Member Review
Review by
Richard P, Reviewer
Mikita Brottman's "Couple Found Slain: After a Family Murder," explores the very real world and very real life of Brian Bechtold, whose 1992 killing of his elderly parents led to his being found "not criminally responsible" and to his subsequent hospitalization inside the maximum security facility known as Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center where he continues to be held to this day and until it is determined that he is stable enough and safe enough for some type of community release.
Brottman's effort, an obviously sympathetic work, is remarkable in its detail of Bechtold's childhood growing up as the youngest of four children of Dorothy and George Bechtold, whose parenting was apathetic at best and downright abusive at worst. An unexpected child born several years after his siblings, Brian ended up spending several of his teen years in the home alone with his parents. These were years when their apathy grew and his own mental status became increasingly disturbed.
There's never any doubt that Brian did, in fact, kill his parents. This fact is acknowledged early in "Couple Found Slain" and has been openly acknowledged by Brian throughout the years. Having taken ownership of the killings during some sort of psychotic break, Brian's subsequent years have largely been spent at the mercy of a mental health system that continues to consider him a menace to society despite his own perception that his risk has long ago passed and that he is at least as capable of release to the community as many others released before him who've committed just as bad or even worse crimes.
Brottman, an Oxford-educated author and psychoanalyst, approaches "Couple Found Slain" with as much focus on the facility of Perkins as she does on Bechtold himself. "Couple Found Slain" is far more convincing as a argument on the state of mental health in America than it is as an argument on Bechtold's actual preparedness for life outside the walls of Perkins.
"Couple Found Slain" begins with the early years of the Bechtold family, early chapters setting the stage for the tragic event to come that would end up in many ways becoming the defining moment of Brian Bechtold's life. Brottman first encountered Brian at Perkins, her leading of a voluntary group on reading of fiction being the place where they would first meet which would be followed by conversations and, obviously, an eventual detour into the development of this group.
It is, of course, remarkable in this day and age that anyone has spent nearly 30 years in a psychiatric institution. While it is not unheard of, it's much more rare than it was in days past as nearly all healthcare regulations these days lean toward community placement over institutionalization.
"Couple Found Slain' is quick to point out the many abuses and dysfunctions at Perkins, not necessarily excusing Brian's own behaviors or mental health but certainly most often telling the story through Brian's inherently skewed lens. To Brottman's credit, she's just as detailed with Brian's own dysfunctions and poor choices - for example, a desperate attempt to escape that involved violent threats toward others and others that Brottman seems too eager to accept as desperation rather than continued examples of Brian's pathology.
"Couple Found Slain" is an unusual book in that Brian remains hospitalized to this day, his lack of resolution being perhaps the book's most vivid point along with an opinion seemingly formed that he's trapped within the dysfunctional workings of a dysfunctional system. Interestingly, as I wound down my reading of the book I felt like Brottman had most successfully argued that both positions are true - Brian continues to be dangerously mentally ill AND Perkins is an inept institution incapable of even remotely addressing his comprehensive mental health needs.
Would Brian be best served outside the hospital? It's been known for at least several years that one of his sisters has offered her home for him to live. He's had a small circle of friends and supports who've maintained contact throughout the years and would likely continue to do so.
In my estimation? If you haven't helped him in 30 years, you're probably not going to help him. It's time to try something else whether he's ready or whether he's "earned it" or not.
"Couple Found Slain" is not always an easy read. Brottman's approach is research extensive and rather stunning with its precision. While advertising compares it to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," I personally that comparison is as misguided as the overly histrionic title. The truth is that "Couple Found Slain" is most effective as an expose of the American justice and mental health systems that ultimately fail in terms of accountability and rehabilitation. If "Couple Found Slain" really makes an effective argument, it's that when his journey began Brian still had remarkable potential as a human being despite his abusive childhood and despite his horrendous act.
There was still a chance.
