Published: Saturday, July 24, 2010
Father of suspect in fatal stabbing believes he was off medication
The father of the suspect in the fatal stabbing of an Everett woman says his son struggled with mental illness.
EVERETT -- Bob Well has spent more than four decades worrying about his son.
It's inherent for the parent of a man diagnosed with schizophrenia and a history of violence.
On Sunday, what the widowed World War II veteran dreaded most -- the taking of a human life -- became real.
Steven Well, 58, was arrested that evening and is now charged with second-degree murder. There was blood on his pants and cuts on his right hand. His landlady, Judy Garcia, 64, had been stabbed to death inside the front door of the Colby Avenue apartment complex where they both lived.
"I'm just totally devastated," Bob Well said. "My heart is with that poor family. She did not have to die."
Bob Well, 84, is receiving condolences of his own these days from a wide circle of acquaintances: a World War II shipmate, fellow Lions Club members and former clients of the hearing aid business he owned and operated for more than 30 years in downtown Everett.
While appreciated, it is little solace.
"It's not about me," he said. "It's about that poor lady."
This is not the first time Steven Well has been accused of a brutal attack.
He was committed to Western State Hospital in 1980 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for an attack on another woman at an Everett apartment complex where he lived. He was accused of breaking into her apartment and stabbing her. She survived.
Steven Well later told a psychiatrist that he believed the woman was invading his brain with electrical signals. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Bob Well remembers being shown cut lamp cords when he went to remove items from his son's apartment 30 years ago. He was told Steven Well feared bad people were sending messages through the power cords, scrambling his brain.
Steven Well was released to a group home in 1983, but was returned to Western State Hospital five years later after he used a hammer to attack another resident at a Tacoma group home where he was staying.
Steven Well spent more than 20 years confined to mental hospitals.
Bob Well said he first started becoming concerned about his son's behavior when Steven was about 15. Then a Cascade High School student, he began acting out and distancing himself from friends.
At first, Well and his wife thought their son was just being a rebellious teenager. By the time he was 17, Steven was using drugs, including the hallucinogen LSD. His parents realized his problems were deeper. They started looking for professional help.
After high school in 1970, Steven Well held down a mill job for three years, but his behavior grew increasingly odd.
He was convinced that drug dealers were after him and felt he needed to flee to Europe to get away, his father said. In his 20s, Steven Well moved to Switzerland to study cinematography at a university, but was taken to a psychiatric hospital after resisting police when his visa expired, Well said.
Bob Well said his son's behavior was frightening when they got him home.
"It was a constant worry," he said. "It never stopped, 24 hours a day."
After his 1980 arrest, Bob Well said his son told him from jail: "Don't worry about me now. I'm safe. They can't get at me in here."
When Steven Well was committed to Western State Hospital after the first stabbing, Bob Well hoped he would get the help he desperately needed.
Steven Well instead spent much of that time in legal battles trying to get out, court records show. It was such a focus in his life that his therapists said it was getting in the way. He finally succeeded in regaining freedom, despite concerns from mental health experts.
Bob Well hoped for the best.
"It was like a light at the end of the tunnel, but would it last?" he said. "Thank God, Sherrie (Bob Well's wife) didn't live long enough to see this."
Sherrie Well died in 2007. Bob Well took care of her as Alzheimer's erased many of her memories during the last 16 years of her life. Today, Bob Well treasures a black-and-white family portrait taken in 1956. It's a picture of him with his wife, son and daughter. Steven was 5. All seemed right in their world.
Bob Well said his son seemed to be doing well after his release. He took his prescribed medications and he liked his new life in the Edison Apartments where he spent his time writing screenplays. Bob Well felt good when he would see other tenants greet his son in the hallway.
Yet there were always concerns. Steven Well would get worried when the state would change where he could receive psychiatric services or get his medicine.
In recent weeks, Steven Well seemed more agitated, his father said. Bob Well speculates his son was not taking his medications. Police said the stabbing followed an argument.
Sgt. Robert Goetz said the police aren't the ones to determine Steven Well's mental state at the time of the homicide.
"When we investigate a case, we don't make judgment on that," he said.
In the days before the fatal assault, Steven Well called his dad to tell him he had bought a month's supply of food and believed the refrigerator in his apartment wasn't working properly.
Bob Well said he told him he would be by in a couple of days to check it out.
"I said, 'Hold your temper. I'll be down,'" he said. "I should have been there. A couple of days was too damn late."
Bob Well also said the state must do a better job of providing a consistent level of services for people living with mental illness.
