Attempted murder charge dismissed

EVERETT — An Everett mother tried to get help for her son. She was told that until he hurt himself or someone else, there wasn’t any help.

On Tuesday, in a Snohomish County courtroom, the woman waved to her son through a glass partition that separates inmates from the public. His hands were shackled.

Chad Patterson, 19, had hurt himself. He also hurt his neighbor, a 57-year-old man.

Patterson was accused of breaking into the man’s home Sept. 10 and repeatedly trying to stab him with an 8-inch kitchen knife.

Patterson was charged with attempted first-degree murder. If convicted, he faced up to 22 years in prison.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry on Tuesday acquitted Patterson of the charge. Three doctors concluded that at the time of the attack Patterson couldn’t understand that what he was doing was wrong. Castleberry found that there was evidence to support the defense’s position that Patterson was not guilty of the crime because he was legally insane at the time of the attack.

Castleberry ordered Patterson to be locked up indefinitely at Western State Hospital, receiving treatment.

Doctors believe the attack occurred while Patterson was experiencing his first psychotic break, said William Steffener, an attorney with the Snohomish County Public Defender’s Association.

Patterson threw himself through a window to get into the neighbor’s house. The older man fought off the teen and pushed him outside, only to have Patterson return a second time. Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies arrived as Patterson, bloodied and cut, was trying to get inside the man’s home a third time.

During the attack, Patterson said that God told him that the man needed to die. After he was arrested he told deputies that he was their god and demanded to be released from his handcuffs.

He explained that he’d been out walking his dog when he saw his neighbor watching him. Patterson believed the man as going to attack him, so he got a knife and went over to “take care” of the man.

Patterson was convinced someone had implanted a camera into his eye and a microphone into his ear. The delusions likely were symptoms of schizophrenia, Steffener said. At the time, Patterson hadn’t been diagnosed with a mental illness and wasn’t under the care of a mental health doctor.

“He’s on medication now. He is the nicest person,” Steffener said. “He feels safer at Western.”

Prosecutors agreed not to take the case to trial. That was based primarily on the doctors’ findings, Patterson’s lack of any previous criminal history and the circumstances of the incident, including no apparent motive for the attack.

“If he didn’t appreciate the wrongfulness of what he was doing because he’s mentally ill, it makes sense that he’s in the mental health system instead of the prison system,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said.

The insanity defense is rarely pursued, the lawyers said. Even more unique is to have the decision made by a judge, not a jury.

“They usually go to trial and it’s a battle of the experts,” he said.

Under the current law, it is nearly impossible to meet the threshold to prove someone is legally insane at the time of the alleged offense, Steffener said. Additionally, there are offenders who won’t acknowledge that they are living with a mental illness and won’t allow their attorneys to pursue an insanity defense.

On the other hand, Stemler said, just because a person has a mental illness doesn’t mean they are legally insane, Stemler said.

“It doesn’t fit as a defense very often,” he said.

Patterson’s case was clear cut from the beginning, Steffener said.

“He didn’t know right from wrong at the time,” the public defender said. “It’s too bad he couldn’t have gotten help before he got hurt” and his neighbor was hurt.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.