Tonight’s 48 Hours report on the stabbing death of Elli Perkins at the hands of her son Jeremy, and the relationship that his mental state had to his and his family’s Scientology beliefs was surprisingly well done, but chilling.
Jeremy Perkins, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed his mother over 70 times while under the delusion that his mother was his enemy. Experts (including experts for the prosecutor’s office) believe that if he were treated with antipsychotic medications his mother would be alive today, but Scientology’s dogmatic anti-psychiatry stance constrained them from even considering such treatment.
In the course of the broadcast it was brought out that Jeremy was, for a short time in 2001, part of Scientology’s Sea Org, operated out of Clearwater, Florida. That association was short-lived as his behavior became more and more uncontrollable and bizarre.
The Perkins family cared deeply for their son and sought treatment within the principles of their faith. A lawyer for Jeremy’s father told 48 Hours that Jeremy was seen by both physicians and mental health practitioners, including a psychiatrist. But court records unsealed by 48 Hours indicate that Jeremy’s treatment was limited to mostly vitamins and other holistic healing methods. The family filled prescriptions for an anti-anxiety drug and a sleeping aid. Medical experts and a doctor who treated Jeremy after the murder dismiss these methods as ineffective for an individual with paranoid schizophrenia.
Ultimately, Jeremy was barred from Scientology classes because of his increasingly unstable behavior, which brings me to the glaring question left unanswered and indeed, unasked by CBS.
Here’s the answer, courtesy of Jan Eastgate, International President of the CCHR and mouthpiece for Scientology’s murderous anti-psychiatry crusades, paraphrased:
(see also Salon magazine’s report here)
Jeremy has been treated with Risperdal while in custody with excellent results in terms of curbing his violent and delusional behavior. For Scientology, perhaps the results are not as good, given that Jeremy views part of his descent into delusional and violent behavior as being “pushed too much into Scientology”.
In my opinion, it goes without saying that his response to the medication obliterates Scientology’s assertion that there is no such thing as mental illness and therefore no need for psychiatric treatment.
Scientology left this family with no options for help and resolution for a loved one teetering on the brink of and ultimately descending into, madness. They ostracized him but at the same time left his family with no viable option beyond quack vitamin treatments and isolation.
What kind of religion is THAT? The kind of religion that takes quick steps to back away from a family in its deepest crisis, a family that needed to consider ALL options. They might as well have picked up the knife and stabbed Elli Perkins themselves, for they share more than a small piece of the blame for the tragic outcome.
References:
- Scientology – A Question of Faith, Did A Mother’s Faith Contribute To Her Murder? – CBS News
- 7/9/2006 Killers, Thieves, and Liars – Exposing the CCHR
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