MET STATE HOSPITAL ARTICLES

Davee had been a patient at various mental institutions in Massachusetts and Maine.  She disappeared in August 1978, according to Ken Wayne, a spokesperson for Atty. Gen. Francis X. Bellotti.

Wilson uttered only one word during the court proceedings in Waltham District Court, saying “Yes” when Judge Kevin Doyle asked him if he understood that he had a right to legal counsel.  Doyle entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the defendant.

Wilson underwent a preliminary examination by court psychiatrist Robert Weiner before Doyle continued the case until Aug. 28.

Davee had spent 18 years of her life in and out of mental institutions in Massachusetts and Maine, and was frequently admitted to Metropolitan State Hospital.

Those actions later led to charges that the hospital tried to destroy evidence in the case.

Sen. Jack Backman (D-Brookline), who is chairman of a Senate committee to investigate treatment of patients in state facilities, complained that “the Mental Health Department was not relieved of its responsibility to investigate further, although the matter had been turned over to state and local police.

“By destroying the hut n the hospital grounds, mental health officials concealed evidence in this case,” he said.

On Oct. 6, during another search for the missing patient, hospital staff members found a woman’s skirt, pieces of cloth, a pocketbook, and small zippered case tied together in a bundle.  The pocketbook, identified as Davee’s, contained sunglasses, a hatchet and photographs.  On the back of the photos were notes written to her.

Last year, Backman investigated the case and learned that seven human teeth had been found among Wilson’s possessions on Nov. 13, 1978

It took eight months of intensive investigation by the Attorney General’s office to obtain the evidence needed to bring the charges against Wilson, Assistant Atty. Gen. Robert Bohn said yesterday.

**Sorry this one is LONG

Some crucial pieces of evidence are missing in the case of a man charged with murdering a fellow patent at the Metropolitan State Hospital, Waltham two years ago, according to a state senator who investigated the case.

Wilson let members of the attorney general’s office to the gravesites on Tuesday.  Police say the murder took place “on or about Aug. 9, 1978,” when both Wilson and Davee were patients at the hospital.  Wilson has been a patient of state institutions for about 39 years.  His case has been continued to Aug. 28.

However, according to state Sen. Jack Backman (D-Brookline), chairman of a Senate committee which investigated the case last year, significant material evidence in the case appears to be missing.  The attorney general’s office isn’t saying if it has the evidence.

One of the pieces of evidence is a hatchet, possible one of the weapons allegedly used to murder Davee.

Neither the Department of Mental Health (DMH) nor the attorney general’s office would comment yesterday on the whereabouts of the hatchet and other items found on the state hospital grounds more than a year and a half ago.

However, Backman said yesterday, “The discovery of the remains of Ann Davee confirms the findings of the Senate Committee to investigate seclusion, restraint and deaths in state-supported facilities.  Our review of this case demonstrated utter neglect by the Department of Mental Health in the investigation of Ann Davee’s disappearance.

“Nearly two months elapsed before a serious search was conducted.  Potential evidence was destroyed.  Leads were not followed.  The DMH even ignored the discovery of seven of Ms. Davee’s teeth, which the Tufts forensic laboratory disclosed were probably extracted after her death.”

Backman charged that on Aug. 10, 1978, the day following Davee’s disappearance, hospital employees searching the hospital grounds discovered a hut, containing clothes and bed linen, where Davee and Wilson had apparently met.  The hut was dismantled within 24 hours and the linen sent to the laundry, Backman said.

During another search for Davee, on Oct. 6, 1978, the hospital staff found a woman’s skirt, pieces of cloth, a pocketbook, and a small zippered case, all tied together in a bundle.  The pocketbook contained sunglasses, a hatchet, and photographs. 

Backman says although he has talked with members from the attorney general’s office who investigated the case, he still has not been able to learn the whereabouts of these articles.

Ken Wayne of the attorney general’s office said Asst. Gen. Frederick Riley, who conducted the investigation and accompanied Wilson to the gravesites, would have no comment on the matter.  Wayne said that any comment on the case would be “inappropriate” at this time.

DMH spokesperson Brooke Pope said, “Sen. Backman’s charges put us in a very difficult position to balance the story, because the police have put a lid on this one. They’ve asked up not to talk about the case.”

The Davee case was one of 19 documented cases of death and/or disappearances of persons living in state-supported facilities, all listed in the Backman committee’s report published last month/.

Before the discovery of Davee’s body, Backman said DMH had listed her as “discharged on Feb. 9,”six months after her disappearance. 

“The whole matter is indicative of the way the Department of Mental Health operated,” Backman said yesterday.  “If you call today you’ll get one answer.  In two weeks you’ll get another answer.  No one is apparently responsible. 

“The Davee woman’s mother told the committee she was concerned about her daughter’s disappearance, that she believed her daughter had been attacked a year before her disappearance.  But she told us she got no help form the Mental Health Department.”

Following its study, the committee recommended an investigation of DMH, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Edward J. King, Backman said.

 

 

A murder indictment was returned yesterday by the Suffolk County grand jury against Melvin W. Wilson, 57, a former patient at Waltham State Hospital, charging him with killing and dismembering  a woman patient there two years ago.  Wilson is charged with the slaying of Ann Marie Davee, 36, while they were both patients.  Investigator from the office of the Atty. Gen. Francis X. Bellotti entered the case early this year after police allegedly discovered seven human teeth among Wilson’s possessions.  Davee has been missing since August 9, 1978.

 

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