Man Who Allegedly Made Threat to Receive Therapy

A gun collector, jailed after allegedly claiming he would make the McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro look like “a walk through a rose garden,” was released Friday on the promise that he would immediately seek psychiatric treatment.

The therapy pledge was one of several probation conditions agreed to by Robert Lee Bell after he pleaded “no contest” to charges that he had tried to run down a construction worker and then waved a flashlight in a threatening manner on Oct. 3.

Prosecutors hope the treatment, which Bell will undergo at the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla, will help eliminate his lingering bitterness toward authorities and paranoia.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Bell (no relation to the defendant) said, “It will take a long period of treatment for him to get over that. . . . What we want is treatment. The psychiatrists say he is treatable, like cutting the fuse off a dynamite stick.”

During Friday’s proceedings, defendant Bell agreed not to possess any weapons for 90 days, at which time he is to return to court for an appraisal of his probation.

Bell, 34, was jailed in October after a psychotherapist reported to police that Bell came to see him voluntarily and during the 50-minute session made such statements as, “I am a time bomb with the seconds ticking away,” “The sheriffs are pushing for a fight so they can kill me; I’m ready,” and “It’s starting to be fun, looking forward to the fire fight between them and me. I’m going to take a lot of them with me.”

‘Extremely Dangerous’

The therapist, Lee McGough, reported to authorities at the time that Bell was a “paranoid schizophrenic, highly agitated” and was “to be considered extremely dangerous to himself and others.”

Sheriff’s deputies subsequently searched Bell’s Valley Center home and reported finding more than 30 firearms, “at least 50,000 rounds of ammunition,” military rations, a gas mask and a will that was tacked to a wall.

Based on his alleged statements to McGough and the amount of weapons and ammunition found in his home, Bell--who had been free on bail on two other pending court matters--was put back in jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

During a bail review hearing in October, Bell denied making the inflammatory statements to McGough. Asked whether he made any reference to James Huberty, who killed 21 people at a McDonald’s in San Ysidro in July, Bell testified that he told McGough, “I’ve had a lot of problems with the sheriff’s office, and they’ve been trying to make me out as some kind of armed Huberty character.”

Bell’s wife, Kathy, testified at the same hearing that police exaggerated the amount of arms found in the home. She accounted for the ammunition and weapons by saying she, her husband and their son enjoy target practice and hunting, and that her husband was learning to be a gunsmith.

A psychiatrist later testified in court that Bell was paranoid and “self destructive,” but not intent on harming others. Bell’s bail was reduced to $250,000, and he most recently was housed at the county mental health hospital for psychiatric screening and therapy. All told, he has spent 86 days in custody, 60 of those in solitary confinement.

Questions Posed

“How are you feeling?” Municipal Court Presiding Judge Victor E. Ramirez asked Bell on Friday.

“Fine,” said Bell, wearing a suit and tie, but nonetheless handcuffed and sitting in the prisoner’s box.

“Are you satisfied about what’s taking place here?” Ramirez asked.

“Yes,” Bell replied.

Ramirez sentenced Bell to a year in jail for the two misdemeanors, but then credited him for time already served and suspended the balance of the sentence, provided that he abide by the terms of his probation.

As part of the probation, Ramirez ordered that Bell be taken to the VA Hospital, where he would voluntarily be interviewed for admission as a patient. If the doctors there determine in-patient therapy is not needed, Bell must submit to out-patient “therapy, care and counseling as required by the doctors or the probation officer,” Ramirez said.

“I don’t want to put you back in jail,” Ramirez said. “I want you to get counseling. The doctors at CMH (the county mental health hospital) say you are lucid and fine. We want you to restore your life and return to your family. I can only wish you the very best. I mean that.”

Prosecutor Bell said he preferred treatment for the man rather than continued imprisonment.

“What’s going to happen if we ask that he be locked up in jail with no treatment? When he gets out, we still have a dynamite stick,” the deputy D.A. said.

“Two psychiatrists and officials at CMH say this man is treatable, and they’re the experts and the ones who will make the ultimate decisions.”

Bell, a self-employed process server, had previously been convicted of impersonating a police officer, and had his probation in connection with that conviction revoked after he was accused of again impersonating an officer.

Bell was hired as a guard in the bailiff division of the Sheriff’s Department in 1978, only to be fired 25 days later, according to the department.

Deputy D.A. Bell said the defendant posed the greatest threat during the five days between his meeting with McGough and the time he was taken into custody by deputies and taken to CMH for a 72-hour observation period. Doctors kept him there for one day before releasing him, but Bell was met at the door by deputies after a Vista Municipal Court judge increased his existing bail to $1 million.

“If he was going to do something (violent), he would have done it during those five days,” the prosecutor said. “Since then, he has become less agitated and is making progress (in his treatment).”

Bell had said he had felt harassed by sheriff’s deputies ever since he attended the police academy in San Diego, and psychiatrists testifying in court have talked of Bell’s lingering bitterness toward authorities.

Bell is to return to court April 12 for a review of his probation.

The weapons taken from the Bell home have been impounded by the Sheriff’s Department. Kathy Bell said Friday that the weapons already have been assigned to one of her husband’s attorneys in lieu of attorney’s fees.

She said her husband pleaded “no contest” because it was more important for him to get out of jail than to remain in custody while fighting the two misdemeanor charges in a trial.

Noting the amount of time he spent in solitary confinement, she said, “If he was not screwed up before he went in, he sure is now.” She said the family plans to move out of San Diego County as soon as they are able.

A spokesman for the VA Hospital said that because of laws governing patient confidentiality, the hospital could not comment on the Bell matter.