RI - Michael Woodmansee, killer of Jason Foreman, 5, released 12 years early

[The Farm]

believe09,,yes he was held in MA for his own protection but not at Bridgewater State.
Taunton Sate also does psych evals.
Who knows if this sicko even got any counseling seeing as no one thought he would most likely live to actually get out. Does not matter,,,counseling will do nothing for him.
He belongs away from society, case closed.
The protest and petitions are good, it is showing that people are outraged that this can happen and no one wants this animal living in their neighborhood or area.
This needs to be brought to the limelight as much as possible to keep it from happening in the future. Especially since it is worse than ever!!! Sick monsters everywhere it seems!

 

[Concerned Papa]

Was Woodmansee ruled insane? I thought I had read he was ruled as being competent.

Am I incorrect?

 

[southcitymom]

Was Woodmansee ruled insane? I thought I had read he was ruled as being competent.

Am I incorrect?

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but IIRC, he was ruled competent enough to enter into a plea. But I don't know the details of this.

Imo, based on what he did - he was off his rocker. I don't know the ins and outs of the psychiatric community's diagnoses on the matter of insanity, but what this guy did is nuts - something in his brain was highly abnormal -outside the realm of sanity. Again - moo.

I have no idea what sort of treatment, if any, he has received while behind bars. We don't really know how to treat people with debilitating mental illness - all we can do really is throw medicine at them and keep them away from others.

That said, I'd be very interested to read any psych reports regarding the case - both past and present.

 

[believe09]

believe09,,yes he was held in MA for his own protection but not at Bridgewater State.
Taunton Sate also does psych evals.
Who knows if this sicko even got any counseling seeing as no one thought he would most likely live to actually get out. Does not matter,,,counseling will do nothing for him.
He belongs away from society, case closed.
The protest and petitions are good, it is showing that people are outraged that this can happen and no one wants this animal living in their neighborhood or area.
This needs to be brought to the limelight as much as possible to keep it from happening in the future. Especially since it is worse than ever!!! Sick monsters everywhere it seems!

Yes I realize he was not held at Bridgewater, TheFArm-I am wondering if he can be since he was held out of the state of RI. MA can do indefinite psychiatric holds, IIRC. Typically, again IIRC, the inmates end up at Bridgewater State.

 

[southcitymom]

Was Woodmansee ruled insane? I thought I had read he was ruled as being competent.

Am I incorrect?

I found what I was looking for in the first article of this thread (UBM):

"On Feb. 24, 1983, a trembling Woodmansee, having been found competent to stand trial, took the witness stand in Superior Court and admitted to a second-degree charge of murder."

 

[The Farm]

Yes I realize he was not held at Bridgewater, TheFArm-I am wondering if he can be since he was held out of the state of RI. MA can do indefinite psychiatric holds, IIRC. Typically, again IIRC, the inmates end up at Bridgewater State.

believe09,,,I am not sure where they would put him, if in MA or yet another state entirely. He has been moved quite a few times while in MA, for his protection of course.
Taunton State also has a ward for the criminally insane but I do not think it is of the magnitude of Bridgewater or in fact if they even stay there indefinately.
Maybe some nice cozy prison in Texas would fit him?

 

[concentric]

The driving thought behind my worldview is that every single person on this planet is my brother/sister, and I am called to love and show compassion towards them as fully and completely as I am called to love my own child. This worldview has no exceptions - even for the Woodmansees of our planet.

It's easy to dismiss people who have hurt others in violent and crazy ways - to turn them into outcasts. I argue that such people probably need our love and compassion even more than those who are living right. It's not hard to love "good" people - the challenge is to extend that energy to the "bad" ones.
----------------
According to your beliefs then, you would be willing to let him move into your house or next door to you?

I guess the dilemna of relocating Woodmansee would then be solved.

 

[Fairy1]

Hey Fairy,

"Delightedly" may have been the wrong word for me to choose - perhaps I should have written "unabashedly." Because you are correct that there isn't much delightful about this case.

