Possible Explanation for Brian McGovern Shooting (Mass General)
Maggie
Anguish preceded shootings at MGH
By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, 4/11/2003
Colleen Mitchell normally kept her personal life to herself, but recently, some
co-workers say, the 51-year-old secretary was anguished. Within the past few
weeks, she flew to Virginia abruptly to see her 78-year-old father, whom she
said had suffered a minor stroke as he was caring for her mother, who has
Alzheimer's disease.
''The guilt is killing me,'' she told one colleague, with whom she worked
closely. ''I know I should be down there.''
Mitchell arrived at Massachusetts General Hospital as usual Tuesday morning and
went about her work, taking phone calls from one worker who called in sick and
another who would be in late. Then, just after 10, she calmly walked from the
front reception area to a small, rear office, fatally shot Dr. Brian McGovern,
and turned the gun on herself, police said.
Yesterday, grieving co-workers at the hospital's Electrophysiology Laboratory
said the two hardly knew each another, and that it was possible Mitchell did
not expect to encounter McGovern in the office. Each Tuesday and Thursday
morning, the co-workers said, McGovern always arrived late - around 10:30 or
10:45 - after dropping off his daughter at Phillips Academy in Andover. He
usually walked to his office through a side door, where Mitchell and even his
own secretary would not have seen him entering.
''I think she didn't know that he was there,'' said the office worker, who
spoke with Mitchell minutes before the shooting.
''Maybe he tried to stop her and she turned the gun on him first,'' said the
worker, who asked not to be named.
It's unclear why McGovern arrived early that morning, but southbound traffic on
Interstate 93 was unusally light between 9 and 10 a.m. that morning, according
to Jeff Larson, general manager of SmartRoute Systems, a traffic monitoring
company.
McGovern's office is next to the office of the person who had called in late,
the worker said. The door to that office was locked, but McGovern's was open,
and the co-worker speculated Mitchell may have been looking for an empty
office.
Mitchell, who had worked in the office since September, rarely talked about her
personal life until recently. Since visiting her parents a few weeks ago, the
colleague said, Mitchell began to reveal her deep concerns about her parents'
health - but sometimes broke off in the middle of the conversation, saying it
was too painful.
''She was going through a lot of mental anguish,'' the colleague said. ''She
was very, very depressed. ... She would say something, and then say, `I can't
even talk about it, I'm going to break down.' And then she would make herself
busy.''
The recollections of co-workers came yesterday as questions lingered over why
Mitchell, a former social worker with nearly 25 years of hospital experience
and no history of trouble, carried an unlicensed .38-caliber handgun to work
and fired three bullets at McGovern before shooting herself.
''We don't have any answer at this point,'' said Dr. Jeremy Ruskin, director of
the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at MGH. ''I know Brian like the back of my hand
and I knew Colleen as well. ... Obviously, there was some serious psychological
disturbance that must have been at the root of this.''
''What is most difficult for all of us here is there was no hint of a problem
that anybody had any inkling of,'' he added.
Police found bottles of Wellbutrin and Zoloft, commonly prescribed
antidepressants, in Mitchell's apartment, along with 40 rounds of ammunition.
Reached shortly after the shooting, two of Mitchell's sisters said they were
just as baffled and that nothing in Mitchell's past could have predicted the
violence.
Boston police confirmed yesterday that family illness appeared to be an issue
that was causing Mitchell great anxiety.
Her father, a retired FBI agent, and her mother live in Virginia Beach, where
they attend Mass regularly at Star of the Sea Catholic Church. They are known
at the parish as private people. Reached at the family home in Virginia Beach,
James F. Mitchell declined to discuss specifics of his health or his wife's, or
the extent to which Colleen worried about them.
''My wife and I, like many people our age, have minor illnesses,'' he said.
''Colleen was a wonderful girl. ... You couldn't ask for a better daughter. She
was a very caring and considerate girl, and God bless her and thank God she
cared about us. ... We're very pained for the family of the doctor.''
Neighbors and co-workers say Mitchell was friendly - a health food fanatic who
hid her smoking habit and kept in shape. She never lingered at the hospital,
leaving every day at 4:30 p.m. for a second job at Barnes & Noble in Downtown
Crossing.
''It just doesn't add up,'' Dr. Peter L. Slavin, president of MGH, wrote in a
memo to the MGH community yesterday. ''It doesn't make sense. ... Violence of
this sort seems so totally out of place in a facility devoted to healing and
restoring lives, and the lack of explanation as to what caused this horrible
event makes it all the more frustrating and confusing.''
