AOL – by JESSICA GRESKOThe last man to shoot an American president now spends most of the year in a house overlooking the 13th hole of a golf course in a gated community.
He likes taking walks, plays guitar and paints, eats at Wendy’s and drives around in a Toyota. Often, as if to avoid detection, he puts on a hat or visor before going out.
John Hinckley Jr. lives much of the year like any average Joe: shopping, eating out, watching movies.
Hinckley was just 25 when he shot President Ronald Reagan and three others in 1981. When jurors found him not guilty by reason of insanity, they said he needed treatment, not a lifetime in confinement. The verdict left open the possibility that he would one day live outside a mental hospital.
For the past year, under a judge’s order, Hinckley has spent 17 days a month at his mother’s home in Williamsburg, a small southeastern Virginia city. Freedom has come in stages and with strict requirements: meeting regularly in Williamsburg with a psychiatrist and a therapist, volunteering. It has all been part of a lengthy process meant to reintegrate Hinckley, now nearing 60, back into society.
Court hearings are set to begin Wednesday on whether to expand Hinckley’s time in Williamsburg further – possibly permanently.
That leaves some in the place he’d call home wondering: Is he ready for life on the outside? And are they ready for him?
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Local real estate agent John Womeldorf always points out the street where Hinckley’s 89-year-old mother lives if he’s showing a house in the same resort community. He doesn’t want new homeowners to be surprised after they’ve moved in.
“I just matter-of-factly ask them ‘Do you remember the guy that shot President Reagan?’ And usually they do and I say, ‘Well his mother lives here and he gets released a number of times a year and comes and stays with his mom,'” Womeldorf said.
The news has deterred maybe one or two buyers, he said. “It’s been a non-issue.”
Not so for others. Cabot Wade, a musician who gave Hinckley guitar lessons, said he never felt Hinckley was violent or dangerous. Nevertheless, he said, “Nobody will touch him with a 10-foot pole.”
In hearings before U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman, doctors have testified that Hinckley’s psychosis and major depression have been in remission for decades and that, while he still has a narcissistic personality disorder, its effects have diminished. Psychological testing shows Hinckley’s dangerousness risk is “decidedly low,” Hinckley’s longtime lawyer, Barry Levine, said during the most recent hearings over his release that ran intermittently from late 2011 through 2013.
For decades, Hinckley was confined to St. Elizabeths Hospital in the nation’s capital. But Judge Friedman has been allowing him freedom in stages starting with a 2003 order: at first, day visits outside the institution, then local overnight visits.
Starting in 2006, Hinckley was allowed three-night trips to Williamsburg, then four, then more. In late 2013, Friedman approved the current 17-day stretches. Friedman said he was persuaded Hinckley was not a danger and that the longer stays might “provide new opportunities for employment and structured community activities.”
In Wednesday’s hearing, St. Elizabeths and Levine are expected to call for even more freedom. Prosecutors, however, have consistently opposed Hinckley’s release, arguing he has a history of deceptive behavior and troubling relationships with women. During the last hearings, they cited a July 2011 incident in which he went to a bookstore instead of a movie and then lied about it. The Secret Service, whose agents sporadically tail Hinckley, reported he looked at shelves that contained books about Reagan and his attempted assassination, though he didn’t pick anything up.
“Mr. Hinckley has not shown himself ready to conduct the hard work of transitioning to a new city,” prosecutor Sarah Chasson said in 2011.
Experts not involved in Hinckley’s case said that people like him can successfully transition back to a community and that there are tools to evaluate whether they remain dangerous, though there are limits. That’s why the standard approach is to give freedom incrementally and monitor, said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and a past president of the American Psychiatric Association.
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Hinckley’s time in Williamsburg is highly scripted. He lives with his mother, Jo Ann, in the community of Kingsmill. He volunteers and drives alone, but only to places where “people will be expecting him.” He must avoid “areas where the president or members of Congress may be visiting.”
The aim is to help him rebuild some semblance of a normal life: to hold a job, make friends. But his progress has been halting, hampered by his notoriety.
Several organizations turned him down for volunteer positions before the librarian at Eastern State Hospital, a facility for the mentally ill, agreed to take him. “Not everyone was real happy about it,” Sandra Kochersperger said.
