Defense psychologist believes Martin Laskowski insane at time of crime

Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Jane Velez testified Monday she believed Martin Laskowski and his son, 10-year-old Scott Laskowski, were suffering from a shared psychotic disorder when they attempted to commit suicide as part of a suicide pact.

Martin is on trial in Hancock County court in the death of Scott, who was found dead in the Laskowski home in Plymouth by police on Nov. 19, 2004. Martin is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

Shared psychotic disorder is a rare disorder outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM-IV, a manual used by mental health professionals in the U.S. that outlines criteria for every known mental disorder.

Velez based her diagnosis on two days of interviews and psychological testing with Martin in September 2005. She reviewed an estimated 900 pages of notes associated with the case.

Shared psychotic disorder usually occurs in close family relationships. One person, the inducer, becomes affected by a delusion that is gradually shared by the secondary person. In this case, Velez said Scott was the inducer and Martin the secondary.

Some of these relationships end in double suicides.

Martin and Scott had a suicide pact, according to a videotape confession by Martin. He said Scott wanted to die rather than live with his mother, Chriss Bossey, formerly Christine Laskowski. Several witnesses have testified that Scott did not like or get along well with his mother.

Velez said the “trigger” for the suicide pact was Martin being arrested for a hunting violation. He feared going to jail over it. Scott knew of his father's fear and his subsequent attempts to find someone who could take Scott. Scott responded by threatening suicide if he was forced to live with his mother.

Martin crushed 12 of his prescription OxyContin pills into two glasses three or four days before Scott's death. The defense said Scott called Martin a liar after Martin refused to follow through with the suicide pact. After four days of this, Martin and Scott drank the glasses just after midnight Nov. 19, and went to sleep.

Martin awoke in the morning and later discovered Scott dead on his bed. He said on videotape that he tried to cut his wrists and drank most of a Mountain Dew and polyurethane mixture attempting to kill himself. He stabbed himself in the abdomen with a knife when police arrived at the house for a wellness check on Scott, who had not been to school for several days.

Velez said Martin scored below average in verbal cues and had below average reasoning ability, making him more susceptible to manipulation. She said there were a few other cases of shared psychotic disorder with children in the nine to 10 age range.

Velez said the two were suffering from a delusion of Martin going to jail and Scott having to live with his mother.

“They were not aware of the wrongness of what they were doing,” she said. “They felt there was no other way out of the situation. It (suicide) was the only solution.”

Velez pointed to talks the two had about being reincarnated as brothers and coming back together as delusional thinking. She said their relationship was “symbiotic.”

“It (relationship) was almost sickly close,” said Velez. “It was not normal. I felt it was pathological ... They appeared more like best friends than father and son.”

Velez said Martin described feeling Scott's presence in his jail cell. He described seeing objects moving around. When he told Scott to stop moving the objects, the objects quit moving.

The defense also called three other witnesses Monday. Elaine Laskowski, Martin's mother; Anthony Gonzales, a minister and neighbor to Elaine; and Rick DeCair, a former friend of Martin's, testified about their relationship with Martin, Scott and Chriss in White Hall, Mich.

Two of them stated Scott liked Martin more as a parent, and that Chriss was distant with Scott. Elaine said Scott would refuse to leave her car when she took Scott for his Tuesday and Thursday visits with Chriss.

“I take him every Tuesday and Thursday so Marty would not get into trouble ... I always told him, and so did Marty, to go see his mother,” said Elaine.

DeCair spoke about Chriss's reputation in White Hall.

“It was a small town. People talk,” said DeCair. “She wasn't a trusted person, either with personal property or telling the truth.”

He said he knew Chriss through Martin and “didn't see the mother-child bonding thing” between the two.

DeCair echoed previous testimony about Martin and Scott being together all the time.

“If you saw Marty, you saw Scott,” he said.

The defense rested its case after Monday's testimony.

Hancock County State's Attorney Jim Drozdz presented a rebuttal witness Tuesday. Closing arguments are Thursday, July 26. Judge David Stoverink is presiding over the bench trial.