Douglas Belkin of the Globe Staff and Globe correspondent Judy Foreman
contributed to this report.
This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 4/11/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
Maggie
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is
more important than his own personal safety….has no chance of being free
unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John
Stuart Mill
Chocolic
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
news:20030412214007...@mb-ch.aol.com...
between Mitchell and McGovern, something they kept hidden from their family
and co-workers.
Chocolic
Jagdeep Cruellruby
"Chocolic" <chatt...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:gk5ma.26349$cO3.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I have to admit I started wondering that myself. Even wondered if
the two of them might have had a connection before she moved there,
and then it all came to a head, he wanted to break it off after
she'd changed her life blah blah blah. Or maybe my imagination is
just working overtime tonight.
JC
Maggie
>What a strange story. How much you wanna bet there was something more
>between Mitchell and McGovern, something they kept hidden from their family
>and co-workers.
***You know, that's just not the vibe I'm getting from this one. I haven't
seen a picture of Mitchell, but I'd really like to. (McGovern was sort of
pleasant looking, maybe a little nerdy.)
In my experience, when a married doctor takes a girlfriend from among his
co-workers, that girlfriend is almost always young and perky--not a spinster,
four years older than himself. The fact is that if a doc wants to have an
affair, there are usually a number of willing young women in the hospital.
Unless this was truly a love-match (and there seems to be little evidence of
that since no one even believes these two knew each other very well), I just
don't see it.
Jagdeep Cruellruby
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
The Mitchell woman was described in one article as blond and very
young-looking.
JC
Maggie
>> ***You know, that's just not the vibe I'm getting from this one.
>I haven't
>> seen a picture of Mitchell, but I'd really like to. (McGovern was
>sort of
>> pleasant looking, maybe a little nerdy.)
>>
>> In my experience, when a married doctor takes a girlfriend from
>among his
>> co-workers, that girlfriend is almost always young and perky--not
>a spinster,
>> four years older than himself. The fact is that if a doc wants to
>have an
>> affair, there are usually a number of willing young women in the
>hospital.
>> Unless this was truly a love-match (and there seems to be little
>evidence of
>> that since no one even believes these two knew each other very
>well), I just
>> don't see it.
>
jc said:
>The Mitchell woman was described in one article as blond and very
>young-looking.
***I think that was her family that described her as young-looking.
Take a look at the descriptions from her friends--"quiet, reliable,
well-respected, happy, capable, nice personality, great sense of humor." These
are all from news stories about her--you get the idea. They're all code words
for "fat and ugly," you know (I'm sort of serious about that one). In any
case, there are definitely some missing adjectives--"attractive," "slender,"
"petite," athletic," "popular," whatever. I've read absolutely nothing about
any other man in this woman's life, *ever.* In fact, it has occurred to me
that she might be a lesbian. And, to top it off, she was a smoker and he, a
cardiologist. I just really don't think there was anything between them. Of
course, I would still love to find a picture and, although I've searched and
searched, I can't find one on-line. Perhaps someone who lives in the Boston
area can report. But just the fact that there isn't a picture, IMO, very
likely tells us something about her appearance. JMO.
SageJelly
>seen a picture of Mitchell, but I'd really like to. (McGovern was sort of
>pleasant looking, maybe a little nerdy.)
I'm not getting that vibe either. I'm thinking that perhaps she was infatuated
with the doctor and he rejected her advances. If she was suffering from
depression, as her medication indicates she was, then she may have interpreted
his rejection as "you're not good enough. You're worthless. You're a nobody."
It would not be unusual for a depressed person to interpret unreciprocated
romantic interest in such a fashion.
An article mentioned that 40 rounds of ammunition was found in her apartment.
Not being a gun owner, is that a normal amount of ammunition for a gun owner to
have? It seemed like a lot to me, and I wonder if she was planning something
bigger?
BethF
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
> Take a look at the descriptions from her friends--"quiet, reliable,
> well-respected, happy, capable, nice personality, great sense of humor."
These
> are all from news stories about her--you get the idea. They're all code
words
> for "fat and ugly," you know (I'm sort of serious about that one). In any
> case, there are definitely some missing adjectives--"attractive,"
"slender,"
> "petite," athletic," "popular," whatever.
if someone i knew and loved did something incredibly flighty and unreliable,
like shoot herself and another person I might also be recalling what
reliable and well respected she was instead of how slender she was. It just
isn't relevant if she was thin and pretty - its relevant that she is happy
and nice.
