Court Orders the Release of Doctor’s Killer : Justice: Judge says he has no choice but to free Steve Larsen to a local treatment program, despite widow’s efforts to keep him in state hospital.

A Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered the release of killer Steve Larsen from Patton State Hospital to a treatment program in the San Diego area, despite a drive by a group of citizens to keep him locked up.

Judge William Mudd made the ruling, explaining to a courtroom of Escondido residents opposing Larsen’s release that “this is not a matter of innocent or guilty,” and that state law provides that the insane be treated differently.

“The statutes are clear and unequivocal,” Mudd said. “I have an obligation to follow the law,” which decrees that a patient be released from a state mental hospital for the criminally insane “when he is no longer a danger to himself and others.”

Kay Blundell, widow of the physician Larsen shot to death in 1986 because he was under the delusion that the doctor was part of a plot to kill him, told reporters afterward that she was “disappointed and frustrated” by the decision.

Her voice quavered, and tears came to her eyes as she said she did not blame the judge for following the law: “I blame the law that lets a man like that go free.”

Dr. Craig Blundell, a 37-year-old Escondido internist, was shot to death in his office after he told Larsen that he had no stomach ulcers or other malady that would cause the pains Larsen was complaining about.

Larsen, now 35, later confessed to the crime, was found guilty of first-degree murder and received a sentence of 27 years to life. However, he was found innocent by reason of insanity and was committed to the state mental hospital near San Bernardino for an indeterminate term.

A parade of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers who cared for Larsen there or who examined his medical records all testified that he had been insane--suffering from paranoid schizophrenia--when he shot Blundell.

But he has been stabilized with medication and other treatment, they said, to the point where he is no longer a danger to himself or the community.

Kay Blundell learned six weeks ago that Larsen was scheduled to be released into a San Diego-area treatment program, where he would continue to be supervised but allowed to live in the community and lead a more normal life.

Outraged, she rallied thousands of sympathizers to her cause, collected about 2,700 signatures on petitions and had hundreds of letters sent to the judge and other state officials urging that Larsen be kept at Patton.

Two of the letters, from the dead physician’s sons, were among five entered into evidence during the trial.

The younger of the Blundell boys wrote: “I think that if Mr. Larsen was let out he would come and kill some other people. . . . I was very sad when Steve Larsen killed my Dad. I still feel sad.”

The older Blundell boy wrote that Larsen should not be released and “should stay in for the rest of his life. If he was let out, I would be very scared that he might come and kill my family.”

As she stood outside the courtroom, Kay Blundell said she believes Larsen is still a dangerous man.

Judge Mudd said further restrictions should be added to the contract Larsen must sign before he is released. He set a March 20 hearing date for revision of the conditions, ordering Larsen to be held in the mental ward of the County Jail until then.

Among the additions the judge ordered are a nightly curfew of 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends; a ban on Larsen going to Escondido, where his family and that of his victim still reside, and a requirement that he obtain permission from his release program supervisors before having any contact with his family.

Mudd said, “It is a tragedy that this senseless killing occurred,” and criticized Larsen’s family for not recognizing their son’s illness and obtaining treatment for him before the slaying occurred. “His parents were well aware of his illness and did nothing,” the judge said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Madruga said he will not appeal the ruling releasing Larsen.

“I see no grounds for an appeal,” he said. “Given the facts before him, the judge did the only thing he could do.”