Lawyers Seek Release of Man Who Killed 7 in 1976 Rampage

As relatives of those who died in Orange County’s worst mass killing looked on in disbelief, attorneys for Edward Charles Allaway on Tuesday described him as “safe and sane” and said that he should be released from a state mental hospital.

At the court hearing to determine whether Allaway is qualified for release, the defense offered its central argument: that Allaway’s mental illness went into “spontaneous remission” after the killings without the aid of counseling or drugs, and that he is not a threat to society.

The sanity hearing comes a quarter-century after Allaway killed seven people at the Cal State Fullerton library. He was found not guilty because of insanity and has been housed in state mental hospitals since 1977.

The first day of the hearing developed into a courthouse spectacle, with a county supervisor denouncing Allaway in a news conference outside the courthouse and TV news crews from as far away as Japan taping the hearing.

Although Allaway has twice failed to win his release, this effort is considered his most serious yet because some of his doctors at the state hospital now say he is cured.

Though one psychiatrist called by the defense Tuesday testified to that effect, families of victims balked.

“It’s common sense to me. You don’t let a mass murderer out on the streets,” said Paul Paulsen, whose sister was killed. “He is not the kind of person who can function in society.”

Testimony could last three weeks and amount to a duel of experts, with as many as a dozen psychologists and psychiatrists expected to offer conflicting views.

If Judge Frank F. Fasel orders Allaway’s release from Patton State Hospital near San Bernardino, Allaway will be supervised by state mental health officials.

The Orange County district attorney’s office opposes Allaway’s release, noting that he has a long history of violence and mental illness.

The first defense witness, Washington psychiatrist Mark Mills, has been advocating Allaway’s release since 1993. He said the former janitor’s illness, once diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, went into remission soon after he arrived at a state mental hospital. It’s possible the delusions that caused Allaway to kill vanished, Mills said.

But the doctor, former head of the Massachusetts department of mental health, stopped short of guaranteeing that Allaway would never be violent. In fact, he said it’s possible that Allaway could again commit mass murder.

That was enough to alarm Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is leading a public campaign to keep Allaway in the hospital.

“It’s ludicrous we’re even having a hearing in light of the testimony that came out today,” said Spitzer, who held a news conference outside the courthouse with relatives of rampage victims.