Murder suspect sent for mental evaluation
Timothy Waddell (Photo by Josephine County Jail)
From our weekly issue dated December 19, 2007
A 19-year-old youth, who listed the name of the man he is suspected of murdering as a contact person when booked into Josephine County Jail, has been sent to the Oregon State Hospital in Salem for psychiatric and medical assessment and treatment.
Kerby resident Timothy M. “Tim” Waddell, charged with the Monday, Dec. 10 murder of former Cave Junction mayor Tom Green, attended a competency hearing at the Josephine County Courthouse in Grants Pass on Friday, Dec. 14. Circuit Court Judge Allan Cook presided.
Following the 30-minute hearing, during which Waddell claimed that he is being poisoned in county jail and asked for a motel room, the judge OK’d an order to take the suspect to Salem. Waddell also asked that he be shot, rather than poisoned.
He had been held without bail on a charge of murder following the death of Green, 70, said Sheriff Gil Gilbertson. Additionally he was charged with second- and third-degree assault in connection with an incident with jail deputies while he was being booked.
He also was under a suicide watch at county jail.
Waddell is suspected of attacking Green without provocation and repeatedly banging Green’s head on the pavement in front of “Tom’s Home” on S. Sawyer Avenue in Cave Junction.
At the time, he told persons at the scene that God had spoken to him, telling him that Green was evil. After the attack, Waddell stayed at the scene, and kept a white cloth in front of face because, he said, the air was poisoned.
Green for many years opened his home to young people needing a place to stay. He is highly regarded in the community by many for what are seen as selfless efforts to aid youth for no other reason except to help them.
Waddell, one of the youths who had awhile back lived at Tom’s Home, reportedly blackened Green’s eyes in an unprovoked assault at the residence three days before the murder for which he is charged.
Green was known for insisting that those at his home find work, gain education, and behave themselves. He washed their clothes and fed them, all at no charge.
Through the years, perhaps as many as 25 or 30, the easy-going Green helped hundreds of youth.
At the scene of the murder on Dec. 10, a woman said that Waddell had exhibited characteristics of schizophrenia. She said that she was retired from two decades of social work, and extremely familiar with the condition.
Others have indicated the possibility of the condition, and it was noted on Dec. 10 that the suspect is known to use methamphetamine and marijuana, the sheriff said.
Wikipedia states in part, “Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis of mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality. It is most commonly manifested as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking.
“The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood. Diagnosis is based on a patient’s self-reported experiences and observed behavior. No laboratory test for schizophrenia exists.”
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