THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701260047
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 217 lines
Megan Jones' childhood was filled with sadness, emotional abuse and mental illness. In her senior year of high school, desperate and alone, she slashed her wrists and was hospitalized.
The bright young woman recovered. In college she met a tall, dark-haired man with a wry sense of humor, a beautiful singing voice and a promising career in psychiatry.
In Tobin Jones, Megan found the security and happiness she had longed for. Though they both endured bouts of mental illness, their marriage was solid and for the most part happy, she would later say.
Then, in March 1996, around Megan's 43rd birthday, Tobin's personality took a dark turn, according to court documents. He became short-tempered. He left his job. He couldn't sleep. His mind raced.
Megan had him involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Megan Jones knew the illness well. She had it herself.
Tobin's mania triggered a slide into depression for Megan, who sought psychiatric help. On May 15, an eerie entry appeared on her chart: ``No show for appointment.''
On May 18, an investigator climbed a ladder at the Jones' white Dutch Colonial home at 743 Delaware Ave. and looked through the window. There, in a deadbolted back bedroom, Megan's body lay wrapped in rugs and sheets.
Tobin Jones, then medical director of Norfolk's Community Services Board, was charged with the murder. On Wednesday, he faces the charge in court for the first time.
In a preliminary hearing, prosecutors are expected to present evidence that Jones was the last person to use the security system in the home before his wife's death and may reveal whether he had a skeleton key that fits the lock to the bedroom where Megan's body was found. A judge will decide if the case should be sent to a grand jury.
Whether the couple's mental illness will play a key role remains to be seen. But court papers filed in the case provide a window into a psychiatric condition that strikes one in 100 people. Without treatment, the illness can lead to divorce, alchohol or drug abuse, violent rages, suicide - even murder.
Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, causes extreme mood swings with normal periods in between. Megan and Tobin were in opposite cycles of the illness when she was murdered, according to psychiatric evaluations filed in court.
Tobin was manic. Megan was depressed. As Tobin became more hyper, Megan became more fatigued. As Tobin became impulsive, asking for separation and divorce, Megan lost decisiveness. In her final weeks, she was overcome with sadness and more dependent on her husband than ever.
Megan's childhood home in New Mexico was punctuated with repeated domestic squabbling until her parents divorced when she was 14 after her father hit her. When her mother remarried, the relationship with her stepfather was troubled.
By contrast, Tobin's parents, both teachers, apparently had little strife, are still married and supportive of their son. Tobin excelled in music and academics, taking violin, voice and touring Europe with a chorus at 14. He graduated from high school with a 4.0 grade point average and majored in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Michigan.
Bipolar disorder has been linked to artistic creativity, and both Megan and Tobin loved theater and music. Megan performed with Norfolk Little Theatre while Tobin sang with Commonwealth Musical Stage and the Virginia Opera. Megan loved to sculpt and paint.
Psychiatric problems, including bipolar disorder, tend to run in families. Tobin's sister has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a mood disorder, her father said. Megan's younger brother died of cirrhosis of the liver from alcoholism. Her older sister has a history of psychiatric problems and an older brother has problems with depression and has threatened suicide, court records show.
Despite abusing alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs, Megan got excellent grades at the University of New Mexico, where she met Tobin and got a degree in nursing. She ``burned out,'' in nursing, she said.
She was ``treating burn victims and the critically ill. It was an extremely stressful job,'' Tobin recalled in an interview shortly after his arrest. ``(She began) stealing pain medication intended for patient use. . . and they took disciplinary action against her.''
Apparently, Tobin's first bout with mental illness came during his second year of residency at the University of New Mexico, where he graduated from medical school in 1986. Tobin began ``acting strange'' and going ``90 miles an hour,'' his parents told a state psychiatrist. He publicly spoke out against a colleague he said was mistreating patients.
Tobin was suspended, diagnosed as bipolar and treated with lithium, though he later said he never took it. The episode resolved itself within four to six weeks and he completed his residency.
Through the years, Megan's problems with substance abuse continued and included shooting up heroin, said her niece, Leslie Capshaw of Oklahoma. In 1988, Megan was hospitalized in Ireland while on vacation with her brother. Tobin believes it was a manic episode; however, Capshaw said it may have been drug-related.
In 1991, Tobin began working for the Norfolk Community Services Board and was appointed medical director in 1994.
In January 1996, the couple borrowed $20,000 from Megan's family to buy a new house. They put their Colonial Place home on the market, looking forward to the future.
Then, unexpectedly, Tobin cycled into a manic episode, psychiatric evaluations and court records show. Unlike the episode eight years before, this one would last nearly eight months. He would be arrested for trespassing and stalking - and for murder.
In early March, as Tobin cycled into mania, Megan cycled into depression and sought help, according to the records filed in court.
She felt sad, guilty, tired.
She had many of the symptoms of a depressive episode: Persistent sadness. Feelings of hopelessness, guilt or worthlessness. She told the therapist she had ``wanted to be a theater owner at this point'' in her life. She couldn't get to sleep and had lost interest in ordinary activities.
Her diagnosis was bipolar disorder II, in which manic and depressive episodes are less extreme than bipolar I.
