Lost and Found (9 page)

The next witness was Lloyd Whalen, the chief chemist of the Nevada State Department of Law Enforcement Assistance. He testified that his laboratory had been given a number of samples of suspected drugs found in Garrido’s mini-warehouse.

He testified that testing had confirmed there was 1.88 grams of marijuana and 3.01 grams of hashish, as well as a “clip-type smoking device” with cannabis residue.

At the end of the chemist’s testimony, a grand jury member had a question.

“Hashish, or whatever you call it,” asked the grand juror, “what do they do—take it as a pill, or do they smoke it?”

“Either way,” Whalen replied. “Normally it would be smoked, but it can be taken orally. The word hashish itself I believe is from the India dialect, and the word means assassin. There were hired assassins that would get high on this stuff and go out and do their work.”

Then the juror asked if marijuana was an aphrodisiac.

“Neither in my search of the literature,” replied the chemist, “nor in my personal experience.”

Later that day, the Washoe County grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Phillip Craig Garrido for forcible rape, an infamous crime against nature and possession of a controlled substance.

And the following day—after a separate hearing of the evidence—a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment, charging him with interstate kidnapping. From now on the federal and Washoe County cases would run in tandem, with his federal trial being held first.

On December 6, United States Magistrate Harold O. Taber appointed assistant federal public defender Willard Van Hazel, Jr., to represent Phillip Garrido. And two days later, Garrido was arraigned in the Washoe County case in the Second Judicial District Court in Reno.

Ron Bath, the deputy public defender assigned to represent Garrido in the state case, told Washoe County district judge Grant L. Bowen that he was having problems communicating with his client.

“Mr. Garrido has been under a great deal of stress,” he explained. “And we would like to ask that we have two psychiatric examinations prepared.”

The defender said he also wanted the reports to see if Garrido was a danger to the “health, safety and morals of the community.”

Judge Bowen asked if Phillip Garrido had ever spent time in an institution, and Bath said he had not.

Washoe County deputy district attorney Donald Coppa said the state also needed to determine if Garrido knew the difference between right and wrong when the alleged kidnap and rape were committed.

Judge Bowen agreed that the defendant should be examined by two psychiatrists, one for the state and one for the defense. And he adjourned the case for a month until the results could be known.

On Friday, December 10, defense-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Charles Kuhn spent an hour examining Phillip Garrido at the Washoe County detention facility. The doctor conducted a clinical evaluation, but could not find any thinking disorder or organic impairment.

“There is no question in my mind,” said Dr. Kuhn, “that Mr. Garrido has an intelligence somewhat better than average.”

During the examination, Garrido became highly emotional, telling the doctor about his overpowering sexual fantasies of masturbating in public. He explained how drugs sexually aroused him, saying that he had taken four hits of LSD after kidnapping Katie Callaway. And since his arrest, he told the doctor, he had found God and spiritual sanctuary in the Bible.

The psychiatrist later observed that Garrido had displayed “strangely erratic judgment” by kidnapping a girl in South Lake Tahoe and then taking over the state line to Nevada. Going to all these lengths to fulfill his sexual fantasy did not reflect proper use of his intelligence.

“There is nothing in the sexual fantasy that has any geographical significance,” wrote the doctor in his report, “and unless a person was pretty fogged up one way or another, they wouldn’t incur the involvement of federal law.”

On December 14, Dr. Kuhn wrote to Garrido’s Washoe County attorney, Ron Bath, saying he believed the defendant had known the difference between right and wrong during the kidnap and rape. And he also found that Garrido fully understood the nature of the charges he faced, and would be able to assist in preparing his defense.

Five days later, the Federal District Court–appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Lynn Gerow, examined Phillip Garrido for an hour and forty-five minutes in Washoe County Jail. Unshaved and disheveled, Garrido frequently clasped a Bible in his hand, appearing obsessed with God and religious events.

“He talked at some length about the Bible, the Lord and God,” Dr. Gerow later reported. “I felt he was preoccupied by those things.”

Unlike Dr. Kuhn, the state psychiatrist did not think Phillip Garrido particularly intelligent.

“His judgment was very poor,” Dr. Gerow observed. “His insight was minimal. His intelligence appeared to be average.”

During the examination, Garrido became emotional as he spoke of his childhood, saying that he had “considerable emotional conflict” with his parents.

“He worked on and off as a musician and began abusing drugs increasingly,” wrote the psychiatrist. “He was married in 1972 and his wife currently works as a dealer in a local casino.”

Garrido told Dr. Gerow he suffered from migraine headaches, but otherwise appeared completely rational, providing “a clear, concise statement,” from when he had seized Katie Callaway until his arrest the following morning. And finding no signs of either psychosis or neurosis, the doctor diagnosed Garrido as suffering from satyriasis, or excessive sexual compulsion.

“There was nothing in what he told me,” said the psychiatrist, “nothing in the mental status examination that one could say that he wasn’t responsible and competent.”

During the examination, the doctor asked Garrido to respond to a series of proverbs, including “Those who dance should pay the fiddler.”

“He responded that he had committed a crime,” said the doctor, “and that he should pay for that crime.”

The next day, Dr. Gerow sent off his psychiatric report on Phillip Garrido to United States district judge Bruce Thompson, now assigned to oversee the federal trial.

“Mr. Garrido was a tall, thin white male,” it began. “He appeared as an unshaved, unkempt man looking his stated age. He presented his story in a clear and logical fashion.”

Garrido had appeared dejected throughout his jailhouse evaluation, breaking down in tears on several occasions.

“He looked and acted depressed,” noted Dr. Gerow. “He would occasionally cry during the interview. He denied suicidal ideation.”

