M. F. Abernathy
Alabama 'Mind Control Murder' ?
Tue Jan 27 11:42:31 2004
198.7.225.1

"Court records reveal Barksdale, 29, as a tormented man convinced that police, the government, gangsters and others were directing microwaves at his brain; a man who tore cable out of his mother's home because of his belief "they" were using the wires and television to tap into his brain."

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http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/040108/suspect.shtml
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2004
Deadly delusions:Alleged Athens policekiller has long historyof paranoia; judge
committed him 5 times

By Eric Fleischauer, DAILY Staff Writer
· 340-2435

The alleged murder of two policemen by Farron Clark Barksdale on Friday was the latest episode in the man's chilling chronology of delusion and paranoia.

Court records reveal Barksdale, 29, as a tormented man convinced that police, the government, gangsters and others were directing microwaves at his brain; a man who tore cable out of his mother's home because of his belief "they" were using the wires and television to tap into his brain.

"I've tried O.D.ing many times but it seems like they want me to do it messy," he wrote in a letter about two years before he allegedly used an assault rifle that he bought Christmas Eve at a pawn shop to gun down Athens police Sgt. Larry Russell, 42, and officer Tony Mims, 40.

'Be off this planet'

In late 2001, according to a court document filed by his mother, he said he "wanted to be off this planet ... and he did not want to have to kill another person to accomplish this task."

In the same letter, Barksdale said microwaves were torturing him. "This has led me to know why people are made to do things like bomb or kill people," Barksdale wrote.

He also wrote that police are part of a government conspiracy intended to make him and others "dumb."

The documents, on file with the Limestone County Probate Court, include statements by Barksdale and his mother that he kept a shotgun in his Athens home to protect him from conspirators.

Diagnosis: Paranoid schizophrenia

At the request of Barksdale's mother, Probate Judge Mike Davis committed Barksdale to mental institutions five times. The first commitment was in September 2001. The latest was in June 2003. Each time, Barksdale's medical diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia.

At one point he kept the lining of a microwave against his head to deflect the radiation he felt was being beamed into his brain. He lined his room with aluminum foil to keep the microwaves out, according to a petition that his mother filed.

The records mention several instances when he called Athens police. Municipal court records also document several times that police went to Barksdale's home. None of the records list Mims or Russell as the responding officers.

For each of the five commitments, sheriff's deputies took him to the courthouse and then to a mental hospital, usually the state's North Alabama Regional Hospital or Decatur General West.

The shootings devastated Davis.

"When I heard it was Barksdale, my heart sank. I just went empty. It was the most empty feeling I've ever had," the probate judge said. "This is the nightmare. It's what everyone in the system hopes will never happen — the judges, the mental health people, the family. I don't know what we could have done differently, but that does not take away the empty feeling."

"To attend those funerals (Tuesday), to see those families — I'm so empty," Davis said. "Our community will never get over this."

Davis said he can only commit people for 150 days at a time. Commitment for a longer period requires a new petition. He also has little control over when a committed person leaves hospitalization. The supervising doctor makes that call.

The records describe a private hell that Barksdale could not escape. In early 2002, Barksdale wrote about bad people who "constantly ... entice me to do bad things. ...I'd really like to be granted peace of mind, body and spirit. ... Please leave me alone, please, please."

Barksdale's contacts with the court system and police include the following:

Feb. 1, 2000

Athens police charged Barksdale with third-degree assault. According to a deputy clerk, the file is missing. Computerized records do not reveal whom Barksdale was accused of assaulting, but the assault apparently took place in his mother's house.

At the same time, police charged Barksdale with resisting arrest because "he fought with officers while being arrested," according to Athens police records.

The municipal court sentenced Barksdale to a one-year probation and fined him $356.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely told the press shortly after the shootings that Barksdale resided in Decatur. All of the addresses listed in Barksdale's police and court records, however, are in Athens.

April 20, 2001

Barksdale's only contact with Decatur police was in 2001. On this date he turned himself in because of an outstanding warrant for traffic offenses.

Sept. 5, 2001

Sept. 5, 2001, was the first of five occasions that Barksdale was committed to a mental health facility at the request of his mother, Mary Barksdale, an Athens resident.

In her petition for involuntary commitment, Mary Barksdale said her son had started hearing voices when he discontinued his medication. She said he removed television cables from her house because he thought the voices were being transmitted through them.

He told his mother "that he has wanted off this planet since the age of 13 years and that he did not want to have to kill another person to accomplish this task. Mr. Barksdale has also threatened to kill his mother and has (said) he is allowing his mother to exist for his own purposes," according to a court document.

A sheriff's deputy took Barksdale to a psychiatrist for a mental evaluation. During the evaluation, Barksdale repeated that cable lines were transmitting voices into his brain. The psychiatrist advised that commitment was unnecessary provided Barksdale cooperated on an outpatient basis. The psychiatrist also said Barksdale was not "a substantial threat to himself or to others." When he failed to cooperate, he was committed.

North Alabama Regional Hospital discharged Barksdale on Oct. 2, 2001.

Dec. 16, 2001

Police charged Barksdale with disorderly conduct after he "took a chance at injuring someone by throwing a large safety pin approximately 4 inches in length across the living room of his residence and becoming loud and boisterous while officers were attempting to calm him down."

The case file included a notation by a police officer saying, "Need to advise Court to dismiss this case. Mental Subject."