In therapy, Megan shared family and personal history. She had not abused any substances in ``several years'' since her brother's death from alcoholism made her ``loath to drink again,'' she said.
``She wept bitterly when thinking about'' her father, who died of heart disease when she was 21, her therapist noted.
But Megan never mentioned Tobin's mental illness.
Tobin wasn't himself, court records and interviews show. He was angry about lack of space in new offices of the Community Services Board. He argued with top management and walked off the job. He wasn't sleeping. His behavior at theater rehearsals, normally professional, was bizarre and rebellious.
Tobin had symptoms of mania: He denied that anything was wrong, despite having little need to sleep, extreme irritability and poor judgment.
Megan called Tobin's parents ``stating she couldn't control him,'' court papers show. Tobin flew to his parents' New Mexico home and got off the plane, obviously troubled.
For three days, Tobin didn't eat or sleep. He was angry and felt betrayed that his family was trying to commit him, though he felt there was nothing wrong with him.
During a phone call to Megan, he pulled off his wedding band, announced their marriage was over and left his parents' house. Within hours, he was in custody and hospitalized.
Twelve days later, in late March, Tobin returned to Norfolk and moved out of the house.
On April 1, ``devastated by her husband's decision to separate,'' Megan made an emergency therapy appointment, her therapist wrote. Her speech became rapid and she quickly moved from ``giddy laughter to sudden tearfulness.''
Tobin was also deteriorating. He continued stalking a woman who was a mutual acquaintance. He impulsively signed purchase contracts on a lot and at least two homes. He bought seven cars in one month, court records show.
On April 26, Megan arrived ``very late'' for what would be her last therapy session. She was crying. She couldn't eat or sleep, she said. She had agreed to a divorce and needed an attorney.
Court records do not show how Megan spent the last 17 days of her life.
On May 11, Tobin attended a matinee of ``42nd Street'' by the Governor's School for the Arts at the Wells Theatre. He arrived about 20 minutes into the show, a colleague recalled. He left just before intermission and returned as the curtain went up for the second half. He stayed to socialize afterward and was behaving strangely.
At about 1:20 a.m. the next morning, Tobin went to the house on Delaware Avenue and used his code to disarm the security system. Court records show he was the last to use it before his wife's death.
The next day, Mother's Day, Megan didn't make her usual call home to her mother.
The night Megan was killed, she apparently took a small dose of Zolpidem, a depressant used to treat insomnia, presumably before going to bed.
An autopsy revealed three crescent-shaped wounds on the top of her head that could have knocked her out, but probably didn't kill her. With no other signs of violence, asphyxia was listed as the primary cause of death.
Forensic technicians found blood under her well-groomed fingernails, on a pillow, a T-shirt, socks and sweatpants. There was no evidence of rape or intercourse.
Megan was apparently killed as she slept. She was wearing a pink nightshirt and gold hoop earrings. On her left hand was a gold wedding band.
After Jones was arrested, the manic symptoms and bizarre behavior continued. In jail, he was pompous and abrasive, urinated on a television, loudly sang show tunes and refused all help from attorneys or psychiatrists.
By fall, despite refusing medication, Jones' manic behavior began to subside. On Nov. 25, Dr. Hadley Osran, a state psychiatrist, said Jones had cycled into a normal state and was competent to stand trial.
Now back in Norfolk jail, Jones seems changed. He no longer racks up infractions or sings. In a recent interview, he sat quietly and calmly shared concerns about inmate conditions, particularly nutrition, and inmate reports of assaults by deputies.
His main message was gratitude.
``Thank you to members of the community,'' he said. ``Especially those who supported and contributed to Megan's memorial service and expenses.
``Thank you to staff members of Norfolk Community Services Board and for patients of mine who have written and visited and told me their prayers are with me.''
In contrast to earlier interviews, Jones had little to say about this week's preliminary hearing.
``Due to the nature of my cases, my attorney would probably not appreciate any comments.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Tobin Jones, right, goes to court Wednesday on charges that he
killed his wife, Megan, at left.
Graphic
ABOUT THE DISORDER
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is
characterized by extreme mood swings. Onset typically is in
adolescence or early adulthood. It tends to run in families.
Unlike depression, which affects mostly women, bipolar disorder
affects men and women equally. The illness is hereditary. Typically,
it begins in young adulthood, with little regard to education or
home environment.
Bipolar I is severe and involves widely spaced and lengthy bouts
of mania alternating with lengthy bouts of depression, with normal
periods between. It can affect relationships and jobs, and can
result in hospitalization. Bipolar II is less severe.
There is no cure, but with medication - often lithium - the
disorder can be managed. Other medications include mood stabilizers,
antidepressants and antipsychotics.
Symptoms of mania: High energy, euphoria, rapid speech, insomnia,
irritability, poor judgment. Symptoms of a depression: Sadness,
anxiety, hopelessness, low energy, feelings of guilt, thoughts of
death or suicide.
Internet sources: Newsgroups include:
alt.support.depression.manic and soc.support.depression.manic.
Websites include: Pendulum Resources
(http://www.mindspring.com/hugman/pendulum) and Depression Central
(http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html)
Source: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition, American Psychiatric Association, 1994, National
Institute of Mental Health.