There's a pretty good chance that after 30 years at Perkins that chance is gone. We've ultimately failed Brian and men and women just like him who do horrendous things for reasons, at times, beyond their control either in the short-term or the long-term. We've got to find another way because, as we clearly see in Brottman's work, this way isn't working and human lives are the price we're paying.
Brottman's effort, an obviously sympathetic work, is remarkable in its detail of Bechtold's childhood growing up as the youngest of four children of Dorothy and George Bechtold, whose parenting was apathetic at best and downright abusive at worst. An unexpected child born several years after his siblings, Brian ended up spending several of his teen years in the home alone with his parents. These were years when their apathy grew and his own mental status became increasingly disturbed.
There's never any doubt that Brian did, in fact, kill his parents. This fact is acknowledged early in "Couple Found Slain" and has been openly acknowledged by Brian throughout the years. Having taken ownership of the killings during some sort of psychotic break, Brian's subsequent years have largely been spent at the mercy of a mental health system that continues to consider him a menace to society despite his own perception that his risk has long ago passed and that he is at least as capable of release to the community as many others released before him who've committed just as bad or even worse crimes.
Brottman, an Oxford-educated author and psychoanalyst, approaches "Couple Found Slain" with as much focus on the facility of Perkins as she does on Bechtold himself. "Couple Found Slain" is far more convincing as a argument on the state of mental health in America than it is as an argument on Bechtold's actual preparedness for life outside the walls of Perkins.
"Couple Found Slain" begins with the early years of the Bechtold family, early chapters setting the stage for the tragic event to come that would end up in many ways becoming the defining moment of Brian Bechtold's life. Brottman first encountered Brian at Perkins, her leading of a voluntary group on reading of fiction being the place where they would first meet which would be followed by conversations and, obviously, an eventual detour into the development of this group.
It is, of course, remarkable in this day and age that anyone has spent nearly 30 years in a psychiatric institution. While it is not unheard of, it's much more rare than it was in days past as nearly all healthcare regulations these days lean toward community placement over institutionalization.
"Couple Found Slain' is quick to point out the many abuses and dysfunctions at Perkins, not necessarily excusing Brian's own behaviors or mental health but certainly most often telling the story through Brian's inherently skewed lens. To Brottman's credit, she's just as detailed with Brian's own dysfunctions and poor choices - for example, a desperate attempt to escape that involved violent threats toward others and others that Brottman seems too eager to accept as desperation rather than continued examples of Brian's pathology.
"Couple Found Slain" is an unusual book in that Brian remains hospitalized to this day, his lack of resolution being perhaps the book's most vivid point along with an opinion seemingly formed that he's trapped within the dysfunctional workings of a dysfunctional system. Interestingly, as I wound down my reading of the book I felt like Brottman had most successfully argued that both positions are true - Brian continues to be dangerously mentally ill AND Perkins is an inept institution incapable of even remotely addressing his comprehensive mental health needs.
Would Brian be best served outside the hospital? It's been known for at least several years that one of his sisters has offered her home for him to live. He's had a small circle of friends and supports who've maintained contact throughout the years and would likely continue to do so.
In my estimation? If you haven't helped him in 30 years, you're probably not going to help him. It's time to try something else whether he's ready or whether he's "earned it" or not.
"Couple Found Slain" is not always an easy read. Brottman's approach is research extensive and rather stunning with its precision. While advertising compares it to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," I personally that comparison is as misguided as the overly histrionic title. The truth is that "Couple Found Slain" is most effective as an expose of the American justice and mental health systems that ultimately fail in terms of accountability and rehabilitation. If "Couple Found Slain" really makes an effective argument, it's that when his journey began Brian still had remarkable potential as a human being despite his abusive childhood and despite his horrendous act.
There was still a chance.
There's a pretty good chance that after 30 years at Perkins that chance is gone. We've ultimately failed Brian and men and women just like him who do horrendous things for reasons, at times, beyond their control either in the short-term or the long-term. We've got to find another way because, as we clearly see in Brottman's work, this way isn't working and human lives are the price we're paying.
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