this was not outside the norm of someone in the Mormon Church.
Mallory responded, “It is to the extent he went. People who were in the Mormon Church, they saw it too. It went way beyond the socially acceptable norms.”
Frasier came back with that many Christians thought that Mary, the mother of Jesus, had a virgin birth. He asked if that made them delusional.
Mallory responded, “Only if they became so overconcerned with that, that it was driving their lives and taking up all their time and they were pursuing it to some ridiculous and pressured degree. Then the idea would become delusional.”
Frasier then asked, “So, at the time he committed these murders, what was his delusion?”
Mallory said, “He thought he was being poisoned and he thought his family was in danger. He knew Mr. Kennelly had a gun, so he took it. He was psychotic and not in touch with reality.”
Frasier pointed out that Mallory had spoken of people who had witnessed Gabe in the weeks and days before the murders, but none of them had seen him on the day of the murder.
Mallory countered with the fact he had taken into account Jessica’s statements. And Mallory continued, “She indicated they left the area and went up to Seattle. They then drove back through Bandon, picked up a few things and went to San Diego. Before the homicide, they came back up to Bandon because Gabe said he needed to talk to Bob Kennelly. They did not drive up directly to the house. Gabe went up the hill with a portable radio and stayed in the tree line, watching the house. Everything here sounds pretty paranoid. It sounds like an escalating mental illness.”
Frasier asked why Gabe would go back to Bandon to see Bob Kennelly if the man was trying to poison him.
Mallory answered, “Because the whole plan was delusional. We’re trying to make rational sense out of an irrational thing.”
Frasier made a point about Gabe going into business with Kennelly to grow medical marijuana. However, instead of selling it, Gabe was smoking up all the product. Frasier then asked if Mallory was aware that Gabe owed Bob Kennelly $25,000. “The fact that Mr. Kennelly ends up dead, then the defendant wouldn’t have to pay him back, would he? So there’s a rational motive there, isn’t there?”
“I suppose so.”
“And even though the defendant said he had concerns for his mother, he had issues with her as well. He had issues over her abandoning him to the man he accused of sexually molesting him, correct?”
“Yes, I remember reading that.”
“So the defendant had reasons to want his mother dead, other than the delusion, didn’t he?”
“That doesn’t add up to me.”
“Well, there are homicides all the time where people end up dead for stupid reasons?”
“Sure. But it’s a specious argument because he was delusional. If he felt abandoned, it was through the lens of mental illness.”
“Do you believe the defendant when he says he was sexually abused by his dad?”
“Probably.”
“Would that not create resentment if a person was abandoned in that situation?”
“Sure. But the vast majority of people who have been in that situation do not kill a person.”
CHAPTER 47
Frasier attempted to show that Gabe’s actions on the day of the murder had shown planning. Gabe waited up in the tree line with binoculars until he knew his mom and Bob Kennelly had left for the day. He had Jessica bring the pickup truck up the drive and hide it behind a small hill. He had Jessica and Kalea follow him into the house, and he got Kennelly’s pistol and waited for Bob and Robin to return so he could ambush them. But Gabe was now saying he didn’t do it. Frasier asked, “You have to decide whether he’s telling you the truth to some degree, don’t you?”
Mallory agreed that he didn�
�t think there was some shadowy figure in the house who had shot Robin and Bob, but “at the time, Gabriel Morris believed it.”
Frasier countered, “People who commit crimes often lie about it, but it doesn’t mean they’re delusional, correct?”
“Well, wait a minute. Someone who is delusional isn’t truly lying. They believe it. That’s their reality.”
Frasier pointed out that Gabe had wanted to testify before a jury and tell them what happened until his attorneys talked him out of that. “One of the things he wanted to tell them was that there was no forensic evidence tying him to the crime. And did you know, Doctor, there is no forensic evidence tying him to the crime. If there is no DNA evidence, no fingerprints that can be used, wouldn’t that be a rational thing—wanting the jury to know that?”
“Yeah. But when he talked to me, he expressed that the jury would be guided by God. And he would be able to show the jury he was a prophet. The jury would be touched by God, and there was no way that they could find him guilty.”
“Didn’t he want to give an explanation about why he had confessed?”
Mallory answered, “He said that if he confessed, then his wife and daughter would be allowed to leave.”
“Wouldn’t someone who just committed a murder want to dump a truck away from the scene so it couldn’t be connected to him, as he did near the Eschlers’?”
“Yes, but such a person would probably not take their wife and daughter clad only in pajamas without any shoes on their feet. When I looked at that—the whole event—it did not seem very organized or rational.”
“You keep using the word ‘probably.’ How sure are you of your opinion?”
Mallory replied, “I’m a trained scientist. I’m trained to not make statements beyond what I know the data to be. I’m fairly certain in my diagnosis, but I’m trained to say it in certain ways.”
“For the sake of argument, let’s say he is antisocial. Aren’t his behaviors consistent with someone who knows he did something wrong?”