Garrido had readily admitted abusing LSD, marijuana, cocaine and alcohol for the last six years, claiming to have taken five doses of LSD daily. And he boasted of swallowing “four hits” of the powerful hallucinogenic after abducting Katie Callaway.

“He believes strongly that LSD increases his sexual power,” reported the doctor. “He was preoccupied with the idea of sex and admitted to a history of several sexual disorders. He complains of some memory and preceptual [sic] disturbances secondary to chronic LSD abuse.”

Garrido also claimed to have hallucinations, which the doctor noted was common among LSD abusers.

Throughout the examination, reported Dr. Gerow, Garrido stressed his recent discovery of God and how he now wanted to turn his life around.

“He made mention of recent increasing religiosity,” wrote the doctor. “There were several references to God and Jesus. He stated that he had become more religious in recent weeks. His verbal productions were not delusional in quality. He based his new religious interests more appropriately on the considerable guilt and fear he was experiencing since being incarcerated.”

At the end of his three-page report, Dr. Gerow diagnosed Phillip Garrido as suffering from “a mixed sexual deviation” and “chronic drug abuse,” finding the drugs may have led to his sexual abnormalities.

“In men with satyriasis,” he wrote, “we usually see an excessive constant preoccupation with the desire for coitus. It is usually associated with compulsive masturbation. This aspect is clearly present in this man and is part of his multiple sexual deviation.”

The doctor suggested Garrido should be neurologically tested, as his condition could be the result of brain damage caused by “temporal lobe disorders, cerebral syphilis, or excessive use of drugs.”

But he agreed that Garrido was fully competent to understand the charges he faced, and able to participate in his defense.

“It is also my opinion,” reported Dr. Gerow, “that at the time of the crimes charged, the defendant as a result of mental disease or defect, did not lack substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.”

Two days before Christmas, Phillip Garrido was led into district court, where Judge Thompson declared him competent to stand trial. And after his attorney Willard Van Hazel waived the formal reading of the indictment, Garrido pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Then Van Hazel filed a motion to have his client undergo a neurological examination, as Dr. Gerow had suggested. Judge Thompson agreed, setting a trial date for February 7 and remanding the defendant in custody.

On January 6, 1977, Reno-based neurologist Dr. Albert Peterman examined Phillip Garrido for possible brain damage. He conducted an electroencephalography test (EEG), placing multiple electrodes around the scalp to measure the electrical activity in Garrido’s brain.

But the thirty-minute test produced no abnormal results, showing Garrido’s brain activity was normal.

“I cannot find any hard evidence of organic brain damage per se,” Dr. Peterman later reported. “He can do serial 7’s and retain 5 digits in forward and reverse order with considerable concentration.”

During the examination, the defendant appeared distraught and contrite about what he had done, tearing up on one occasion.

“He states that he is looking forward to going to court,” Dr. Peterman wrote, “has found religion and feels his life will change for the better. He shows appropriate concern for whatever crime he is charged with.”

Surprisingly, when asked if he had ever suffered any serious head injuries, Garrido failed to mention the one he’d sustained as a teenager, leading to an operation and lengthy hospital stay.

“This man has a perfectly bland neurologic history,” noted the doctor. “There is no history of significant head injuries, skull fracture or concussion.”

But the defendant was far more forthcoming about his chronic drug abuse.

“LSD made him quite sexually aggressive which he realizes,” wrote the doctor. “He had used LSD prior to his alleged offense, but remembers the details of the abduction and sexual activity quite well.”

Garrido also told Dr. Peterman that he had started getting migraine headaches since his incarceration, which was his only neurological complaint.

“I see no evidence,” concluded the doctor, “either by history, examination or EEG of brain damage per se, although there is considerable evidence of anxiety and depression and personality disorder.”

Four days later, Phillip Garrido appeared in Washoe County Court, pleading not guilty to three charges of rape, an infamous crime against nature and possession of a controlled substance.

In late January, Garrido’s defense suddenly changed strategy, when federal public defender Willard Van Hazel requested that Dr. Charles Kuhn reexamine his client to see if there was anything different since his first examination.

Dr. Kuhn carried out a second examination but found Garrido’s condition remained unchanged.

Then on February 1, the same day Dr. Kuhn’s second report was filed with the district court, Phillip Garrido withdrew his not guilty plea. But Judge Thompson refused to accept it.

Three days later, at 4:45
P.M
. on the Friday before trial, Willard Van Hazel suddenly announced his client would now be pursuing a psychiatric defense.

11

KATIE CALLAWAY TAKES THE STAND

At 1:30
P.M
. on Wednesday, February 9, 1977, Phillip Garrido was led into U.S. district court in downtown Reno in handcuffs, wearing a faded gray suit with a striped shirt and brown tie, his long hair tied back in a ponytail.

After the jury was sworn in, the clerk of the court read out the indictment, stating that the defendant was pleading not guilty.

Assistant United States Attorney Leland Lutfy made his opening statement on behalf of the prosecution, but Van Hazel reserved the privilege not to make one on behalf of his client.

Then Lutfy called Katie Callaway to the stand as his first witness. Once again the young woman bravely relived her terrible ordeal for the jury, as Phillip Garrido sat impassively staring at her from the dock.

The prosecutor asked her if the young man who kidnapped her was present in the courtroom.

“Yes, he is,” replied Callaway. “He has his hair pulled back in a ponytail.”

And for the next several hours, Katie Callaway calmly told the jury about her nightmare at the hands of the tall, handsome defendant. Gently led by Lutfy’s questions, the articulate witness bravely gave yet another detailed account of her six hours with Garrido, and how she had survived it.