I too want to understand where Foreman is coming from and, for me as a parent, that's not difficult to do. I know why he wants to hurt Woodmansee and erase him from the earth. You are right that it's human nature to want to aggressively lash out at someone who causes you the type of pain Foreman has surely endured in the face of what happened to his child.

I've not meant to discredit his grief.

For me (and I understand not everyone feels this way), it's as important to consider Woodmansee's situation and to try to understand that. I don't want any human to be tortured and murdered by another human. I do try to understand how others might be okay with that.

I truly do understand your position on this and I know you would never, ever discredit or in any way dismiss Mr. Foreman's grief. That is the opposite of what you're about! And I understand your desire to find out what drove him to do what he did. This was clearly not the act of a sane person.

What concerns me is the fact that he was found competent to enter a plea and has been incarcerated in a prison since. This will not have been a rehabilitative environment so, IMO, whatever led him to commit such a horrific murder likely still exists within him. If he is considered to have served his time and is simply released, I do believe he will harm another.

I hope there will be some type of intervention that will prevent this man from living freely among unsuspecting people. That is what frightens me.

As far as his propensity for killing goes, that horse is already out of the barn. We know he is capable of murder. I'd just as soon not see another example of that and if the system can't (or won't) keep it from happening, I'm 100% in favor of anyone else who will.

 

[believe09]

He was competent to stand trial then, and it will make it infintely more difficult to revisit that subject but not impossible. Perhaps long term incarceration has not given a clear picture of what his impulses might be-a fair amount of testing should help.

He moved through 7 years post murder with his secret trove, he provided thoughtful reasons as to why there might have been certain smells and bones in his possession. Then he thought he would give it a shot again. Dale Sherman is a lucky man, but I wonder why Woodmansee picked an older, stronger, more agile victim?

Woodmansee is still young enough that he has years ahead and strength-the cunning he has apparently always had. I am anxious to watch this unfold, and anxious to learn what the DA comes up with to prevent this release from occuring.

 

[believe09]

snip----------------
According to your beliefs then, you would be willing to let him move into your house or next door to you?

I guess the dilemna of relocating Woodmansee would then be solved.

BBM-in fact SCM supports some kind of permanent incarcaration for a criminal like this one. She wrote that clearly in previous posts. Having compassion for a fellow human being, regardless of how loathesome his actions, does not necessarily mean that you are without all reason when it comes to practical issues like this one.

SCM does not need me to speak for her, but I will defend her viewpoint because it is both practical and admirable.

 

[southcitymom]

The driving thought behind my worldview is that every single person on this planet is my brother/sister, and I am called to love and show compassion towards them as fully and completely as I am called to love my own child. This worldview has no exceptions - even for the Woodmansees of our planet.

It's easy to dismiss people who have hurt others in violent and crazy ways - to turn them into outcasts. I argue that such people probably need our love and compassion even more than those who are living right. It's not hard to love "good" people - the challenge is to extend that energy to the "bad" ones.
----------------
According to your beliefs then, you would be willing to let him move into your house or next door to you?

I guess the dilemna of relocating Woodmansee would then be solved.

I think you can love someone effectively without having them live in your house, your community or even your continent!

As I hope I've made clear in this thread, I think it probably wouldn't serve Woodmansee or the rest of the world for him to be released as planned in August. While I have no hard proof, I suspect his mental demons are strong and deeply entrenched. I doubt much has been done during the course of his incarceration to effectively rehabilitate him. Experts may not even consider him rehabilitatable.

I don't know how I would respond if Woodmansee showed up in my personal day-to-day path, but I hope it would be with enough love not to torture or murder him. I think it's unlikely I'll see him, but who knows.

In the broader and guiding sense of my belief system of loving my brethren, I don't feel like I am obligated to approve of their behavior, save them from their mistakes or even want to spend much time around them. I do however however feel obligated to not torture and murder them. It also asks me to slip inside their skin and try to walk around a little bit - an admittedly hard thing to do with someone like Woodmansee.

