Victim of Stalker Recovering Slowly

Ten months after three bullets ripped through his head in a harrowing nighttime attack, William Carns Jr. remains partially paralyzed and has no short-term memory, but he is making some progress in therapy, his parents said Friday.

William and Anne Carns of Williston, N.D., said that the Aug. 25, 1985, attack by the so-called Night Stalker has left a big question about the future of their son, once a promising computer programmer who had been promoted to a new job in California just a year before.

The Carnses were eager to learn of the new development in Orange County’s prosecution of Richard Ramirez, accused of shooting their son and raping his fiancee in their Mission Viejo home. But the other side of the story, their son’s plight and difficult recovery, also needs telling, they said.

“Look at what our son is suffering,” Anne Carns said.

The younger Carns has been in a Long Beach residential program for victims of head injuries since January, and the therapy allows him to go home to his fiancee in Mission Viejo on weekends, his parents said. He is able to lift his left foot a little but has no use of his left arm, they said. He is able to walk short distances with a cane and “with help,” Anne Carns said.

“Yes, he’s making progress, but it’s slow,” she said. “If he can lift his left foot a few inches, that’s progress.”

But his short-term memory remains severely damaged by the brain injury, his father said. His parents call him regularly, and often he cannot tell them what he did that day or what he had for dinner, his father said. “He doesn’t remember from Monday to Friday. He doesn’t remember 15 to 20 minutes,” he added.

‘Sad for a Young Man’

“He will never have his full memory restored,” Anne Carns said. “They’re trying to train his brain, but he will never have full function. It’s very sad for a young man of 30 years.”

“All his education, his work as a computer engineer--that’s down the drain,” his father added. Admonished by his wife that his prediction could be overly pessimistic, he allowed that “God only knows” if there will be memory recovery, “but it will be quite a while to get his brain to function right.”

A big thrill for their son was participating in the Hands Across America human chain a month ago, apparently with a group from his head injury program, they said.

The Carnses raised their children in Williston, and William Jr. moved to Fargo to work for the Burroughs Corp. before he was promoted and transferred to the business machine company’s operations in California.

His parents, in a telephone interview, said they wished that they could bring their son to North Dakota for his therapy, “but the way it is, we don’t have the facilities to help people with head injuries here. The therapy is better there,” his father said.

Family Support

So they call him at least once a week, and their other children also phone their brother to give him moral support. One sister has visited him four times since the attack; the Carnses have made the trip three times.

It is important for their son to know of the family support, they said. “We read between the lines. He thinks he is a burden to us. He can’t think that. That doesn’t help him get better,” his father said.

Their son’s fiancee, who was raped in the attack, has been “100% supportive” and visits him regularly, Anne Carns said. “She’s looking forward to the day they can be together seven days a week,” she added.

The Carnses said their son’s medical bills have totaled more than $200,000, paid for mostly by insurance and assistance programs. But the family has had to pay about $30,000 to $40,000 for expenses not covered and to keep up the payments on their son’s house, Anne Carns said.

Lawrence Ross, a Laguna Hills attorney managing a trust fund for William Jr., said that while people were “generous” in donating to the fund immediately after the attack, contributions now have “dried up,” despite continuing family expenses.

Contributions to Fund

People who want to contribute to the fund, he said, can send their donations to the Conservatorship of William Carns Jr., care of Ross’ law office at 2351 Paseo de Valencia, Suite 201-B, Laguna Hills, Calif. 92653.

Their son has mentioned that he is grateful for all the help he has received, Carns Sr. said.

“He said, ‘People have been so good to me out here’ and says he wants to help others,” in an effort to repay the kindness, the father said. “He’s not in shape to do it, but he’s thinking about it. Five minutes later he probably didn’t remember saying it, but the thought is there.”