The Bear King Kills

Hillsdale, New York, sits in Columbia County in the south-eastern corner of the state, on the Massachusetts border, about two hours and a quarter from New York City and two and a half hours from Boston. James found the case while driving through the town on the way to the cannabis dispensaries in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Hillsdale covers about forty-eight square miles of farms, rolling hills and old cemeteries. Its population peaked in 1860 and stood at 1,682 when the episode was recorded, with a median age of 48.8, a population that is 95.4 per cent white and 39 per cent religious. Violent crime runs at about a quarter of the national average.

George Mancini was a 56-year-old maths teacher from Pennsylvania. He had taught for twenty years, latterly at the Career Institute of Technology, and played blues guitar. Chronic back pain and a blood disorder had pushed him into early retirement, and in 2005 a car accident broke his ankle. He moved to Hillsdale in January 2006 anyway, to an apartment on Breezy Hill Road, although he could no longer drive. His sister worried about his isolation and about the local men her parents said were bothering him.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed With medication he was fine; without it he had manic episodes and delusions, drank, and disappeared into caves in the woods. He said he was no longer of this world and that he was the son of Christ, then that he was King Arthur, Merlin, Robin Hood, Sir Galahad, a ninja, the slayer of the white stag and the Bear King. He carried a sword and had tattooed a small horned figure, 'Merlin's marking', on his own forehead with India ink and a hunting knife. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it In November 2005 Stephen told state police that his son had stockpiled black-powder guns, crossbows and knives in caves at Monument Mountain in Stockbridge; police cleared the caves and found nothing.

this part of the story is covered for now He was back for a couple of days in June 2004, and again in July 2004 for more than two weeks after threatening his mother. After that stay he returned to the King Arthur delusions and the sword. details of the account remain covered until revealed Mancini refused. About a week later his apartment was burgled and all of his pills were taken. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now At 5.55 p.m. on 9 February he slipped between the bars of the outdoor courtyard and walked out of Berkshire Medical Center. Staff noticed within five minutes and called the Pittsfield police; a doctor called at 7.39 p.m. to stress how dangerous he was, and a two-page report was faxed to police departments across the county by 9.24 p.m. The dispatcher told the hospital to ring the other towns itself. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

At 8.58 a.m. on 11 February 2006 firefighters were called to a fire in Mancini's apartment building and found it had been set deliberately. this part of the story is covered for now He pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Mancini more than thirty times, by his own later estimate thirty-seven, in the chest and back. details of the account remain covered until revealed He soaked the knife and the paperweight in the sink, took a sleep apnoea machine, a box of harmonicas, car keys, clothes, a cheque and about $270 in cash, then piled paper and polystyrene on the body, covered it with a sheet and set it alight. He barricaded the back door and locked the front door on his way out. Mancini was already dead; the autopsy found no soot in his lungs and no single lethal stab wound, the fatal injury being a blunt-force brain injury from the beating. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed He also claimed Mancini sold heroin to miners, of which there was no evidence.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Three defence psychiatrists, Stuart Kleinman, Stephen Price and Thomas Qualter, testified that he could not appreciate that his conduct was wrong; the prosecution's Alan Tuckman said he was malingering. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He was in his mid-thirties by then.