Dec. 18, 2001

Barksdale was again committed Dec. 18, 2001. This time his mother told the court that Barksdale "has been hearing voices that have directed him to harm others ... and to harm himself."

The same psychiatrist again evaluated Barksdale. Barksdale said he had not been taking his medications. He denied making suicidal or homicidal threats, blaming his commitment on his mother.

The psychiatrist again determined Barksdale did not present a substantial threat to himself or others, and on Jan. 3, 2002, Barksdale was released from a mental health facility in Huntsville.

Feb. 4, 2002

Barksdale's freedom did not last long. On Feb. 2, 2002, Mary Barksdale again petitioned Davis to commit her son. She told the court that Barksdale was again refusing to take his medication and that, again, he heard voices telling him to hurt himself and others.

This time Mary Barksdale attached a document, apparently a letter written by her son, to the petition. The four-page, typed document is rambling and at times unintelligible. Portions of the treatise, with original spellings and sentence structure:

"In case your stupid and your kids cant do anything right. Telovision mind Manipulation through stereo sound."

"Mental health speeds up the death of civilians by putting your S.S.I No. in the satellites so that they can make you hear voices in remote areas. ... By the way, where do the police want you and your kids? Are the children safe with these kinda conspiracies?"

"Powerlines can still make frequencies to change your childs mind or make them dumb for a second. It's a small ultrasonic click or a cirtian light frequency. They can even make your child forget a test answer so its best to home school."

"P.S. your tv can listen to you also. All you have to do to access the watchers at the ... police station, is say the key words such as ... bomb making words. ... I have dealt with this for 23 years. ... It cost me my fathers land, almost my sanity, my privacy, my future, and anything that made me happy. Now I talk to the A.B.I. ... through constant M.R.I. brain Maping telekinesis."

"They constantly tell me, or entice me to do bad things in society and at home espicaly. ... I'd really like to be granted peace of mind body and spirit, but it dosent seem to be able to occur."

"Ive tried O.D.ing many times but it seems like they want me to do it messy. I guess Its like a sport for them. ... If your involved and you know who i am please leave me alone, please, please."

"This torture part started at work and it hasent stopped in 4 years almost. This has lead me to know why people are made to do things like bomb or kill people."

"If you are having strange trouble reading this ... just try to move your head faster than the frequency they are using to shut off your memory."

"I don't know who will be reading this. But I can see how things are going."

"I'm not a bad person and don't deserve this. I'm just not as they want me to be."
Also attached to the petition was a hand-written letter seeking help from the "president of the United States" asking that he help "stop them from stealing my invention and making my Brain chemicaly unbalanced. I know many people are involved."

Another handwritten letter complained about "the metal connected to the nervs in my teeth that makes people shoot rays in my brain ... like a childs toy or a bunch of doctors secret pot-o-gold."

The same psychiatrist again met with Barksdale and this time decided he was a threat to himself and others.

Davis committed Barksdale to North Alabama Regional Hospital, but doctors discharged him March 8, 2002.

June 21, 2002

Mary Barksdale filed her fourth petition June 21, 2002, and Judge Davis had the same psychiatrist evaluate him. According to the doctor, Barksdale said "that someone at a bar he went to might have put some kind of stimulant in his beer."

The psychiatrist determined Barksdale was not a substantial threat, and he was released June 25.

Aug. 29, 2002

Petition No. 5 came Aug. 29, 2002. This time Barksdale's mother told the court that he "is very combative to voices that he claims to hear."

She said her son "believes the government ... is shooting microwaves at him. He walks around his home with the lining of the microwave oven held against his head, and he has placed aluminum foil around his room."

The first mention of a weapon came in this petition. Mary Barksdale said her son "has left a shotgun in various places within his house and has contacted the Athens Police Department concerning some conspiracy."

Attached to this petition was a sketch in which Barksdale depicted what appears to be an Athens police officer firing a pistol at the back of Barksdale's head. Words from his mouth say, "Why can't I read?" A satellite overhead appears to be connected both to the policeman and to a house.

During the psychiatric evaluation, Barksdale confirmed having a shotgun in his house. He said he called Athens police because "someone was spying on me."

The doctor determined he did not need to be committed, instead recommending that he be treated on an outpatient basis.

This time Davis overruled the doctor's recommendation and committed Barksdale. North Alabama Regional Hospital discharged him Oct. 15, 2002.

Dec. 30, 2002

On Dec. 30, 2002, according to court records, a Madison County agency initiated a paternity case against Barksdale. Records show the court dismissed the action.

June 25, 2003

Mary Barksdale sought guardianship of her son on June 25, 2003. Davis said she made the request in the hope that it would help her make sure he followed through with psychiatric treatment. She supported her request with a letter from a doctor to her that said Barksdale was "fearful that your glasses were transmitting messages to his brain."

Davis granted the request, leaving the guardianship in place until July 25, 2003.

Jan. 2, 2004

Barksdale called Athens police twice. The first call asked that FBI agents come to his home. The second, 15 minutes later, asked that Athens police come to his Horton Street house if the FBI could not. Mims responded first, followed by Russell. Seven high-power bullets hit Mims, who died before he could put his cruiser in park. Two bullets hit Russell as he stepped from his cruiser. He died later that day at Huntsville Hospital.

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• Deadline for a Hypocrite : — Rick Biesada, Tue Jan 27 12:29