| PAS Creator Commits Suicide |
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Suicide
By cincinnatipas.com:
Dr. Richard Gardner, born April 28, 1931, committed suicide on May 25, 2003.
"CAUSE OF DEATH: Incised wounds of chest and neck."
Allow us to disabuse the pro-abusers. Dr. Richard Gardner's son told the New York Times that his father committed suicide.
Contrary to false assertions made by the father's rights movement, Richard Gardner most certainly did not die peacefully in his sleep.
It was far uglier than that.
The Bergen County (New Jersey) Medical Examiner reported that Dr. Richard Gardner died a gory, bloody and violent death - from his own hand.
Gardner took an overdose of prescription medication while stabbing himself several times in the neck and chest.
Gardner plunged a butcher knife deep into his heart.
The medical examiner removed the knife from Gardner's chest and listed the stabbing wounds as the cause of death: County Of Bergen Department of Public Safety Medical Examiner Autopsy Report.
May 27, 2003 02030860.aut GARDNER, Richard A.
New York Times June 9, 2003, Monday METROPOLITAN DESK Richard Gardner, 72, Dies; Cast Doubt on Abuse Claims By STUART LAVIETES "Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed a theory about parental alienation syndrome, which he said could lead children in high-conflict custody cases to falsely accuse a parent of abuse, died on May 25 at his home in Tenafly, N.J. He was 72. The cause was suicide, said Dr. Gardner's son, Andrew, who said his father had been distraught over the advancing symptoms of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a painful neurological syndrome. Dr. Gardner, who testified in more than 400 child custody cases, maintained that children who suffered from parental alienation syndrome had been indoctrinated by a vindictive parent and obsessively denigrated the other parent without cause. In severe cases, he recommended that courts remove children from the homes of the alienating parents and place them in the custody of the parents accused of abuse. His theory has provoked vehement opposition from some mental health professionals, child abuse experts and lawyers. Critics argue that it lacks a scientific basis, noting that the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have not recognized it as a syndrome. They also say that the theory is biased against women, as allegations of abuse are usually directed at fathers, and that it is used as a weapon by lawyers seeking to undermine a mother's credibility in court." ... ... "His marriage to Lee Gardner ended in divorce. In addition to his son, of Cherry Hill, N.J., he is survived by two daughters, Nancy Gardner Rubin of Potomac, Md., and Julie Gardner Mandelcorn, of Newton, Mass.; his mother, Amelia Gardner of Manhattan; eight grandchildren; and his partner, Natalie Weiss. Correction: June 14, 2003, Saturday An obituary on Monday about Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, misstated his position at Columbia University. He was a clinical professor of psychiatry in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry -- an unpaid volunteer -- not a professor of child psychiatry." End of Obituary Excerpt
A comment about Dr. Richard Gardner's suicide released by the last man to cross examine him, attorney Richard Ducote:
June 1, 2003
"Parental Alienation Syndrome is a bogus, pro-pedophillic fraud concocted by Richard Gardner. I was the last attorney to cross examine Gardner. In Paterson, NJ, he admitted that he has not spoken to the Dean of Columbia's medical school for over 15 years, and has not had hospital admitting privileges for over 25 years.
He has not been court appointed to do anything for decades.
The only two appellate courts in the country who have considered the question of whether PAS meets the Frye test, i.e., whether it is generally accepted in the scientific community, said it does not. As Dr. Paul Fink, former president of the American Psychiatric Association has stated, Dr. Gardner and PAS should be only a 'pathetic footnote' in psychiatric history. Gardner and his bogus theory have done untold damage to sexually and physically abused children and their protective parents. PAS has been rejected by every reputable organization considering it.
In a Florida case in which I was recently involved, when the judge insisted on a Frye hearing, Gardner simply did not show up. Perhaps because he finally realized that the entire nation was on to his scam, he committed suicide on May 25. Let's pray that his ridiculous, dangerous PAS foolishness died with him."
-Richard Ducote, Attorney-at-law, New Orleans, LA
Source:
cincinnatipas.com
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County Of Bergen
Department of Public Safety
Medical Examiner
Autopsy Report
May 27, 2003
02030860.aut
GARDNER, Richard A.
"This is to certify that I, Laura S. Carbone, M.D., Bergen County Medical Examiner, have conducted a postmortem examination and autopsy on the unembalmed and refrigerated body of Richard A. Gardner at the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office on May 27, 2003, between 1030 and 1235 hours with the assistance of Ms. Coleen McVeigh."
