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Psychiatrist testifies aboutmental state of BattagliaDALLAS (AP) - An accountant convicted of killing his two young daughters while their mother listened on the telephone did so out of anger, not because of mental illness, a psychiatrist who examined him testifiedFriday ■ ^ W‘ ftit'John Battaglia, 46, was convicted Wednesday of capital murder in the shootings of 9-year-old Faith and 6-year-old Liberty in what prosecutors called an “ultimate revenge” against ex-wife Mary Jean Pearle,Jurors hearing testimony in the punishment phase ofthe trial will decidewhether Battaglia gets the death penalty or life inprison. IC“It was an act of anger and retribution,” said Dr. Richard Coons, an Austin-based psychiatrist who interviewed Battaglia and his two ex-wives. His anger got the better of him, and he acted it out in a very destructive way”The girls’ mother was prosecuting Battaglia for violating a protective order in May when Battaglia shot his children multiple times at his apartment.Coons’ prosecution testimony followed twoother psychiatrists who testified for the defense that Battaglia suffered from theworst kind of bipolardisorder l;fcCoons said Battaglia does have bipolar disorder, but that it was not a factor in the murders. P ■■7 ■#f.“There are plenty of people around who are bipolar who don’t go around assaulting people,” saidCoons, * who also saidBattaglia was depressed but not delusional. “Depression doesn’t make you kill otherpeople.”Coons read several quotes from an interview he did with Battaglia, including the reason Battaglia gave for killing the girls:“All I wanted to do was to get the girls out of trouble, so they wouldn’t be drug addicts, strippers, hate their parents or prostitutes. ”Coons said Battaglia told him he killed both girls because, “I thought they needed to go together to keep each other company ” Coons also said Battaglia told him he heard a voice telling him to do the right thing” when he shot Faith. “He told her, ‘I love you.’ Shesaid, ‘I know. Daddy,’ then he shot her.”
Newspaper Details
Odessa American
Odessa, Texas, US
Sat, Apr 27, 2002
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Jared T.
NA, NA 30 May 2023
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