Slayer of Mother Wins Release From State Hospital

Arlyne Louise Genger, who was declared insane after she killed her mother and slashed her daughter’s throat with a razor eight years ago, won her release from a state psychiatric hospital on Tuesday.

Over a prosecutor’s objections, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge C. Bernard Kaufman granted Genger’s plea for freedom, her third since she was committed to Patton State Hospital in 1981, and ordered her release to an outpatient community treatment program.

Reading from his 12-page decision, Kaufman said Genger, 44, demonstrated that she no longer poses a threat to the community.

Genger had admitted that on New Year’s Day, 1980, she stabbed her mother more than 20 times and cut her daughter’s throat and wrist with a razor in the family’s North Hollywood apartment. Her daughter, Selena, then 13, survived.

In January, 1981, a Superior Court judge found Genger not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered her committed to Patton, in San Bernardino, for life or until she is determined by a court to be rehabilitated.

Change Recommended

Doctors from Patton and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health--which rejects most requests for outpatient status--have unanimously recommended that Genger be placed in a less restrictive residential treatment program, Kaufman said.

“The very doctors who in their reports and findings in 1980 found that defendant was insane at the time that she committed these acts now indicate in their testimony and reports that she is sane and in good mental health,” Kaufman said.

The judge, addressing concerns that Genger “could literally walk out the door and be free,” noted that the conditions of her release require close supervision.

Genger, her hands clasped tightly together, barely moved as she listened to the judge read his decision. Moments later, Genger held her hand to her forehead, broke down in tears, and hugged her companion, Joyce Ride, who is president of a prisoners’ support group.

“I feel overwhelmed,” Genger said outside the courtroom. “I’ve spent nine years locked up and the chance to lead a productive life is overwhelming. I just want to look at stop signs and see people walk the streets and hear cars go down the road. All the normal things people take for granted.

‘Hope to Date’

“I hope to be able to date and have a fun time,” Genger said. “I hope to be able to go shopping . . . to turn the lights off and run the bath water at the temperature I want.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. John K. Spillane argued against Genger’s release because he said her crimes were particularly brutal and the court had no guarantees that she would not be violent.

“I’m disappointed,” Spillane said of Kaufman’s decision, “but I understand the court’s ruling. Under the legal system, the defendant has to show she is no longer likely to be a danger to the community and the defendant showed that.”

Genger’s psychiatric problems date to 1969, Kaufman’s decision said. At the time of the attack she thought her mother had caused her to have leukemia and was plotting to cut her off from financial support and to keep her from interacting with her daughter. The attack was part of a plan by Genger that included murdering her daughter and committing suicide, Kaufman wrote.

Deputy Public Defender Dennis G. Cohen, who represented Genger, was hugging his client as he emerged from the courtroom. “I’m so happy now I could just scream,” he said.

One of Two Centers

Genger returned to Patton after Tuesday’s hearing and will be sent to one of two mental-health treatment facilities--Gateways Satellite in Los Angeles or Hillview Residential Center in Pacoima--as soon as there is room. Authorities say the wait could be from two weeks to 18 months.

Under the terms of her release, Genger will be under constant supervision during the first 90 days in the community program and will be permitted to leave the facility only when accompanied by a staff member.

Weekly Sessions

She must take part in individual and group psychotherapy every week and submit to random screening for alcohol and drugs. She is prohibited from contacting her daughter or the girl’s stepmother.

The terms are subject to change every three months, when a report on Genger’s progress must be submitted to the court.

Although members of Genger’s family have opposed her release in the past, Kaufman said they had not objected this time.

Cohen said Genger’s family has nothing to fear. “This is not the same person” who committed the crimes, he said. “This is a totally different human being.”