Deadly Charm: The Story of a Deaf Serial Killer

13. 1975: Memorial Day Disaster

13 1975: Memorial Day Disaster A saint abroad, at home a fiend. Phineas Fletcher: The Purple Island With Patrick’s dismissal from the Maryland School for the Deaf, he was once again living at home. Within days of his return the household was in turmoil, and he was out of control. After continued episodes of destroyed possessions , physical attacks on family members, and shouted threats, Patrick’s mother again bought him to Dr. Rimal Pal of the Frederick County Health Department for a consultation. Dr. Pal felt there was a possibility that Patrick was hallucinating during the attacks and that his problems were neurological in origin. He increased his dosage of Dilantin, discontinued the Mellaril and the Mysoline, put him back on Tegretol at bedtime, and gave him an injection of Thorazine. Dr. Pal’s report concluded: “The mother was advised to get in touch with me periodically for further advice.” Later that same month, Patrick was denied permission to ride his bike to a friend’s house, and he reacted by deliberately destroying his brother’s bike and threatening to attack his mother. Police came and removed him from the home. His 86 mother told them his behavior was possibly the result of epileptic seizures, so the officers transported him to the University of Maryland Hospital’s Neurological Unit. When tests revealed no neurological symptoms, the hospital transferred him to its Psychological Institute for inpatient treatment. A psychiatrist worked with Patrick in a concentrated therapy program at the institute, using a form of behavior modification techniques. In order to provide that therapy, a sign language interpreter was engaged. While in treatment, Patrick met his interpreter’s cousin, Brenda Page (pseudonym). Brenda, who was hearing, had deaf parents and knew sign language . Like most females who encountered Patrick—even adult women—Brenda was taken with his Adonis-like looks and the playful manner he easily assumed when wishing to make a good impression. By this time, Patrick had become acutely sexually aware and more aggressive in his pursuit of girls. Although most of his exposure had been with girls of the deaf community, he preferred hearing girlfriends. Because of her signing skills, he saw Brenda as an ideal romantic partner, one who could provide him with access to all he was missing by being deaf. To him, it was almost like gaining the ability to hear. Brenda, in turn, enjoyed the attention she gained by signing and was pleased to have attracted such a handsome, virile boyfriend. However, she soon discovered that when Patrick attached himself to a woman, his demands on her became allconsuming . Soon Brenda’s occasional visits to the hospital were not enough for Patrick, and he managed several times to abscond from the unit to visit her. Once he claimed he lost his way back to his room after a therapy session. Another time he managed to follow his mother out after her visit. After several such escapes, the staff became aware of Patrick’s proclivity for absconding and kept him under closer surveillance. When he Deadly Charm 87 88 McCay Vernon and Marie Vernon again attempted to leave, they tried to restrain him. He fought them off and for a few moments there was pandemonium on the ward until he was subdued. By that time, Brenda was aware of Patrick’s violent side and its frightening consequences. Rather than risk further involvement , she quietly disappeared from the scene, and the affair ended. Chances are that even without Patrick’s temper outbursts, the romance would have been short-lived. Relationships between a deaf partner and a hearing one present numerous hurdles under the best of circumstances; with Patrick’s demand for constant attention, such a relationship would always have been fragile at best. After several months in the behavior modification program at University of Maryland Hospital, Patrick was discharged and allowed to return to the Maryland School for the Deaf to finish the semester. When back at the school, he displayed only occasional behavior problems and seemed to have developed some degree of self-control. But that era of relative peace ended when school was out and Patrick returned home for the summer. With his family he reverted to his old behaviors, and the slightest offense precipitated an attack in which he would physically assault other family members or destroy their possessions. Ironically, the most frequent targets of his anger were the two who...