Hinckley was “very quiet” and “very sweet,” she said. He made copies and shelved books.
“I think John’s paid for what he did. He was in a totally different mind at that time. He was psychotic,” said Kochersperger, who retired in 2013. “I think he needs to be given the opportunity at this stage to try to have some kind of a life.”
Some other residents are also accepting, but others are unwilling to forgive. Kingsmill resident Joe Mann, 73, said Hinckley should remain confined.
“All it takes is one slip, one flip of whatever in the brain caused him to do what he did before,” he said.
Hinckley’s attorney has called those concerns are unfounded, and notes that Hinckley’s elderly mother helps supervise him. Lawyers have discussed the inevitable: She will die.
“Time is not our friend. This thing has a growing urgency to it,” Levine told the judge in November 2011.
“The time,” he said, “is now.”
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Follow Jessica Gresko at https://twitter.com/jessicagresko
I think he should be freed, and have his second amendment rights fully restored, but I’m curious to know how Jodi Foster feels about this.
It’ll be hilarious if she marries him.
“Hinckley was just 25 when he shot President Ronald Reagan and three others in 1981.”
He should remain in prison for life, simply for failure to kill all four.
Hey #1, the result of this incident was “The Brady Bill”, name after James Brady who took a slug to the noggin. Hell of an outcome. It also knocked Jodi Foster clear off the “fence”.
It was merely a warning to Reagan to toe the (jew) line, Millard.
Had they really wanted his sorry @ss dead, it would have been.
This is bull. John Hinkley, aka Chapman was not 25, he was not crazy, and he did not act alone. This is Bush propaganda, folks.
His handler was my handler, Anthony “The Greek” Toulis.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=8837
Just so you know, Nancy R. Owens, I do not trust anything you say. Quite frankly, I do not even know how you can believe anyone would trust one word that you would have to say. You’ve been a tool for them and why should I forget that and believe you now? I’ve been burned one too many times to assume trust.
I was Reagan’s second shooter and it was done on my birthday as a punishment from Toulis who was angry that I had applied for a bar job underage.
I shot three shots. One into the air and the second two lower. I abandoned Chapman who was still shooting. I don’t care if you believe me or not. These are facts and probably “classified.”
In other words, don’t look too closely at the trail of blood following those who, like the Bush family, make their money off of selling out Americans who trust them and believe they’re loyal patriots.
They’re not.
Why did Jeb Bush, a Texan, feel the need to be the governor of Florida?
Why is he so desperate to become a president now?
Hinkley and Chapman are one and the same and, like Obama/Allen, we all grew up in Clewiston, Florida which is a few miles north of the newly territorial disputed area known as the Everglades Swamp.
Also home of US Sugar Corp.
Follow the money.
Oh, I’m not disputing all the facts but put yourself in my shoes. Would you trust you? It’s one layer of lies superimposed over another to bedazzle the masses. You are too close to rule out, at least, manipulation by tptb unbeknownst to you, or at worst, an outright disinfo specialist and troll.
Manipulation by the powers that be I have no doubt.
Why?
My guess is that just as the Hispanic New World planned, a Cuban is attempting to ascend the American throne.
Having kidnapped Adam Walsh, that is a very strong card to play.
But, being the greedy scumbags that these politicians are, it looks to me as though it’s too late to do anything about it.
We’ve hit the wall as far as saving our Constitution for Americans whose fathers and forefathers have been here for generations.
Now, our Constitution belongs to Cuba and Russia and this game plan is certainly NOT the brainchild of the Bush or Clinton families as they would have us believe.
The Bush family aligned themselves with Pablo Escobar long ago and I won’t accept responsibility for their deception.
I don’t control the information or evidence since I am not a cop or in law enforcement.
For the record, I did earn a degree in Journalism which almost got me killed.
Why are you putting their corrupt behavior, their lies on my shoulders?
Millard, I did a search of Anthony “The Greek” Toulis. I didn’t find much (mostly things posted by Nancy). However, I did see some very interesting comments in this Forum:
http://www.quatloos.com/Q-Forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9162&start=140
Hey Nancy, I just got off the phone with #1 and he recalls a “confession” you made to Henry in a comment that you make up sh!t just to “f^ck with people’s heads.” You need someone to manage your medications as it’s quite obvious the cheese has slid off the cracker!
