Woman sentenced to 20-40 years for murdering father: 'I wish I could have the death penalty'
In an emotionally wrenching sentencing hearing Tuesday, Susan Wade said she heard voices in her head telling her to kill her father — a crime that will send her to prison for the next 20 to 40 years.
Wade, 49, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in May to second-degree murder for stabbing 86-year-old Ronald Mason to death on June 9, 2012. On Tuesday, Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Donald Shelton sentenced her to 20 to 40 years in prison.
Susan Wade
Courtesy of WCSO
Kristine Crossman, Wade’s daughter, was the person who called 911 last year when she came to Mason’s home in the 1700 block of Covington Drive in Ann Arbor and discovered him dead. She detailed her emotional torment since discovering Wade killed the same man who raised Crossman.
Through tears and sobs, Crossman told Wade she’d never be able to forgive her for what she did to Mason and the rest of her family.
“You deserve to rot by yourself, alone and away from everyone you know,” Crossman said. “Then, you’ll know how my dad felt when he died.”
Wade is a paranoid schizophrenic who was off her medication for at least one week before she killed Mason, according to court statements. She had lived with Mason for about a week before the incident.
During her remarks to Shelton, Wade broke down, at one point putting her head in her hands on the lectern in the courtroom. She moaned and sobbed, at times barely able to form words.
She admitted to attempting suicide after stabbing Mason between 20 and 30 times and said she wished Michigan had the death penalty.
“I just wanted to die with him,” Wade said.
Wade began to sob when she remembered hearing voices in her head, telling her to murder Mason. She said the voices would say, “I love you so much, Daddy, I want to kill you.” A report from Dr. Phillip Margolis, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, submitted to the court before Wade pleaded that said Wade was goaded into the murder by voices in her head.
Members of Wade’s family cried through much of the hearing. Crossman said her daughter continues to ask when she’s going to see Mason again, even though she’s been made aware of how he died.
Shelton told Wade he had trouble understanding how she could put this much pain on her family. The fact that Crossman was the one who discovered the murder baffled Shelton.
“What you did to your father was, and is, unforgiveable,” Shelton said. “What you did to your own daughter is almost beyond comprehension.”
Because she pleaded guilty but mentally ill, Wade will either be treated by the Michigan Department of Corrections or the Michigan Department of Community Health, depending on a doctor's recommendation.
Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Blaine Longsworth said Wade snuck up on Mason as he was in bed and “ambushed him.” She stabbed him repeatedly and “she didn’t do anything to try and render aid or help him in any way,” he said.
Wade apologized repeatedly for what she did and said she’s going to be treated for her mental illness for the rest of her life.
“I am very sorry … these feelings of killing are all gone and they’re never coming back,” she said.
However, Crossman will have trouble ever forgiving Wade. Crossman said Wade killed Mason because she couldn’t control him any more. Wade was enraged by Mason’s refusal to let her travel to Alaska, Crossman said.
Wade gave Crossman up to Mason, who was her adopted father, and Mason raised Crossman from the time she was a child. Crossman said Mason will never get to see her graduate from college, one of his dreams, and won’t be there to watch her daughter grow up.
Crossman wasn’t buying Wade’s apologies.
“You may fool a lot of people into thinking you’re sorry, but you can’t fool me,” Crossman said.
She added later, “You’re nothing but selfish and heartless.”
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
jns131
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 7:56 p.m.
The death penalty has been a hot topic button issue in Michigan for like forever. I am all for it. Now she has to live with herself for the rest of her life. Any way to give her her wish?
A2centsworth
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 7:35 p.m.
Whether she is mentally ill or not, someone is dead at her hand. There is no cure for paranoid schizophrenia, she will always be tormented by this disease. The effectiveness of drugs come and go. She will never be a productive member of society. The death penalty seems the most merciful.
actionjackson
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 11:39 a.m.
I knew Ron through my father at Detroit Edison. I prefer to think of all the fine things he did in life. May he rest in peace.
Lyn Barron
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 5:46 a.m.
this is very sad. I know many schizophrenics that would never hurt a anyone. They would be more likely to get killed in the street by someone that is 'normal.' The daughter could be right about this. It might not have anything to do with her 'mental illness.'
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
A redundant phrase has been deleted from this story.
Quit judging
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 12:48 a.m.