 

[southcitymom]

I truly do understand your position on this and I know you would never, ever discredit or in any way dismiss Mr. Foreman's grief. That is the opposite of what you're about! And I understand your desire to find out what drove him to do what he did. This was clearly not the act of a sane person.

What concerns me is the fact that he was found competent to enter a plea and has been incarcerated in a prison since. This will not have been a rehabilitative environment so, IMO, whatever led him to commit such a horrific murder likely still exists within him. If he is considered to have served his time and is simply released, I do believe he will harm another.

I hope there will be some type of intervention that will prevent this man from living freely among unsuspecting people. That is what frightens me.

As far as his propensity for killing goes, that horse is already out of the barn. We know he is capable of murder. I'd just as soon not see another example of that and if the system can't (or won't) keep it from happening, I'm 100% in favor of anyone else who will.

UBM

I was just touching on that in my reply to concentric, Fairy - before I read your post. I agree with you 100%. I don't think it's been a rehabilitative environment. And, let's face it, even if he had been in a rehabilitative environment, we humans don't have much luck when it come to changing someone like him.

Even if he didn't kill again, it's hard to believe he could re-enter society safely (for him and us) on a number of levels.

 

[Fairy1]

UBM

I was just touching on that in my reply to concentric, Fairy - before I read your post. I agree with you 100%. I don't think it's been a rehabilitative environment. And, let's face it, even if he had been in a rehabilitative environment, we humans don't have much luck when it come to changing someone like him.

Even if he didn't kill again, it's hard to believe he could re-enter society safely (for him and us) on a number of levels.

You are right, it won't be good for him either. This wasn't just a human killing another human out of curiosity. It went way beyond that. It's evident this man was not capable of being a "normal" member of mainstream society before he killed this innocent little boy. IMO, the chance of him being that now is less than zero.

You are a truly compassionate person and I know your heart is in the right place. If everyone was like you, we wouldn't need to be here!

 

[LCoastMom]

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/south_county/facebook-group-plans-rally-protesting-woodmansee-release-south-kingstown

Here you go mikeysmommom. Hasn't changed much has he?

 

[Fairy1]

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/south_county/facebook-group-plans-rally-protesting-woodmansee-release-south-kingstown

Here you go mikeysmommom. Hasn't changed much has he?

Yikes. Look at his eyes! Nothing there. Gosh, he's an old man now.

 

[Concerned Papa]

There is a difference between evil and insanity. This courts have ruled this is not a picture of a man who's insane.

This is a picture of evil personified.

 

[southcitymom]

Yikes. Look at his eyes! Nothing there. Gosh, he's an old man now.

He does look so old. Kind of hard to believe what he did at the age of 16. I like that two psychiatrists have to sign off on his release - I'm hoping that's where it will be stopped.

Also, what do we know about his surviving family members. IIRC, his Dad was a police officer or somehow involved in law enforcement. I guess what I am getting at is - is that an option - him staying with a family member?

 

[southcitymom]

There is a difference between evil and insanity. This courts have ruled this is not a picture of a man who's insane.

This is a picture of evil personified.

I've never made that distinction, though I respect your position. I think evil and insanity are the closest of siblings.

Also, I can often tell much from mugshot or jail pics. I imagine after years in prison, my eyes might look dead too.

Even though I'm reticent to fully embrace the proclamations of many psychiatrists, I'm much more interested in what psychiatrists have to say about Woodmansee than what he looks like. Perhaps although the courts didn't rule him insane or unbalanced or whatever before, they will be able to do so now.

Regardless of what we call it, I agree with you that there is a very strong chance that this man would be dangerous to society if he were given his freedom.

 

[outlandishone]

I went to the rally this morning. There was a good turnout - I'd say about 300 people.

Mr. Foreman was there and thanked everyone for coming. He said Jason and his mom thanked us all too. It was so sad

 

[southcitymom]

I went to the rally this morning. There was a good turnout - I'd say about 300 people.

Mr. Foreman was there and thanked everyone for coming. He said Jason and his mom thanked us all too. It was so sad

Thanks so much for checking in. I am glad to hear there was a strong turn-out.