Nancy’s anticipated comeback, “Well, don’t you see, they’re trying to discredit me because I is so impotent!”
Did you see the video where the FBI agent listened to my confession right up to the point where I mentioned one of their guys being involved?
I would think that the “Feds” allowing a Cuban, non-American to run for President while ignoring my info from the early years of Pablo Escobar should be more a clue for most of you.
This is a video of Mike Volin confirming the true identity of Mike Zullo as Mike Moore. Volin has also tried desperately to discredit this video saying it has been doctored with. However, someone by the name of Mark McDaniel has stated that this video has been examined and that it HAS NOT been tampered with.
http://www.liveleak.com/c/Nancy_Owens
So, if your #1 is Mike ZulloMoore or any member of the Cold Case Posse, the joke’s on you.
Look, you dumb b#tch, I KNOW what I saw, and I DAMN sure didn’t misread it.
I’m sure Henry could pull up that comment if he’s a mind to.
idiot
Show me the entire statement and I’ll show you that it has been taken out of context.
It’s not hard to do when dealing with media members, including myself, who don’t have time to read every single thing published on the internet on any given day.
Who, in their right mind, would call up the FBI only to give false info?
THERE WAS NO ‘CONTEXT’ FOR IT TO BE TAKEN OUT OF!!! IT WAS A STRAIGHTFORWARD ADMISSION!!!!!
PLEASE, do us all a favor, and go play on the freeway.
Preferably BLINDFOLDED!
IDIOT!!!
So, show me. I know I didn’t make any phone calls so you should already have it in print somewhere.
Your attempt to establish any whim of credibility is severely compromised Nancy. If fact, I’m done wasting my time on someone who has difficultly stating the truth and, much less, someone who wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped ’em right in the face. I’m done wasting my time, I will never respond again to any of your rubbish so you can continue “f^cking with people’s heads unabated by any more argument from me. Or you could leave and don’t let the door slam you in the a$$ on the way out!.
I’ve provided video after video of proof of my attempts to get the truth out. Take it or leave. I don’t understand why you should be getting so upset.
The Kid was a Patsie”. His father and brother were big oil men and huge Bush supporters (Bush was sitting VP and would be president upon Reagan’s death).
He was a classic “MK Ultra” victim.
He was handled by Toulis who was one of the big wigs in town and I very seriously doubt if any of their family members had even met the Bush family at that time.
It was Tony who was present during the manipulation/seduction of Chapman/Hinkley for the Reagan kill. There was nothing insane about Chapman.
Reagan couldn’t let the public know what they were doing (cocaine) so it was an easy fix to label Hinkley/Chapman insane thinking that they could control the Castro families who were living in Clewiston, Florida murdering off white Americans.
Being opportunistic cowards, they did lose control very early on. By 1982 which was when Escobar built his castle/prison known as “Napoles.”
There may have been a second or even third and fourth “Napoles” because Pablo certainly had the money to buy up properties all over Central and South America.
Now, with Cuba’s Ted Cruz and, admittedly descendant of two Cuban immigrants from the captured Miami, Florida, Marco Rubio, it’s not so easy to fix anymore.
Don’t be surprised to see Menendez come out of the woodwork the closer it gets to 2016.
Just as Pablo Escobar predicted over thirty years ago and, based on what I was seeing at that time, I most certainly didn’t doubt him.
The vacuum of opposing power left the door wide open for Gorbechev who didn’t wast the opportunity to invade by gathering up local teenagers eager to do whatever they had to to keep themselves and their families alive. I was one of them and passed the info on to Gotti who ordered Bush, Jr. to have him killed.
Bush failed and Abel Danger was present during the first attempt. The second attempt, with Mike Volin present, succeeded.
Volin did not pull the trigger on Gorby, however and I’d like to say that it was, in fact, VP Biden.
The Clintons ordered Biden killed shortly afterward. I was with Rivi Ayala and made sure to flub the assassination attempt with three bullets shot at his house from the road.
I didn’t mean to fall into this wormhole. Weird…
This was another FALSE FLAG. BTW