Home › Books › Couple Found Slain: After a Family Murder
Couple Found Slain: After a Family Murder
by
11/99
Critics' Rating Index
4/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
51/99
Volume of Reviews
61/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
The New York Times Book ReviewCritically acclaimed author and psychoanalyst Mikita Brottman offers literary true crime writing at its best, taking us into the life of a murderer after his conviction—when most stories end but the defendant's life goes on.On February 21, 1992, 22-year-old Brian Bechtold walked into a police station in Port St. Joe, Florida and confessed that he'd shot and killed his parents in their family home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said he'd been possessed by the devil. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and ruled "not criminally responsible" for the murders on grounds of insanity.But after the trial, where do the "criminally insane" go? Brottman reveals Brian's inner life leading up to the murder, as well as his complicated afterlife in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, where he is neither imprisoned nor free. During his 27 years at the hospital, Brian has tried to escape and been shot by police, and has witnessed three patient-on-patient murders. He's experienced the drugging of patients beyond recognition, a sadistic system of rewards and punishments, and the short-lived reign of a crazed psychiatrist-turned-stalker. In the tradition of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Couple Found Slain is an insider's account of life in the underworld of forensic psych wards in America and the forgotten lives of those held there, often indefinitely.
Reviews
"Regardless, she makes a compelling case against the unjust, seemingly arbitrary treatment of those deemed criminally insane."
"The doctors at Perkins claimed that Bechtold was paranoid, and while Brottman shows effectively that forced hospitalization could make anyone seem paranoid, she fails to prove that, in this case, both could have been true at the same time ..."
"Brottman draws with authority on case studies and criminal statistics to dispel the common misconception that the insanity defense is preferable to prison and amounts to a get-out-of-jail-free card."
"In a choice that bummed me out, she shoves her own smart, nuanced and questioning mind to the back seat in this work, giving the wheel over almost entirely to Bechtold's perspective and judgment ..."
"This thought-provoking book adds to conversations about the role of psychiatric institutions and how society can offer solutions."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!