First before I express anything further, understand I do not think for one moment this woman does not deserve to go to jail, she killed someone, so yes she deserves jail. I do want to clear up some things though. This woman was medicated, and not by choice. She was not taking some little magic pill each morning that made her ok, she was getting mandated shots which was being over seen by her father. The newspaper stated she was off her medication for a week prior to this horrible incident, but they did not go any further as to why. It may not have been the fact that she just chose to not take her medicine as some of assumed. This woman loved her father very very much, her world revolved around him, and he loved her equally, which is why he chose to not only raise her child when he knew she couldn't but also continued to take care of her even at his age. Ms. Wade was not someone who refused to take her medication, she openly spoke of her illness and was always willing to do what was necessary to ensure she was properly medicated. I do not know the circumstances as to why she was without her medication for a week, but before we all cast judgement and assume it was her own personal choice, understand it could have very easily been a Dr. Choice to change her dosage, or an insurance problem or something of that nature.
A2centsworth
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 7:39 p.m.
Mental illness should not even be consequential to this story. This woman killed a man in a horribly personal and vicious way. Stabbing 20-30 times. This was an act of someone who had something personal against the victim. Ask any psychologist. Whether or not she was on, or off medication should not change the verdict or lesson her sentence.
Solitude
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 3:12 a.m.
With respect and acknowledgement of the difficulty and pain of the situation for the family and friends of the people involved, how can you first say that she was medicated "and not by choice" and was "getting mandated shots," and at the same time say she was "always willing to do what was necessary to ensure she was properly medicated"?
rui
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 11:42 p.m.
I agree Michigan should have a death penalty... What a tragedy for the family, the victim, and even the murderer.
leezee
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 10:57 p.m.
To a certain extent I understand a bit of sympathy toward Wade, but I am sick and tired of people making excuses for the mentally ill who harm or kill someone. Where is your sympathy for the families that have to deal with this on a day to day basis? When you almost make it sound as if it's okay to hurt someone because you are ill, it makes my blood boils. Maybe one of you should step forward in 20 years to keep watch over Wade when she's released. Something tells me you would change your tune. Let the daughter have her anger. She's owed at least that for living a life that consisted of constant worry over what her mother would do next. As usual, no one sits up and takes notice until someone gets hurt or dies.
obviouscomment
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 12:02 a.m.
I don't think anyone is lacking sympathy for the family. It is definitely an extremely difficult situation to be in when you have loved ones who suffer from mental illness. And of course this rises to a whole different level when another loved one dies or, in this case, is killed. But the point is that the entire situation is so sad. There's sympathy for everyone involved here and I have yet to see anyone saying that the daughter doesn't have a right to be angry.
Honest Abe
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:53 p.m.
That picture is just something else. Any time I come on here and that picture shows up, it's like being in a horror movie where you look in the mirror and someone is behind you. Bottom line - Creepy pic!
Bill Wilson
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:31 p.m.
@ Solitude Not wishing to take medication due to their adverse affects is a common trait among mental patients. And we should remember too, that these medications do not cure the illness... they merely lessen it. Those taking their meds are still mentally ill.... and as such we cannot hold them accountable for choosing to take them, or not to. Consider: when you arrived at your home, you most likely took off your shoes and sat down. But if you were a paranoid schizophrenic, I could talk to you for a few minutes and convince you that you'd been home all day, and had never been out at all. And you would believe it. Schizophrenic's trust their brain just as you do, and it's a sad thing that their brains betray them. How can we hold people like this accountable for any decision?
Matt Cooper
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 8:46 p.m.
No solitude, I got your point. You apparently missed mine. My question to you was how it is that came to believe that "she willfully and deliberately went off her medication". You have made this claim multiple times, and I'd like to know how you came to this conclusion. Care to offer an answer?
Solitude
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 6:48 a.m.
@Matt Cooper, you continue to miss the point. I did not say, nor do I believe, that people don't have the right to take or not take whatever medication they please, absent a court order. I said people shouldn't be allowed to use their non-medicated condition to excuse criminal behavior if they choose not to take their meds.
Matt Cooper
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 4:58 a.m.
