Mother charged, could face death Woman accused in 2 girls' slayings | Her mental health is an issue

June 16, 2004

Wonder what psychatric drugs she was on? Jim

The Seattle Times

June 15, 2004, Tuesday Fourth Edition

SECTION: ROP ZONE; Local News; Pg. B1

LENGTH: 845 words

HEADLINE: Mother charged, could face death

Woman accused in 2 girls' slayings | Her mental health is an issue

BYLINE: Hal Bernton and ; Seattle Times staff reporters

DATELINE: son, Skamania CounTy

BODY:

STEVENSON, Skamania County A Vancouver, Wash., woman, looking rumpled and

speaking softly, was charged yesterday with a potential death-penalty crime in

the fatal shooting of her two young daughters in a remote gravel pit.

Charlene A. Dorcy, 39, was ordered held on $1 million bail in Skamania County

as prosecutors filed two counts of aggravated murder against her, calling the

slayings premeditated.

Prosecutors said Dorcy committed the premeditated murder of her two

daughters, Brittney, 2, and , 4, as part of a " scheme or plan. "

According to prosecution documents filed yesterday in Skamania County

Superior Court, Dorcy waited until her husband left for work Saturday, took his

gun, then drove the girls to a rock quarry 90 miles from the couple's Vancouver

home and killed them. She drove home and called police, telling them she shot

the children as they sat on the ground, the documents say.

Dorcy would automatically face a life sentence without chance of release if

convicted as charged. But prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to seek the

death penalty. If so, she would be the first person in Skamania County to face

execution.

" We have never really had a case like this. ... It's a really difficult thing

for everyone, and everyone is going to have to find a way to deal with it, "

Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said.

Hanging over the case is a question about Dorcy's mental health. Court

records show Dorcy has received federal disability payments, and neighbors have

said Dorcy described her disability as a mental illness.

Dorcy's next-door neighbor, Crystal Cates, said Sunday that she had called

Washington's Child Protective Services (CPS) several months ago after hearing

Dorcy talk about the possibility of killing her daughters. Cates said she was

concerned about the comment but told officials she had never seen Dorcy abuse

the children.

CPS spokeswoman Kathy Spears said the agency had no record of Cates' call.

But the agency said it had received a complaint about the Dorcy family in 2000.

That complaint was considered too vague to warrant investigation, according

to agency officials, who declined to describe the nature of the complaint or say

who had complained.

The Dorcy family did not have an open CPS case at the time of the girls'

deaths, Spears said.

According to court documents, Dorcy called police around 5 p.m. Saturday,

then accompanied officers on the long drive to her daughters' bodies.

Skamania County Prosecuting Attorney Banks declined to disclose what

Dorcy told police about her mental health. But he said Dorcy's life would be

investigated with a " fine-toothed comb " and she would be subject to psychiatric

evaluation.

Neighbors described Dorcy's husband, Dorcy, who works as an

electrician at a Portland-area firm, as a quiet man who doted on his children.

Police spent Saturday night with him as he absorbed the shock.

Brown, the county sheriff, said yesterday that the investigation is still in

its early stages and that Dorcy would be among the first to be

interviewed.

The girls' deaths already have prompted questions about the state CPS system,

which has been under fire after a 2-year-old Ephrata boy, Gomez, died

last year after being returned by the agency to his mother's care.

The agency received more than 77,200 complaints of child abuse and neglect

last year and investigated about half of them, records show.

As a result, about 7,100 children were removed from their homes.

The agency has front-line screeners who use a " risk matrix " to factor in the

age of a child, the severity of an allegation and parents' previous contacts

with CPS or police to determine whether to investigate a complaint.

Yesterday, some advocates said this case may show that it's time to change

the screening method.

" This and the Gomez situation shows us clearly that we need to examine what

it is that needs to change, " said Laurie Lippold, a lobbyist for the nonprofit

Children's Home Society of Washington. " This is an opportunity to do that, a sad

one, but an opportunity. "

About 100 mothers per year in the United States kill two or more of their

children at the same time, said Park Dietz, a Newport Beach, Calif., forensic

psychologist.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or

hbernton@...; : 206-464-2605 or

jonathanmartin@...

Help is available

Resources for parents who feel at risk of abusing or neglecting their

children:

The nonprofit Parent Trust for Washington Children operates a toll-free help

line for parents at 800-932-HOPE from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, plus

some evening and weekend hours. Information is also available at

www.parenttrust.org online.

A list of resources also can be found at the Web site for the Washington

Council for Child Abuse and Neglect (www.wcpcan.wa.gov) by clicking on

Prevention.

To report suspected child abuse, call Child Protective Services at

866-END-HARM.

GRAPHIC: photo; Charlene A. Dorcy has been charged. (0394291476)

LOAD-DATE: June 16, 2004

Jim - Norman

" Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them. "

Strauss

June 16, 2004