Murder Suspect’s Brain ‘Pickled’ by Alcohol, Doctor Says

A Panorama City father who killed a man suspected of raping his stepdaughter has a “pickled” brain from more than 20 years of alcohol abuse and cannot control his feelings, a psychologist testified Wednesday.

Raymond Wisecarver, 44, on trial on a murder charge in the July 10 shooting death of a Reseda nightclub bouncer, has severe brain damage affecting his memory and emotional control, Dr. Jay B. Cohn told the Van Nuys Superior Court jury.

“This is a man who has neurological, structural, chemical damage to his brain,” said Cohn, a psychology professor at UCLA.

“I think this man was floating in a sea of alcohol for many, many years. This is much more than being drunk. This is 20 years of pickling.” Cohn, who specializes in substance abuse, testified as a defense witness.

Defense Strategy

Although Deputy Public Defender Mark Lessem would not comment on his defense strategy, it appears from testimony that he will argue that Wisecarver lacked the mental faculties necessary to commit first-degree murder.

Often such testimony is used to support a defense argument for conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Asked on cross-examination whether an individual with such brain damage can understand that guns are lethal, Cohn replied: “They can understand that a gun can make people fall down, but they don’t necessarily understand, ‘You’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead, and tomorrow you don’t come back.’ ”

In reaching his diagnosis, Cohn said, he spent 12 to 15 hours interviewing Wisecarver and administering a battery of psychological and intelligence tests.

At all times, Cohn said, the defendant functioned at less than 50% of the normal level.

Wisecarver has only a “spotty” recollection of the shooting and cannot remember the victim’s name or the date or time of the incident, Cohn said.

Asked by the prosecutor whether Wisecarver could be duping the doctor, Cohn replied, “I don’t think he’s pulling my leg. I think he can’t remember.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen then asked the doctor whether Wisecarver is “a vegetable.”

Half Vegetable

Cohn replied, “He’s a 50% vegetable, not a 100% vegetable.”

Wisecarver, a thin, pale man with thick black hair, listened dispassionately to the doctor’s testimony.

The prosecutor, who will continue questioning Cohn today, said outside the courtroom that Wisecarver could have given intentionally deceptive answers to produce test results that would support a mental-defect defense.

Lessem said he may call other expert witnesses and the prosecution could present its own expert witnesses to rebut the defense testimony.

Wisecarver killed Edward Shreckengaust, 23, on July 10 with a shotgun he had borrowed from a neighbor, according to testimony in the trial, which began Friday. Wisecarver told a friend that he drove to Shreckengaust’s apartment and posed as a magazine salesman, shooting Shreckengaust through the screen door, testimony revealed.

The killing occurred two days after Wisecarver’s stepdaughter reported to police that Shreckengaust, whom she knew through a mutual friend, raped her in his apartment. According to testimony, Wisecarver became angry when police decided not to arrest Shreckengaust on the rape allegation pending further investigation.

Detectives said they had some doubts about the daughter’s complaint because she had not been entirely truthful with them. She failed to tell them that she had used cocaine with Shreckengaust, and admitted the drug use after police confronted her with Shreckengaust’s statement, investigators testified.

Besides, detectives said, they were awaiting the results of blood samples taken from Shreckengaust and wanted to give him a lie-detector test before considering an arrest.

Cohen told the jury in opening statements last week that the shooting was premeditated. He noted that Wisecarver waited two days after the rape report and said the defendant acted out of dissatisfaction with police handling of the investigation, not sudden rage about the alleged assault.