Details of Clinic Rampage Emerge

The man suspected of killing two people at a Nevada City mental health office and a third person at a nearby restaurant last week had an arsenal of weapons at his home and was obsessed with a woman who worked at the clinic, investigators said Thursday.

Authorities say Scott H. Thorpe, 40, shot five people Jan. 10, three at the Nevada County mental health office and two others at a Lyon’s restaurant. Two victims survived; both are being treated at local hospitals.

When investigators searched Thorpe’s 11-acre ranch in Smartville early the next morning, they found all the windows of his home covered with blankets and sleeping bags. Inside Thorpe’s bedroom was a cache of legal weapons and military paraphernalia. The finds included five handguns, gas masks, night vision equipment, rifles, an assault rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Ron Smith of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department. Some of the handgun clips had been modified to hold more bullets, he said.

On Thorpe’s kitchen table, investigators found a clipboard with a half-inch sheaf of handwritten notes, Smith said. Although investigators are still examining the evidence, they have not discovered any threats of violence in the papers, Smith said.

But the notes showed Thorpe, a former middle school janitor, believed the FBI was persecuting and poisoning him. Some were also written as if “he had a relationship with a female employee at the clinic, which he didn’t,” Smith said. Thorpe mailed some of these letters to the woman.

Thorpe, who has been described by neighbors as a recluse who disliked crowds and people, had visited the health center several times and was known by employees and other patients, Smith said.

The woman was aware of Thorpe’s infatuation with her but apparently did not take any legal action against Thorpe. “Whenever employees knew he was going to show up, she would make herself scarce,” Smith said.

Although the employee was at the clinic at the time of the attack, she was not physically harmed, although she was badly shaken. It was unclear if she was a target, investigators said.

Investigators also discovered commercial videotapes on how to become a sniper, Smith said.

“We’re still gathering new evidence and reviewing what we have,” he added.

Dist. Atty. Michael Ferguson said he had been briefed by investigators and that the evidence would “speak for itself.”

Thorpe has been charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. Ferguson said prosecutors will seriously consider asking for the death penalty. Thorpe is expected to enter a plea at his next court appearance Feb. 1.