With proper medication management, accused Indian Creek serial killer Frederick Scott could be eligible for an early evaluation of his mental and behavioral fitness to stand trial, a Missouri Department of Mental Health attorney said Thursday.
Scott, 29, has been accused in the killings of Steven Gibbons, 57; John Palmer, 54; David Lenox, 67; Timothy S. Rice, 57; Mike Darby, 61; and Karen Harmeyer, 64. The killings took place between 2016 and Scott’s arrest in August 2017.
Harmeyer was killed in Grandview, while the rest of the fatal shootings took place along the Indian Creek Trail. All of the victims were shot without warning, some outside of their own homes.
Jackson County Judge Charles McKenzie remanded Scott to a state behavioral health program on July 31 after an outburst by Scott during a hearing. Trial proceedings have been on hold since then as the court awaits the results of Scott’s behavioral health evaluation.
The results of the evaluation will factor heavily into a future status hearing determining whether Scott is eligible to stand trial for the six alleged murders. A status ruling had been the intended result of the July hearing before Scott’s outburst.
Thursday’s status hearing centered mostly on questions from both sides as to whether Department of Mental Health evaluators were following court recommendations around Scott’s treatment.
Attorneys for both Scott and the state have previously said that Jackson County Detention Center employees have not paid adequate attention to Scott’s treatment plan. Both sides and their corresponding forensic experts have also advocated for Scott to be transferred to Fulton State Hospital, Missouri’s primary public mental health facility.
Scott is currently on a waiting list for transfer to Fulton, Vincenzo “Vinnie” Iuppa, Assistant General Counsel for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, said Thursday. However, he said it is unlikely that Scott will be moved up the list unless he faces serious medication management issues or stops cooperating with visiting health evaluators.
By contrast, Iuppa said that Scott could now be evaluated early if he continues taking his current medications with no issues. A Jackson County prosecutor previously said that Scott would not be eligible for evaluation until January, effectively freezing court proceedings until 2025.
It is certainly something that is at the forefront for his mobile team, where if they believe that he is at the point where he is competent … they will refer him for an early evaluation,” Iuppa said.
At Thursday’s meeting, a public defender representing Scott questioned whether the delay in moving him to Fulton went against prior recommendations filed to the court by UMKC psychiatrist Dr. James Reynolds, previously the medical director at the Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center.
The public defender also noted that Scott’s medications are generally supposed to be taken with food, but are instead administered at night, several hours after his last meal.
“The joint request of the parties’ report strongly recommends that Mr. Scott be detained in a secure forensic hospital facility during this period,” the public defender said, as Scott watched via video conference from the Jackson County Detention Center. “He is still in jail.”
In response, Iuppa said Reynolds’ notes were outdated in comparison to Scott’s most recent behavioral health intake, which adheres to the same standards of care as at Fulton.
“As of now, he is relatively stable,” Iuppa said, “He’s not showing any behavioral issues. He’s adherent to medications. He’s prescribed the medications the Fulton State Hospital would be prescribing him.”
Scott’s first meeting with state behavioral health staff was previously derailed by video conference issues. An evaluator met with Scott in person on September 18 with no issues, Iuppa said, though future meetings will be moved later in the afternoon to accommodate Scott’s difficulties with waking up early.
Future check-in meetings will be scheduled every three weeks until Scott is determined to be stable enough for his formal evaluation, Iuppa said.
Two Jackson County judges previously issued contradictory rulings on whether or not Scott was mentally fit to stand trial. After the rulings were issued in July and October 2021, intended trial dates for Scott were canceled in 2022 and again in 2023.
While legal proceedings are on hold, Scott’s case has been sealed from public view.
Scott and his attorneys, along with attorneys for the state of Missouri and the Department of Mental Health will next appear in Jackson County court on November 4 at 4:30 p.m. Behavioral health evaluators are expected to visit Scott twice more before then, Iuppa said.
Previous reporting by The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton was used in this article.
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