"The care for these people, it's on again, off again. It's a merry-go-round," he said. "I'm not making excuses for him. I'm just laying it on the line. There is no excuse for killing anybody."
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
It's inherent for the parent of a man diagnosed with schizophrenia and a history of violence.
On Sunday, what the widowed World War II veteran dreaded most -- the taking of a human life -- became real.
Steven Well, 58, was arrested that evening and is now charged with second-degree murder. There was blood on his pants and cuts on his right hand. His landlady, Judy Garcia, 64, had been stabbed to death inside the front door of the Colby Avenue apartment complex where they both lived.
"I'm just totally devastated," Bob Well said. "My heart is with that poor family. She did not have to die."
Bob Well, 84, is receiving condolences of his own these days from a wide circle of acquaintances: a World War II shipmate, fellow Lions Club members and former clients of the hearing aid business he owned and operated for more than 30 years in downtown Everett.
While appreciated, it is little solace.
"It's not about me," he said. "It's about that poor lady."
This is not the first time Steven Well has been accused of a brutal attack.
He was committed to Western State Hospital in 1980 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for an attack on another woman at an Everett apartment complex where he lived. He was accused of breaking into her apartment and stabbing her. She survived.
Steven Well later told a psychiatrist that he believed the woman was invading his brain with electrical signals. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Bob Well remembers being shown cut lamp cords when he went to remove items from his son's apartment 30 years ago. He was told Steven Well feared bad people were sending messages through the power cords, scrambling his brain.
Steven Well was released to a group home in 1983, but was returned to Western State Hospital five years later after he used a hammer to attack another resident at a Tacoma group home where he was staying.
Steven Well spent more than 20 years confined to mental hospitals.
Bob Well said he first started becoming concerned about his son's behavior when Steven was about 15. Then a Cascade High School student, he began acting out and distancing himself from friends.
At first, Well and his wife thought their son was just being a rebellious teenager. By the time he was 17, Steven was using drugs, including the hallucinogen LSD. His parents realized his problems were deeper. They started looking for professional help.
After high school in 1970, Steven Well held down a mill job for three years, but his behavior grew increasingly odd.
He was convinced that drug dealers were after him and felt he needed to flee to Europe to get away, his father said. In his 20s, Steven Well moved to Switzerland to study cinematography at a university, but was taken to a psychiatric hospital after resisting police when his visa expired, Well said.
Bob Well said his son's behavior was frightening when they got him home.
"It was a constant worry," he said. "It never stopped, 24 hours a day."
After his 1980 arrest, Bob Well said his son told him from jail: "Don't worry about me now. I'm safe. They can't get at me in here."
When Steven Well was committed to Western State Hospital after the first stabbing, Bob Well hoped he would get the help he desperately needed.
Steven Well instead spent much of that time in legal battles trying to get out, court records show. It was such a focus in his life that his therapists said it was getting in the way. He finally succeeded in regaining freedom, despite concerns from mental health experts.
Bob Well hoped for the best.
"It was like a light at the end of the tunnel, but would it last?" he said. "Thank God, Sherrie (Bob Well's wife) didn't live long enough to see this."
Sherrie Well died in 2007. Bob Well took care of her as Alzheimer's erased many of her memories during the last 16 years of her life. Today, Bob Well treasures a black-and-white family portrait taken in 1956. It's a picture of him with his wife, son and daughter. Steven was 5. All seemed right in their world.
Bob Well said his son seemed to be doing well after his release. He took his prescribed medications and he liked his new life in the Edison Apartments where he spent his time writing screenplays. Bob Well felt good when he would see other tenants greet his son in the hallway.
Yet there were always concerns. Steven Well would get worried when the state would change where he could receive psychiatric services or get his medicine.
In recent weeks, Steven Well seemed more agitated, his father said. Bob Well speculates his son was not taking his medications. Police said the stabbing followed an argument.
Sgt. Robert Goetz said the police aren't the ones to determine Steven Well's mental state at the time of the homicide.
"When we investigate a case, we don't make judgment on that," he said.
In the days before the fatal assault, Steven Well called his dad to tell him he had bought a month's supply of food and believed the refrigerator in his apartment wasn't working properly.
Bob Well said he told him he would be by in a couple of days to check it out.
"I said, 'Hold your temper. I'll be down,'" he said. "I should have been there. A couple of days was too damn late."
Bob Well also said the state must do a better job of providing a consistent level of services for people living with mental illness.
"The care for these people, it's on again, off again. It's a merry-go-round," he said. "I'm not making excuses for him. I'm just laying it on the line. There is no excuse for killing anybody."
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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