THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 27, 1996 TAG: 9605270032
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY AMY ARGETSINGER, THE WASHINGTON POST
LENGTH: 71 lines
When a promising young Navy officer shot and killed two other junior officers - his ex-fiancee and a friend - and then turned the gun on himself, the news shocked friends at their San Diego base and at the U.S. Naval Academy, from which all three had graduated.
But the family of one victim now says Navy officials should not have been surprised by Ensign George P. Smith's violent outburst in December 1993.
The parents of Ensign Kerryn O'Neill are suing the U.S. government, alleging that Navy psychologists ignored signs of Smith's instability.
Their suit, filed this month in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, seeks $14 million in damages. The suit says that Smith displayed symptoms of a ``serious personality disorder'' in a psychological screening two months before the killings, but that he was approved for high-stress submarine duty anyway.
The case could present a challenge to the so-called Feres doctrine, which grew out of a 1950 Supreme Court ruling that active-duty military personnel are barred from suing for injuries caused by government action.
But Daniel Joseph, the O'Neills' attorney, argues that the court should accept the suit because Kerryn O'Neill's Navy duties played no role in her death.
Smith, 24, apparently distraught over his breakup with O'Neill two days earlier, went to her San Diego apartment early Dec. 1. He shot and killed the 21-year-old woman and a friend, Lt. Alton Grizzard, 24. Smith then killed himself.
O'Neill and Grizzard were star athletes at the Naval Academy. Grizzard, who like Smith graduated in 1992, later joined a Navy SEAL unit.
He had graduated from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach in 1987. A skilled high school quarterback and defensive back, he was named Tidewater Player of the Year in 1986.
Grizzard majored in math at Annapolis. Elected co-captain of the football team his senior year, he broke several school quarterback records.
O'Neill, a track standout who graduated six months before her death, was a Navy engineer.
In October 1993, Smith took the Navy's screening test to gauge his psychological fitness for nuclear submarine duty, which involves long stretches of confinement.
According to the O'Neills' suit, Smith scored far above the recommended limits for such traits as aggressive or destructive behavior, impulsiveness and uncertainty about submarine service.
Also, according to the suit, on the personal-history part of the test, Smith falsely said he was married and described himself as a ``competitive,'' ``intense'' and ``high-strung'' person who requires physical exercise to ``vent (his) frustrations.''
The O'Neills allege that a Navy civilian psychologist assigned to evaluate submarine candidates did not review Smith's test results before clearing him for duty.
After the killings, according to the suit, another Navy psychologist examined the test results and determined that Smith should have been brought in for clinical evaluation and probably treated for a ``serious personality disorder.''
In addition to bringing a wrongful-death claim, O'Neill's parents are suing for negligence, alleging that the government's inaction enabled Smith to stalk and intimidate O'Neill before her death. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Alton Grizzard of Virginia Beach and Kerryn O'Neill were killed in
December 1993 by O'Neill's ex-fiance, George P. Smith, who then
killed himself. O'Neill's family has sued the government, alleging
that psychologists ignored what one later called Smith's ``serious
personality disorder.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY LAWSUIT WRONGFUL DEATH SHOOTING by CNB