I'm not sure even how to approach this one, partially because so little seems to be known about the case. However, there's a metric crapton of stuff that's deviant about this incident, so I figured it was worth sharing here. Anyone want to speculate what this might be a case of, deviance wise, from what we've discussed thus far in class?
From
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/14/america/Therapist-Attack-Optional.phpMan butchers Manhattan psychologist to death, sets off manhunt
The Associated Press
Published: February 14, 2008
NEW YORK: The balding, middle-aged man breezed past the doorman, saying he had an appointment with a psychiatrist. Wheeling a large suitcase and carrying a smaller bag, he walked like he knew where he was going.
Police say he was carrying a bizarre assortment of items: adult diapers, women's clothing, rope, duct tape, several knives and a meat cleaver.
The man walked into the waiting room of Kent Shinbach, the psychiatrist he had said he was seeing, but then entered the neighboring office of psychologist Kathryn Faughey.
Shinbach heard Faughey's screams moments later. Her office was wrecked and splattered with blood when he raced in.
"She's dead," said the man, who according to police didn't appear to recognize Shinbach. The suspect began stabbing at the 70-year-old Shinbach, eventually pinning him to the wall with a chair before stealing $90 and escaping through a basement door.
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Police say Faughey, 56, was stabbed 15 times with the cleaver and a 9-inch knife in Tuesday night's fatal attack, which rattled neighbors on the Upper East Side and sent shock waves through the city's large community of mental health professionals.
Shinbach was in serious condition at New York Hospital Wednesday with slash wounds on his head, face and hands.
Police were hunting for the still-unidentified suspect Wednesday. Authorities released a sketch of the suspected killer along with dimly lit surveillance videotapes of the attacker entering and leaving the building.
Three knives were recovered at the scene, including the 9-inch knife and the cleaver, which was apparently bent from the attack, police said. Furniture in Faughey's office was overturned, shades torn and blood was on the walls and pooled on the floor.
"The condition of the room was that of a fierce struggle," said chief police spokesman Paul Browne.
Shinbach screamed out to the street from Faughey's office for help, and the building doorman called 911 around 9 p.m., but by then the suspect had escaped.
The suspect, wearing a green, three-quarter length coat and knit cap, left behind the two bags. The rope and duct tape and several knives he carried apparently were not used in the attack, police said.
Blood was found on the basement doorknob, and police said the route outside from the first-floor office wasn't very obvious; it was possible the suspect knew where he was going. Surveillance tapes show the suspect deliberately leaving the luggage by the basement door before walking out.
Faughey's office is in a 13-story apartment building on East 79th Street, in a bustling neighborhood just blocks from a major hospital complex.
Believing the killer might have been injured, authorities issued alerts to area hospitals and looked through Faughey's computer files for clues. They also examined surveillance footage to see whether he had been to the office prior to the attack.
A traumatized female patient, in the waiting room when the suspect arrived, was in Shinbach's office during the attack, and was being questioned by authorities.
Faughey, a licensed psychologist and graduate of Yeshiva University in the Bronx, described herself as a specialist in cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing thoughts that cause feelings or behaviors. Neighbors described her as a tall, well-dressed woman who was reserved and private but friendly.
"This is, I think, an extraordinary occurrence," said Sharon Brennan, a psychologist in Manhattan and a spokeswoman for the New York State Psychological Association. "It has had a shocking impact on the whole New York community."
On her Web site, Faughey said she treated patients for relationship issues, coping with breakups, anxiety, panic attacks, stress over job changes and online intimacy, such as relationship issues arising from computer and text messaging.
In an interview with The New York Times in 2004, Faughey offered some advice on breaking up in a digital age: "In the old days it was burn the letters," she said. "Today, clear the hard drive."
Serious attacks by patients on their mental health providers are rare, but they do happen — usually in institutions that see more seriously ill patients.
A psychiatrist in Nebraska died of head injuries in August, several days after a patient with a grudge and a history of violence allegedly attacked him as he arrived at a medical center.
It is common for therapists who see patients in their homes or private offices to install alarm systems, or even help buzzers, in the event that a patient starts to lose control.
In Manhattan, these safety systems are often complemented by the usual security systems for office buildings, which include doormen and video cameras.
"Safety is always a concern," Brennan said. She added that therapists are thoroughly trained in how to assess a patient's potential for violence, and would normally see patients in a private setting only if they had determined that the safety risk was low.
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Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.
