A psychiatrist hired by the defense to analyze brain PET scans of murderer Marcelle Waldon testified Monday in a post-conviction hearing that Waldon is schizophrenic, has traumatic brain injury and suffered from multiple adverse childhood experiences.
Dr. Joseph Wu, a Stanford University-educated psychiatrist, said those factors led to “significant and catastrophic failure in (Waldon’s) ability to regulate aggressive impulses and the ability to regulate proper judgment.”
But the state argued that Waldon knew what he had done was wrong because he tried multiple times to destroy evidence of the crime.
Case history: Waldon was convicted nearly a year ago of the November 2020 murder of former Lakeland City Commissioner Edie Yates Henderson and her husband, real estate developer David Henderson, in their Lake Morton Drive home. The jury recommended the death penalty, but Judge Kevin Abdoney will make the final decision on that in coming months.
Wu’s testimony Monday was part of a Spencer hearing, which gives lawyers a chance to present additional evidence to a judge before the judge hands down a sentence.
A psychologist testified in August about Waldon’s childhood, intellectual capacity, history of hearing voices and mental state when he murdered the prominent Lakeland couple — information not heard by the jury during his week-and-a-half-long trial after he waived his right to present a defense.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Levine said on Monday that Waldon, now 40, watched the Hendersons’ comings and goings for days. Then he walked into an unlocked door on Nov. 10, 2020, tied up the couple, stabbed David before forcing Edie to write two $5,000 checks, then stabbed her as she was lying on the couple’s bed. Waldon put both their cellphones in the microwave and turned it on, turned on the burners to a gas stove in an attempt to burn the house down and stole David’s car and later set it on fire.
When he was arrested the day after the murders, he had items from the Henderson home in his possession, as well as photos on his cellphone of the Hendersons tied up in their home.
Mental deficiencies: Wu said the three serious mental deficiencies, which appear on the brain scan images as decreases in his frontal and prefrontal lobes, are “not one plus one plus one equals three. It’s one plus one plus one equals 10.”
Significant psychological events: Wu said in reviewing Waldon’s psychological records, he noted several significant events, among them:
- Having psychosis and auditory hallucinations when he was 17.
- Hearing voices telling him to kill his ex-girlfriend.
- At 26, being admitted to Peace River psychiatric facility for three weeks for a psychotic break with auditory hallucinations and treated with the anti-psychotic medicine Risperdal.
Adverse childhood experiences: Wu discussed multiple childhood adverse experiences, which can lead a person to develop one or more serious mental illnesses. The psychologist in August detailed them, but new revelations on Monday included:
- Molestation when he was 10 by a babysitter, who said she would kill him if he told anyone.
- Abandonment by his biological father, who would only visit every few years.
- His mother, Althea, trying to give him to his biological father because “she didn’t want to take care of him,” but taking him back because “her welfare check was cut,” Wu said
Covering up the crime: Levine then questioned Wu about Waldon’s multiple decisions to try to cover up his crimes, asking if those were deliberate and purposeful.
“I believe that those were purposeful steps,” Wu said, adding that the brain injuries and childhood experiences led to an overactivated brain incapable of telling him to stop.
Florida law allows someone who is mentally ill to stand trial if the state can show that they knew what they were doing was wrong.
Next: The next hearing is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 14, when a mental health expert is expected to testify for the state.
Waldon is still facing trial for the burglary of the home of Julia Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins, two days before the Hendersons’ murder.
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Tragedy in our Little Lake Morton area…two lives taken and no end in sight to the court proceedings…taxpayers bear the load and no one wins.
If waldon was so mentally impaired, then why was he permitted to waive presenting a defense? The court was satisfied he was competent to make such decisions. I saw other cases where PET Scan based psychiatric testimony was not helpful to the defense. The jury did not believe it accounted for the behavior ending another person’s life.