THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100251
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 75 lines
Norfolk psychiatrist Tobin Jones is incompetent to stand trial, state psychiatrists have concluded, because a bipolar disorder is preventing him from assisting his attorneys in his defense.
The conclusion will delay indefinitely murder proceedings against Jones, who is charged with killing his wife, Megan, around Mother's Day in May.
Jones' preliminary hearing, scheduled for early September, had already been postponed until mid-October, pending the competency report.
Psychiatrists, calling the disorder ``highly treatable,'' say they believe they can restore Jones to competency with drugs in the ``foreseeable future.''
Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Griffith said Monday that he will ask a judge to order Jones returned to Central State Hospital for treatment. Griffith said he has faith in their ability to treat Jones. ``I hope they will be successful so we can proceed to trial,'' Griffith said.
Jones was arrested May 18 while cutting the grass in front of the Delaware Avenue home he and his wife once shared. His wife, who had been killed a week earlier, was found wrapped in sheets and a rug in an upstairs bedroom. An autopsy concluded that she died of asphyxiation with contributing blows to the head.
Court records cite a belief by some sheriff's deputies that Jones is faking his disorders to manipulate the system. Griffith declined to comment. State psychiatrists make no mention of any suspicions that the illness is faked. Rather, they cite a history of episodes that have interrupted an otherwise respectable education and career.
The report by Dr. Hadley Osran, forensic unit medical director at Central State, concludes that Jones was in a manic phase of bipolar disorder at the time of the murder, that the latest episode began in March and continues.
The manic phase alternates between ``persistently elevated euphoric'' moods and ``irritable'' moods, the report said. The elevated moods are marked by cheerful behavior and singing, the report said.
Most troubling legally is Jones' inability to recognize the seriousness of the charges against him, the report said. He will talk at length about trivial matters with his attorneys while downplaying the charges against him.
``His judgment, insight and ability to focus is significantly impaired,'' the report said. He ``obsesses about minor details and is less concerned about the magnitude of his charges.''
``Psychiatric impairment precludes him from assisting his attorneys in a rational and productive manner,'' the report concludes.
During his evaluation time at Central State Hospital, Jones paced, interviewed patients and suggested he could help them and sang loudly on the porch area. When asked to stop, Jones cited his freedom of speech, the report said.
Jones has been oppositional, chronically violating ward rules, the report states. He is in denial about his mental illness, the report said, and is basically uncooperative.
During the time before the murder, the report said, Jones was acting impulsively. He left work in March as medical director of Norfolk's Community Services Board because of inadequate office space and refused to return, even though supervisors warned him he could lose his job.
He was committed for mental treatment by his family for 12 days in New Mexico. When he returned, he continued to commit ``numerous bizarre and impulsive acts,'' the report said.
Jones questioned whether he wanted to continue being a psychiatrist and began considering a singing career. He cited a fee of $400 he had recently earned for eight acting performances.
One day, near Stafford, Va., Jones told the state psychiatrist, he suddenly pulled off the road and decided to buy a $20,000 lot.
Jones was sent to Central State for evaluation after he refused to cooperate with a local psychiatrist, Evan S. Nelson. Nelson reported to the court that Jones covered his face with a newspaper and avoided all eye contact. ``He was loud, angry and belligerent,'' Nelson wrote.
In Nelson's last attempt to analyze Jones, Jones loudly sang ``The Star Spangled Banner'' and refused to cooperate. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Tobin Jones
KEYWORDS: MURDER INCOMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL by CNB