A Springfield psychiatrist who has twice examined Benjamin Howard Reed, a Thayer man charged with stabbing and bludgeoning of child protective services worker Deidre (Graham) Silas in 2022, said in Sangamon County court Wednesday that there didn't appear to be any doubt that Reed suffered from "substantial disorder of thought, mood and behavior."
Dr. Terry M. Killian testified that Reed, 35, had a dissociative disorder, complex post-traumatic distress order and a likely personality disorder.
A report produced by Killian earlier this year determined that Reed was "guilty but mentally ill" of the Jan. 4, 2022, incident in which Silas was stabbed 43 times and struck with a sledgehammer.
More: Murder suspect's ex-wife was 'scared for my life,' told people at hospital he had 'snapped'
Killian, who has been in private practice for more than four decades, was on the stand all day, the third day of Reed's murder trial before Circuit Court Presiding Judge John Madonia. Reed opted for a bench trial late in 2023.
Reed, who claimed to have "blacked out" for several hours and has never addressed some particular facts about Silas' death on Jan. 4, 2022, faces 20 years to life in prison.
On questioning from defense attorney Mark Wykoff, Killian agreed that Reed had "bona fide DSM-documented mental health conditions and disorders."
"DSM" is "The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders."
Killian first examined Reed three days after Silas' killing.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worker had been called to the home, about 22 miles from Springfield near the county's southern tip, to investigate "a report of abuse and neglect" at the home in Thayer. Even though the report didn't initially involve Reed or his wife's four children and stepchildren, since the environment was a concern, Silas had a responsibility to assess all the children.
Killian determined Reed's "fitness to stand trial" in his first interview. In an Oct. 6, 2023, assessment, he found Reed "sane."
Killian authored a lengthier report on Jan. 4, 2024, based on his first two assessments, police reports and psychiatric records from Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur and Elizabeth Packard Mental Health Center in Springfield.
As part of the state's cross-examination, the 2023 videorecorded interview with Reed which detailed his lengthy sexual and physical abuse at the hands of his father, was played.
Special prosecutor Derek Dion tried to punch holes in some of Killian's assessments of Reed.
Reed, Killian said, was in counseling as early as nine years old. He was diagnosed with a generalized anxiety, a bipolar disorder, intermittent explosive disorder and oppositional defiant disorder as a young teen.
In 2012, Reed admitted to a doctor that he was having "auditory hallucinations telling him to kill people or kill himself."
According to the 2023 interview with Killian, Reed started hearing voices as a third grader. Reed described the five voices, two outside his head and three inside, as having distinct tones and accents.
The voices "told me (Silas) was there to kidnap my kids and hurt us," Reed said in the video.
In the week before Silas' killing, Reed described himself as "a ticking time bomb," describing his mental state as "unstable."
On re-examination, Dion, who is now with the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor , got Killian to admit that complex PTSD is not "an official diagnosis," according to the latest version of the DSM.
The state planned on putting several experts on the stand Thursday for further rebuttal.
Closing statements from both sides could also come Thursday.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield psychiatrist: Reed had 'bona fide mental health conditions and disorders'
Most Popular
Comments / 0