IDENTIFICATION:
The decedent is identified visually at the scene by his girlfriend, Natalie Weiss.
CLOTHING/PERSONAL EFFECTS:
The decedent is received clad in a white with black print ("carpe diem") sweatshirt, white undershirt, navy blue trousers and white boxer shorts. The garments are all intact showing no discrete perforations or tears. The sweatshirt and undershirt show patchy blood stains which are most concentrated on the right shoulder and the back areas of the garments. A white handkerchief is recovered from the right front pocket of the trousers; a similar handkerchief and 2 1/2 light orange oval tablets are within the left front pocket. A yellow, metal, nugget-type ring is worn on the right middle finger.
All of the above-described items with the exception of the tablets recovered from a pant pocket (retained) are released to the funeral home (Wien and Wien).
OTHER ITEMS:
Various items are recovered from the scene and are received within labeled paper envelopes as follows:
Several bottles of prescription medications are recovered, some of which are empty. For specific medications, dosages, quantities, etc. please see the report prepared by the Medical Examiner Investigator.
A bloodied steak knife is recovered from the scene. The knife has a wooden handle measuring 3 3/4 x 1/2 x 1/4 inches with a yellow metal serrated blade measuring 5 inches in length and up to 5/8 inch wide and 1/16 inch in maximum thickness; dried blood is visible smeared on the blade surface and smudged on the handle. The knife is photographed.
All of the above-described items are retained by the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office.
MARKS OF TREATMENT:
There is no evidence of terminal medical attention.
RADIOLOGY:
No postmortem x-ray studies are performed.
INJURIES, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL:
There are incised wounds (sharp-force injuries) to the chest and neck. The injuries are listed below for descriptive purposes only. No sequence is implied.
I. CHEST:
There are at least four stab wounds clustered within a 6 x 3 inch area on the anterior left chest. The wounds will be described from inferior to superior designated A-D as follows:
A:
There is a nearly horizontally-oriented elliptical stab wound centered ... (redacted)
B and C:
Wound B is a nearly horizontally-oriented elliptical stab wound ... (redacted)
Wound C is an irregularly shaped stab wound ... (redacted)
D:
The body is received with a knife plunged into wound D. The knife is angled upward and inward with the sharp and dull edges of the blade within the lateral and medial edges of the wound, respectively. ... (redacted)
Once the knife is removed, wound D consists of an elliptical-shaped stab wound ... (redacted) The medial edge is blunt and the lateral edge is sharp. After penetration through the full thickness of the skin and soft tissue of the left anterior chest wall, the knife extended through the intercostal muscle between the left second and third ribs creating a 2" linear incision. The knife then perforated the superior aspect of the pericardial sac ... (redacted) The knife then penetrated the heart; ... (redacted) The knife then terminated in the lumen of the aorta ... (redacted)
The direction of the wound's track is upward and inward, from left to right. The maximum depth of penetration is approximately 5".
II. NECK:
There are three parallel obliquely-oriented incised wounds on the right lateral aspect of the neck situated approximately 1/2" apart and each at angles along the same line as the angle of the jaw. ... (redacted)
KNIFE:
The knife which is recovered from the subject's chest is a butcher knife having a black and gray metal handle and a gray metal blade measuring 7 3/4" length, 1 3/4" maximum width and up to 1/8" maximum thickness. The sharp edge of the blade shows a pattern of tiny serrations. Much of the blade is bloodied.
The knife is photographed and retained by the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office.
FINDINGS/FINAL DIAGNOSIS:
I. Incised wounds of chest and neck.
A. Stab wounds (4) of left chest with:
(a) Incisions of heart, aorta and pericardial sac.
(b) Hemothoraz (1200ml), left.
(c) Soft tissue hemorrhages.
B. Incised wounds (3) of right neck with:
(a) Transection of right jugular vein.
(b) Incision of right thyroid cartilage lamina.
(c) Soft tissue hemorrhages.
CAUSE OF DEATH: Incised wounds of chest and neck.
MANNER OF DEATH: Suicide.
Laura S. Carbone, M.D.
Assistant Medical Examiner
Date Dictated: 05-27-03
Date Transcribed: 06-23-03
Date Finalized: 07-02-03
End of Excerpt of Medical Examiner's Autopsy
Source:
cincinnatipas.com
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