Mental health experts testified in a hearing yesterday to determine whether a man found not guilty of his father’s murder by reason of insanity should be moved from a maximum security mental institution to a minimum security civil hospital, which could result in his return to Athens.
Jonathan Bebb, 36, was tried in 2007 for stabbing his father — former Ohio University professor Phillip Bebb, 66 — more than 50 times. He was sent to a mental facility for treatment.
Bebb is currently a patient at the Timothy B. Moritz Forensic Center in Columbus, which is part of Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare and operated by the Ohio Department of Mental Health.
If his transfer is approved, the Ohio Department of Mental Health will decide to which of the civil hospitals in the state Bebb will be transferred. There is a possibility he could be transferred to a local hospital.
Assistant State Public Defender Douglas Francis, Bebb’s attorney, introduced three mental health experts to testify for the transfer of Bebb from the Moritz Center to a lower security civil hospital.
Dr. Howard Sokolov, an independent clinical psychiatrist, said he evaluated Bebb multiple times while at the Moritz Center and that by his latest evaluation, Bebb had shown sufficient improvement to warrant his transfer to a civil hospital.
The symptoms associated with Bebb’s schizophrenia have decreased because of successful medication and active participation in therapy, Sokolov said. He added that Bebb no longer has the delusions that people were attempting to hurt him.
Bebb has also improved his interactions with others and has not been violent or made any threats, said Dr. David Soehner, Bebb’s treating psychiatrist.
Based on these developments, both Sokolov and Soehner recommended that Bebb be transferred to a civil hospital because it would further his treatment.
Although his mental illness is in remission, Sokolov said that Bebb is still a dangerous person and should remain in a mental facility.
David Malawista, a practicing clinical psychologist, said that after evaluating Bebb, it is not in the best interest for the patient or the public for him to be transferred to a civil hospital.
While Bebb might be able to act appropriately in the Moritz Center, a transition to another facility would put stress on him and have detrimental effects on his treatment, Malawista said.
“Moritz is an ideal environment,” Malawista said. “If you move him, he doesn’t look so good.”
With razor wire fences, 35 officers, regular patrols and more than 40 cameras, the Moritz Center is the only maximum security institution in Ohio, Sokolov said, adding that there have been only two escapes throughout its 29 years of operation.
The nearest civil hospital is Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare, located adjacent to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital at 100 Hospital Drive.
Appalachian is a minimum-security mental hospital, meaning it is a lockdown facility, but has no perimeter fence, fewer officers than Moritz and a much
higher escape rate, Malawista said.
The court has yet to come to a decision on Bebb’s transfer.
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