Solitude, methinks thou doth protest too much! You keep going on and on and on insisting that Susan willfully made a decision to go off her meds, and I'd very much like for you to explain upon what you base that thought process. Are you in a close intimate relationship with Susan? Secondly, whether you agree or not, every human being, in the absence of a court order, has the right to not take any medication they don't want to take, for any reason they so choose. Just thought you might want to know that.
Solitude
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
@Stella Halcyon, the system in this state, especially for those not of independent means, is an abject failure, and the medical treatments for the problem are trial and error, but the fact remains that those on medication, even those not fine and fully functional, rarely kill.
Solitude
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 3:04 a.m.
Mr. Wilson, I understand that there is no magic cure for this illness, but I also understand that very few paranoid schizophrenic's become homicidal while on their meds. I also understand, and even sympathize with the fact that meds for this condition often cause side effects that are quite difficult. The problem is when a person with this condition decides he or she would rather expose the innocent public to the consequences of their unmedicated behavior instead of suffering the side effects themselves. I believe this state has been willfully and woefully negligent in making the criminal justice system the defacto agency of responsibility in dealing with the mentally ill, but I also believe that people with this condition are like ticking time bombs, and if they can't be trusted to take their meds they should not be allowed to jeopardize the public.
Stella Halcyon
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 11:30 p.m.
Agreed. The ideal that people hold dear (mostly from fear) is that once the appropriate psych meds. are found the individual reverts to fine and fully functional. The reality is that many persons are medicated to the extant of, only what has worked best so far. They are not of necessity fully rational and fully functional. This is why having for the most part, reverted to a mental health system that is almost exclusively medication based with little therapeutic support services is completely failing clients and their families.
justsoyaknow
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 10:07 p.m.
That is a weird comment. I work within the community mental health system and know quite a few paranoid schizophrenics........none of which I could convince they had been home all day if they had not.
Jon Saalberg
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:57 p.m.
@Bill Wilson: great comment.
MRunner73
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:29 p.m.
20 to 40 years is quite a spread. No mention if there is a possibility of parole. Hopefully, not.
Kyle Feldscher
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:01 p.m.
MRunner73- The possibility of parole begins after 20 years in this case.
WalkingJoe
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:21 p.m.
My hope is that the rest of this family can move forward. I know it will be hard but as someone who lost a loved one to murder you live one day at a time. When my daughter was killed my aunt, who lost a son, told us something that has helped. That was "It doesn't get easier, it just gets less hard". As for Susan Wade I honestly feel that her real judgement will be when she comes before God.
TryingToBeObjective
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:01 p.m.
Sorry for your loss, Joe.
eagleman
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:55 p.m.
You have my deepest sympathy, Joe. It's bad enough for a loved one to die, but murdered? Ugh. I don't think I could handle it. May God Bless you and your family.
Momma G
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:17 p.m.
i have to agree with solitude. Their family, friends, physicians or whomever got them the help for their condition and when they make the choice to take themselves off their medications, then they should be given the same penalty as those who aren't "mentally" impaired
Jon Saalberg
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 9:56 p.m.
@Momma G: this is exactly what I'm talking about. You don't "make a choice" when you are in the midst of a severe schizophrenic episode. A person in this situation is not acting rationally. They are always suffering from their illness, schizophrenics in particular. The medications necessary to keep most schizophrenics in some semblance of "normalcy" often have severe side effects - that is why many schizophrenics will stop taking their medication.
Jon Saalberg
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 7:55 p.m.
This is a very tragic event, and it is probably going to generate a lot of comments towards Wade. Hopefully, people will realize that a mentally ill person such as Wade often does not behave rationally due to physiological disruptions in her brain, and to ascribe willful intent to a schizophrenic person in the throes of their disease is irrational. Unfortunately, in our society, many people don't even believe mental illness is a disease, and project their own rational thinking when judging the actions of others with mental illness.
a2citizen
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:30 p.m.
"...Crossman wasn't buying Wade's apologies. "You may fool a lot of people into thinking you're sorry, but you can't fool me," Crossman said..."
Solitude
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 : 8:08 p.m.
I agree with you about the foolishness of expecting rational behavior from someone who is mentally ill in general; however, she willfully and deliberately went off her medication, which is why she deserves zero sympathy. Zero. Had meds been unable to help her condition, that's one thing. In this case, she is absolutely criminally liable and negligent because of her choice, not because of her illness. No one forced her to stop taking her medication.