Suspect Had History of Mental Illness

The man arrested in a killing spree outside Pittsburgh that left three immigrants, a Jewish woman and a black man dead had a history of mental illness and irrational fears that he was being watched, a former friend and his attorney said. Police searching the home where Richard Scott Baumhammers, 34, lived prior to Friday’s attacks also found a three-page manifesto indicating he was trying to form a political party opposed to immigration, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Baumhammers’ attorney, William Difenderfer, said that his client has a history of mental illness, though he wouldn’t elaborate. Attorney Lee Rothman said that Baumhammers had been treated since 1993 for an unspecified mental disorder and that Baumhammers had voluntarily admitted himself to a psychiatric ward at least once.