Town Stunned, Angry After 3 Residents Slain : Violence: Delusional man commits Porterville’s first mass murders and is killed. Mental health officials had failed to act on request for help.

The family soon will follow an ancient Laotian custom and tie a white string around their small stucco house to protect them from the spirit of a man, recently killed, who had lived with them.

The man, a friend of the family and a former mental patient, wandered a few blocks from the home last weekend and attacked four people, apparently chosen at random. Armed with a hunting knife, he killed three and wounded the fourth before he was shot to death by Sheriff’s Department deputies.

While random killings are a regular part of city life, in Porterville, a tranquil town surrounded by alfalfa fields and orange groves, homicide is a frightening anomaly. This is the first multiple murder in the history of the Porterville area, authorities said.

“There’s never been a tragedy of this magnitude in the town,” said Walter Wheeler, a psychologist with the Porterville School District. “People haven’t had to deal with anything like this before.”

The random nature of the killings and the lack of motive have left residents bewildered and struggling for answers. A bureaucratic delay that postponed treatment for the attacker, Sypheuang Souvannasing, has left some residents angry.

Five days before the killings, a friend had sought help for Souvannasing, who had begun having delusions. Souvannasing, who recently moved from Seattle to live with his friend, Khamphanh Sixayaketh, had been on medication. But he ran out and could not get more because he did not have a doctor in California, the friend said.

Concerned about Souvannasing’s deteriorating mental state, Sixayaketh sought help by calling a Laotian-speaking social worker at a Tulare County mental health clinic.

“I told the worker that my friend needed help right away,” said Sixayaketh as his daughter translated. “I said his mental problems were getting very bad and he needed to be put in a hospital. The worker said he would talk to his supervisor and call me back and set up an appointment. He never called back.”

Sixayaketh said he told the social worker that while his friend did not appear violent, he might be suicidal. He said he informed the social worker that his friend was convinced “he was going to die in a few days.”

Don Miller, director of the county Mental Health Services, said the social worker and a supervisor decided that the man did not qualify for emergency treatment. They were going to call back in about a week and set up an appointment, Miller said.

Emergency treatment is available only for people who are a danger to themselves or others, Miller said. If the man was suicidal at the time of the call, Miller said, this was not communicated to the social worker.

“Obviously, we made a terrible decision and our whole staff has been devastated,” Miller said. “But we’re stacked up with more urgent cases than we can handle. . . . We just don’t have the resources to see most patients right away.”

The killings highlight the problems county mental health clinics face while trying to treat an increasing number of patients amid budget cuts and funding shortfalls, mental health professionals say. Last year, funding for mental health care programs in the state was cut by more than $60 million.

Tulare County receives less per capita for mental health than any county in California, state figures show. As a result, Tulare and six other counties are suing the state for a proportionate share of California’s hospital beds for the mentally ill.

“If counties had the funds to provide adequate services, I think you’d be seeing fewer of these violent incidents,” said Francis Dowling, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. “Some people just aren’t getting help until their problems become acute . . . or until it’s too late.”

Residents are traumatized in the Porterville neighborhood where the killings occurred, said Janice Coburn, who lives next door to one of the victims. Her son, Duane, witnessed the attack, she said, and is so upset that he does not want to stay at home and has been sleeping at her sister’s house.

“We’re all losing sleep, worried and not eating well,” Coburn said. “And we’re mad we had to go through all this. County mental health should have had this guy in a hospital. Or at the very least, they should have seen him for counseling.”

Some residents are locking their windows and garage doors for the first time; others are installing deadbolts, Coburn said. The Porterville school district has arranged for a team of psychologists to visit elementary schools to counsel children.

“Everyone in town is shook up about this,” said Police Chief Bud Garmon. “You stop someone in the street and most likely they’ll know the people killed, or know their sons, daughters or grandkids. These killings are very personal to people around here.”

The man who committed the killings immigrated to the United States from Laos in 1980, after spending several years in a Thai refugee camp. During the Vietnam War, he had been trained by American forces and spent more than five years fighting the North Vietnamese in Laos, said his brother, Paiaton Sydanson, who lives in Seattle.

Souvannasing, 45, also had lived in the Seattle area and worked in a meat processing plant. He was laid off from his job in 1987 when he began having delusions and other mental problems, his brother said. Souvannasing was briefly hospitalized when “his paranoia got very bad,” the brother said, but he improved when he began taking medication and seeing a psychiatrist.

He moved to Porterville in February to live with Sixayaketh and his family. They shared a cottage at the end of a dirt road in a neighborhood of Southeast Asian residents.

Souvannasing, who was outgoing and seemed well adjusted when he arrived in Porterville, began to withdraw and hallucinate after his medicine ran out, his friend said. He smoked constantly, sometimes four packs in a night. He talked about shadowy people who wanted to kill him, and announced to the family that he would soon die.

The older Laotians in the house say he was possessed by a spirit of one of the soldiers he had killed during the war. His brother believes he may have suffered from severe psychological problems as a result of his combat experiences.

Souvannasing continued to deteriorate, and early last Sunday, he wandered into a neighborhood of well-kept tract homes, three blocks from where he lived.

After breaking into a house through the garage, he killed Jean Elmore, 57, and set her house on fire, police said. Her grandson, who lived with her, escaped through a back window.

Souvannasing hopped the back fence and attacked an elderly couple who were watching the fire from their back porch. Milo Jenkins, 79, was killed. His wife, Louise Jenkins, 78, survived the attack and was in fair condition Sunday at a local hospital.

Rudy Pino, 45, who lived across the street, saw the fire and ran to help his neighbors. Police speculate that when he arrived he found Souvannasing attacking Louise Jenkins. Pino was killed, but he might have saved Louise Jenkins’ life, authorities said.

“He was a real protective kind of guy, the kind of guy who always stopped at the side of the road to help other people,” said Bill Billetter, a friend of Pino. “I’m not surprised he tried to help his neighbors.”

Duane Coburn, the son of Janice Coburn, heard screams as he watched television, walked outside and witnessed the killing of Milo Jenkins.

“He was stabbing the man, but his face had no emotion, no expression at all,” said Duane, 14. “He had a frozen look on his face, like a lunatic. Then he just walked off. He didn’t hurry at all. He just looked straight down and walked real slow and mechanical--like a robot.”

Souvannasing was killed by deputies as he emerged from a nearby trailer where he had hidden. He had lunged at the deputies with the knife, authorities said.

“He had a lot of problems but he was never violent,” said Souvannasing’s brother. “We’re all very upset and searching for reasons why he would do such a thing.”