June 14 TEXAS----obituary James Grigson: Expert psychiatric witness was nicknamed Dr. Death Dr. James Grigson practiced psychiatry for nearly 45 years, but he gained notoriety as an expert witness in more than 150 capital murder trials. His testimony about defendants' potential threat to society, along with his support of the death penalty, earned him the nickname Dr. Death. Dr. Grigson said last year that his job as a forensic psychiatrist "was to try to find the ones who were mentally ill and needed to go to the hospital and those that were faking it who needed to go to prison." Dr. Grigson, 72, died June 3 of lung cancer. He was born Jan. 30, 1932, in Texarkana, Texas. The family had a private burial. He got his start in the medical field working in emergency rooms and delivering more than 300 babies. He attended junior college and Texas A&M University, followed by 4 years at Southwestern Medical School. He also taught psychiatry at the school. "He just loved the challenge," said his daughter, Vicky Ready of Flower Mound. "Everyone was so different." When Dr. Grigson wasn't in the courtroom or the office, his children said, he was at home, being a father who loved simple things such as tossing a fishing line into a bucket or an old tire. "We'd all get in the back yard and practice casting," Mrs. Ready said. "He was a great dad. He was a lot of fun." His son James Lee Grigson of Midland said that during high school, he and his father would go fishing at Lake Texoma nearly every weekend. He said Dr. Grigson enjoyed reading as much as possible and also learning about the ever-changing psychiatry field. "He was a book-a-day kind of guy," Mr. Grigson said. "It was a good way to unwind after a tough day." Mr. Grigson said his father enjoyed the work he did, even though it was often stressful talking with men and women who had beaten and murdered others. He testified in 167 trials, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Critics say it's impossible to predict what a defendant will do in the future, but Dr. Grigson said he testified to what he observed. Dr. Grigson was expelled from the American Psychiatric Association in 1995 for predicting a person's potential threat to society without interviewing the person. Although he gave up testifying in death-penalty cases, he continued to work on civil cases and mental-competency reviews. A lawyer he met in the late 1960s, Doug Mulder, said Dr. Grigson didn't testify for the money, and although he testified mainly for the prosecution, he testified on behalf of the defense, too. "I just think he was very convincing," said Mr. Mulder, of Douglas D. Mulder Inc. of Dallas. "I think he was a very honest expert witness. He was not for sale." Personally, Mr. Mulder said, Dr. Grigson was a fun person who was often the life of a party. Mr. Mulder and Jim Hartnett Jr. threw him a retirement party in December. "He was a very bright guy," Mr. Mulder said. "He was very down to earth." Mr. Grigson said that despite the controversial nature of his father's work, Dr. Grigson was only working to help society. "Dad was worried about the people who were going to become victims if you don't get these people off the streets," he said. "Because he saw so many, he could identify." In addition to his daughter Vicky and son Lee, Dr. Grigson is survived by daughter Kathy Grigson and son Greg Grigson, along with 3 grandchildren, William, James and Richard Ready, all of Flower Mound. (source: Dallas Morning News) PENNSYLVANIA: Narrative offers grisly details of slayings----A Pottstown man's statement to police will be part of his triple murder trial, which is set to start today. Early on, police investigating the murders of Kerry and Katherine Schadler said they viewed Matthew Eshbach as someone who might shed some light on the case. After all, Eshbach was with Michael McGrory when McGrory was taken into custody on a robbery charge on Nov. 23, 2002, the day after the Schadlers' bodies were found in Towpath Park in East Coventry Township. By the time police completed a two-part interview with Eshbach that lasted more than six hours, the 28-year-old Pottstown resident had shined a chilling beacon on the crimes, which led to his arrest and the capital murder trial that begins today in Chester County Court. Prosecutors have contended that Eshbach's statement to police is at least partially self-serving - he accuses McGrory of killing both Kerry and Katherine Schadler, who was 22 weeks pregnant. Still, it offers a terrifying tale of the couple's final hours. In his narrative, Eshbach told police that on the evening of Nov. 21, 2002, he accompanied McGrory, 30, of Pottstown, to the Pottstown apartment of the Schadlers, whom he said he had never met. After about an hour of conversation, including a chat about downloading music from the Internet, Eshbach said that he came out of the bathroom and saw that McGrory had Kerry Schadler by the throat, asking: "What did you tell the cops?" McGrory used a lamp to burn Kerry Schadler, 21, on the head, accusing him of telling authorities about McGrory's armed robbery spree. Then he asked Eshbach to tie up Katherine Schadler, 20. "I did, but didn't do a very good job intentionally; that's why she broke free when Mike choked her," Eshbach said. "I knew she was pregnant and I didn't want to hurt her or the baby." Eshbach said the two men put the couple in McGrory's white Eagle Vision sedan and drove to an area near St. Peter's Village in Warwick Township. Katherine Schadler's underwear was used to gag Kerry Schadler. McGrory stopped the car and took Katherine Schadler for a 10-minute walk, returning with a snickering question: "You're surprised she is still alive?" McGrory then told Kerry Schadler it was his turn for exercise, and he ordered him on his knees facing his wife through the open window of the car, Eshbach said. He then choked him to death with both hands, pausing at one point to proclaim: "He is about only two minutes from God." McGrory dragged the body into the car and continued driving while Katherine Schadler pleaded for her life. "Kate was probably too scared to cry," Eshbach said. McGrory stopped the vehicle again and feigned sympathy, telling Katherine everything would be all right and motioning for her to lean on his chest. When she did, Eshbach said, he choked her for 2 to 3 minutes. "It seemed like a lifetime," Eshbach said. McGrory resumed his driving, looking for a spot to unload the bodies, which ended up in a fenced area of Towpath Park around 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2002. The corpses were discovered by trash collectors a couple of hours later. Eshbach said McGrory dropped him off and then called the next day with instructions to "say we were together and that nothing happened." When Eshbach completed his narrative, he agreed to re-create the route that he and McGrory traveled from Pottstown to East Coventry Township. Asked by detectives about McGrory's demeanor, Eshbach responded: "Mike seemed like he enjoyed it; he was cold and showed no remorse." McGrory, who is serving 25 to 50 years in prison for the armed robberies, cut a deal with prosecutors in February that spared him the risk of the death penalty. As part of his plea agreement, McGrory is expected to testify against Eshbach, who he says strangled Katherine Schadler. "The commonwealth intends to produce evidence that the defendant's participation went beyond what he admitted," Chester County District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll said in a pretrial document. Defense attorney Christian J. Hoey had argued that Eshbach's interview was coerced, but Chester County Court Judge Juan R. Sanchez disagreed. So the jury is likely to hear Eshbach implicate himself in the homicides. The trial is expected to last about a week. (source: Philadelphia Inquirer)
