Cops: Top Psychiatrist Killed By Teen

(AP)  A 19-year-old man was charged Monday with murdering a prominent psychiatrist and federal health official, Montgomery County police said.

Vitali A. Davydov, of North Potomac, was believed to be the only suspect in the case after Dr. Wayne S. Fenton, 53, was found unconscious in his office Sunday after an appointment with the teen, police said. Davydov's father saw his son acting strangely outside the building after the appointment, found Fenton and called police, according to a statement from police.

In addition to seeing patients who were considered severely disturbed in his private practice, Fenton was associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health. His death was described as devastating, not only to his friends but also for the advancement of mental health research.

"He was without question one of the nation's experts in schizophrenia," said Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Insel said Fenton was leading a research effort to help make it possible for people with severe psychiatric disease to function in the community.

"I can't convey to you the extent of this loss," Insel said. "This was a huge loss for the nation." Schizophrenia afflicts about 2.5 million Americans, Insel said.

Fenton's body has been sent to the Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.

[robertcpa-2009]

Sane enough to play Hockey and
attend college = sane enough to
stand trial.
I hope this guy gets life in prison
without parol.
Death is too good for him.
Robert Frumkin

[symptomatic]

Quite a leap to go from patient kills one of the best psychiatrists in america to a diatribe on forced treatment.Defies logic.

Gee ,if only the boy had seen a psychiatrist things would have been different?

If you dont see the error there you need help yourself.

[mixed-feelings]

Why isn't anyone willing to see the truth when people try to tell them about things like psychiatry, drug abuse, and social problems? The boy might not be guilty, but psychiatry is guilty of being flawed and in fact not based on any thing but textbook science and they know it for a fact. These pills are dangerous and they have a rebound affect. Some people are getting addicted to them, and they are in our water systems, and none of the real problems are getting solved for people. If this boy is not guilty is it fair to judge him based on a label that he has or a parent that thinks he might have done it? Someone ought to start listening to people and not just judging. The censorship and lack of honesty and integrity in our world is extreme, especially when it comes to our economics, power, greed, and control issues.

[davidwoaks]

This is a response to a question from "MarkRed2" who replied to our public statement which is on this site.

MarkRed2 wrote: "How do you know this was 'forced'?"

Dear MarkRed2:

I'm very willing to engage in civil dialogue about these important topics. However, the basic facts need to be agreed upon. You imply in your question that our public statement said that Dr. Fenton care on the 19-year-old was "forced." If you re-read your statement, you'll see that (a) we point out that all facts are not in, and (b) we bring up the issue of force because we are concerned that this murder -- as many other murders have been -- to be exploited by those who are seeking more involuntary psychiatric drugging as the primary solution to violence and severe mental and emotional problems in our society. In fact, as you can tell from some of the comments on this very site, our concerns have unfortunately been proven accurate. For more information you can see our web site at www.MindFreedom.org. - David Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

[markred2]

DavidWOaks, who is exploiting this event? Isn't it you?

[markred2]

How do you know this was "forced"? You insult everybody who goes to see a psychiatrist, or psychotherapist, when you turn every event like this into a diatribe about "forced psychiatry".

The fact is, psychiatrists and psychotherapists choose to work with people who are "mentally ill", however you want to define it. They want to help. Sometimes not in the ways that are ideal for everybody, and sometimes in ways caught up with social pressures. But that is true of every "caregiver".

And to turn this tragic event into an expression of "underlying rage"? How dare you appropriate this for your own agenda!

[davidwoaks]

Small technical problem with this web site:

I appreciate CBS staff for making this comment forum available to people. However, it is not always obvious when using this site whether or not a post has been successfully submitted. My apologies for posting the same comment more than once. If web site staff can remove the duplicate comment it would be appreciated. Thanks, David

[davidwoaks]

David Oaks, director of MindFreedom International, issued this public statement 4 September 2006:

"The majority of our MindFreedom members are individuals like myself who are diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities including schizophrenia. We absolutely condemn the alleged murder of psychiatrist Wayne S. Fenton. We understand that an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia has been charged today with this crime. While of course all the facts are not yet available, we emphasize that there is no excuse for the unlawful violence that has apparently occurred. We extend our sympathy to Dr. Fenton's loved ones and colleagues.

"We in the mental health advocacy community ask that groups lobbying for more forced psychiatric drugging do not politically exploit this horrible tragedy to stereotype those of us with psychiatric diagnoses as inherently violent. Our MindFreedom members are living examples of the scientific fact that the overwhelming majority of people with psychiatric diagnoses, including schizophrenia, are peaceful and contributing members of society.

"There are more effective and more humane ways to prevent violence in our society than the additional violence of forced psychiatric drugging and bigotry against people diagnosed with a psychiatric disability. As a start, it is time we finally listened to individuals with psychiatric diagnoses such as MindFreedom members about what has helped in their own recovery."

[michaelhaan]

Was Vitali coming off forced drugs when he did this? Do his actions expose an underlying rage that patients feel towards their oppressive doctors?

[michaelhaan]

Death can never be "the answer". So that was wrong. But I still know that forced psychiatry is wrong and wonder what kind of difficulties Vitali was going through at the time. I know how delicate the drug balance needs to be and going off for a few days is treacherous. Was he coming off them? The fact that they proclaimed the psychiatrist as an "expert" in schizophrenia is a real insult to the countless people who have figured out how to recover without a psychiatrist. The murder does somehow seem to expose an underlying rage at what psychiatry has done to so many people for so long. Killing them is one. So this one life, in comparison to the countless that psychiatry has itself taken seems, to me, such a silent cry against our own. When will psychiatrists no longer be allowed to rape and kill us with their "treatments"? Why did Vitali do that? Why?