Free Through the Window by Diane Fanning Page A

that Sells’ content of thought was bizarre. “From the tattoos on his arms, he hears the bird, the wolf and the dragon talking to him, telling him to do various things.” He concluded that Sells had no recognition of his problems, and that his outlook was poor.
    On March 1, Sells requested to be put back on Thor-azine, saying, “I’m having problems dealing with things and I don’t know if I can handle it.” Hospital records indicated that before his arrest he was heavily using alcohol and drugs—cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, hallucinogens and heroin, his drug of choice. He was almost continuously intoxicated on one drug or another. Total withdrawal, the records warned, could result in psychosis.
    Sells had a history of mood swings over a number of years. His personality was characterized by anti-social, unpredictable and self-destructive behavior. Outbursts of temperwould result from minimal provocation. He was easily frustrated and impulsive. He was unable to read and write.
    Dr. Peter Heinbecker rendered a diagnosis of depressive disorder; severe opioid, amphetamine, cannabis and alcohol dependency; poly–substance abuse of barbiturates, inhalants and hallucinogens; and a personality disorder with anti-social, borderline and schizoid features. After evaluation, he was prescribed 5 mg Haldol, an anti-psychotic, and 5mg Cogentin, a medicine to control tremors.
    Sells returned to the Carbon County jail in early March. In Dr. Heinbecker’s official report to Judge Lehman, he wrote, “The defendant maintains the capacity to comprehend his position, to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to conduct his defense in a rational manner, and to cooperate with his counsel to the end that any available defense may be interposed.” He concluded, “[ . . . ] he is presently competent to stand trial, even though mentally ill, and will remain competent in the foreseeable future, even in the absence of any specific treatment for his mental illness.”
    On March 12, Sells was rushed from jail to the emergency room. He was having shakes and reported, “I feel like I’m bouncing off the walls.” He was diagnosed with a severe anxiety attack.
    An ambulance raced him to the emergency room again on March 18. Once again, he was shaking, but it was worse than before. His speech was slurred, he had spasms in various muscles and his stuttering was uncontrollable. This time, his medications came under suspicion. They changed his prescriptions to 25 mg Elavil, an anti-depressant, and 80 mg of Inderal SR for hypertension. Later, they enhanced his pharmaceutical soup with the addition of 50, then 100 mg of Mellaril, an anti-psychotic, and 25 mg of Valium for anxiety.
    In custody, Sells was a model prisoner. There were no disciplinary actions taken. He completed the 265-hour course in “Professional Barber-Styling.” He worked in the leather shop and as an outside trustee at the WyomingHonor Conservation Camp, a forestry center. In January 1991, he was released from custody. He wandered off again, first to Colorado and then back east to Florida.
    IN Marianna, Florida, on December 9, the Christmas season kicked off with the traditional annual parade. Twenty-five-year-old Teresa Hall was there with her daughter, Tiffany. The 5-year-old clapped her hands, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the passing musicians and entertainers. Her biggest thrill was Santa Claus.
    The little girl was exhausted from the excitement of the evening—ready to sleep with sugarplums dancing in her head. Her eyes were drooping by the time they reached their Village Road home in a semi-wooded rural area in the unincorporated town of Cypress. The railroad tracks that traveled from Jacksonville through the panhandle and out of the state were just one hundred feet from their door. Teresa prepared Tiffany for bed, looking forward to putting her feet up and relaxing a bit after a long day.
    Then, their front door was kicked in, exploding