Doctor who tried a Lexapro defence .... found guilty of murdering his father

[Guest guest]

Jurors reject claim of insanity; a life sentence is possible

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BY SAMANTHA SIEBER

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE Aug 20, 2005

RELATED: Police Beat

ABINGDON - Jurors found a North Carolina doctor guilty of first-

degree murder yesterday less than 90 minutes after they began

deliberating whether he killed his father and severed his fingers

and thumbs.

Vince Gilmer, 42, of Fletcher, N.C., who claimed insanity,

testified that the killing occurred amid withdrawal symptoms from

the antidepressant Lexapro. The withdrawal made him unable to resist

the impulse to kill his father, 60-year-old Dalton Gilmer

Jr., whom he accused of sexual abuse.

Gilmer checked his father out of a mental hospital, strangled him

and left the body along a road near South Holston Lake with its

fingers and thumbs severed.

Gilmer faces a maximum of life in prison. A sentencing hearing has

been set for Monday morning.

Hours before the jury began deliberating in Washington County

Circuit Court, it heard Gilmer tell prosecutors he had to kill his

father to defend himself.

" If was the only thing I could do to stop him, " he said, referring

to sexual abuse, which he said continued into adulthood. " I couldn't

put him out of the car. I had to kill him. "

The last words the jury heard before it began deliberations at 7

p.m. were those of Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Price, who

called the former family practitioner a liar.

" Ladies and gentlemen, what you've heard is lies, lies and more

lies, " she said during her closing arguments. " Don't be fooled by

this person who hopes you will pity him. "

Gilmer, who represented himself, testified he got angrier every time

his father made sexual advances.

" This time I defended myself, " Gilmer said.

During cross-examination, Price asked whether Gilmer had to defend

himself from a man who weighed 184 pounds, compared to Gilmer's 230.

The elder Gilmer suffered from dementia and needed help with

activities as simple as combing his hair, she said.

" You've gotten better at saying what you want them [the jury] to

hear, " she said.

Sieber is a staff writer at the Bristol Herald Courier.

[Guest guest]

Jurors reject claim of insanity; a life sentence is possible

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%

2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle & c=MGArticle & cid=1031784548817 & path=!

news & s=1045855934842

BY SAMANTHA SIEBER

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE Aug 20, 2005

RELATED: Police Beat

ABINGDON - Jurors found a North Carolina doctor guilty of first-

degree murder yesterday less than 90 minutes after they began

deliberating whether he killed his father and severed his fingers

and thumbs.

Vince Gilmer, 42, of Fletcher, N.C., who claimed insanity,

testified that the killing occurred amid withdrawal symptoms from

the antidepressant Lexapro. The withdrawal made him unable to resist

the impulse to kill his father, 60-year-old Dalton Gilmer

Jr., whom he accused of sexual abuse.

Gilmer checked his father out of a mental hospital, strangled him

and left the body along a road near South Holston Lake with its

fingers and thumbs severed.

Gilmer faces a maximum of life in prison. A sentencing hearing has

been set for Monday morning.

Hours before the jury began deliberating in Washington County

Circuit Court, it heard Gilmer tell prosecutors he had to kill his

father to defend himself.

" If was the only thing I could do to stop him, " he said, referring

to sexual abuse, which he said continued into adulthood. " I couldn't

put him out of the car. I had to kill him. "

The last words the jury heard before it began deliberations at 7

p.m. were those of Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Price, who

called the former family practitioner a liar.

" Ladies and gentlemen, what you've heard is lies, lies and more

lies, " she said during her closing arguments. " Don't be fooled by

this person who hopes you will pity him. "

Gilmer, who represented himself, testified he got angrier every time

his father made sexual advances.

" This time I defended myself, " Gilmer said.

During cross-examination, Price asked whether Gilmer had to defend

himself from a man who weighed 184 pounds, compared to Gilmer's 230.

The elder Gilmer suffered from dementia and needed help with

activities as simple as combing his hair, she said.

" You've gotten better at saying what you want them [the jury] to

hear, " she said.

Sieber is a staff writer at the Bristol Herald Courier.