>I've read absolutely nothing about
> any other man in this woman's life, *ever.* In fact, it has occurred to
me
> that she might be a lesbian. And, to top it off, she was a smoker and he,
a
> cardiologist.
LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
BethF
"SageJelly" <sage...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030413141453...@mb-fn.aol.com...
> An article mentioned that 40 rounds of ammunition was found in her
apartment.
> Not being a gun owner, is that a normal amount of ammunition for a gun
owner to
> have? It seemed like a lot to me, and I wonder if she was planning
something
> bigger?
there are fifty rounds per box, so thats not alot.
Maggie
>news:20030413113831...@mb-fc.aol.com...
>
>> Take a look at the descriptions from her friends--"quiet, reliable,
>> well-respected, happy, capable, nice personality, great sense of humor."
>These
>> are all from news stories about her--you get the idea. They're all code
>words
>> for "fat and ugly," you know (I'm sort of serious about that one). In
>any
>> case, there are definitely some missing adjectives--"attractive,"
>"slender,"
>> "petite," athletic," "popular," whatever.
>
>
>if someone i knew and loved did something incredibly flighty and unreliable,
>like shoot herself and another person I might also be recalling what
>reliable and well respected she was instead of how slender she was. It
>just
>isn't relevant if she was thin and pretty - its relevant that she is happy
>and nice.
***A murder/suicide is "flighty and unreliable"? Well, okay. I can think of
some other adjectives. And I can't believe that if this woman really was a
looker that some reporter, somewhere, didn't think to mention it. It's just
the way these stories are usually written--it's a way to imply a relationship.
And what could possibly be the point of trying to establish "reliability" and
"great sense of humor"? She did it. We all know. The question now is "why"?
Establishing "reliability" and "capability" does nothing to advance Mitchell's
case (except maybe as to some sort of medication-related rage).
If anyone I was close to did something like this, I'd want to do everything
possible to throw the blame on the other victim and make it appear that he did
her wrong. I'd try to make it clear that that my friend/family member would
never do something like this without a good reason and that the doc clearly had
to have been involved with her. (There's not even a hint of this in the
Mitchell case, from anyone.) And what better way to do this than to establish
her beauty and irresistibility (if it was at all believable, that is)?
>
>
>>I've read absolutely nothing about
>> any other man in this woman's life, *ever.* In fact, it has occurred
>to
>me
>> that she might be a lesbian. And, to top it off, she was a smoker and
>he,
>a
>> cardiologist.
>
>LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
***Well, he's definitely in the minority, I'm sure.
But I'm curious as to his age. I'd bet past 55. Do you know?
Patty
news:v9jaiaa...@corp.supernews.com...
:
: "Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
: news:20030413113831...@mb-fc.aol.com...
:
: > Take a look at the descriptions from her friends--"quiet, reliable,
: > well-respected, happy, capable, nice personality, great sense of humor."
: These
: > are all from news stories about her--you get the idea. They're all code
: words
: > for "fat and ugly," you know (I'm sort of serious about that one). In any
: > case, there are definitely some missing adjectives--"attractive,"
: "slender,"
: > "petite," athletic," "popular," whatever.
BethF wrote:
: if someone i knew and loved did something incredibly flighty and unreliable,
: like shoot herself and another person I might also be recalling what
: reliable and well respected she was instead of how slender she was. It just
: isn't relevant if she was thin and pretty - its relevant that she is happy
: and nice.
"I don't know why she did it. She was very pretty AND slender. Looked 15 years
younger than her age. She was a petite little thing. Only wore a size 6. Why,
why would someone like that do this?"
Patty
BethF
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
> If anyone I was close to did something like this, I'd want to do
everything
> possible to throw the blame on the other victim and make it appear that he
did
> her wrong. I'd try to make it clear that that my friend/family member
would
> never do something like this without a good reason and that the doc
clearly had
> to have been involved with her. (There's not even a hint of this in the
> Mitchell case, from anyone.) And what better way to do this than to
establish
> her beauty and irresistibility (if it was at all believable, that is)?
I am not ready to assume anyone who calls a woman "funny, kind, reliable"
means that she is ugly. This woman sounds like a bit of a loner, and she
might be socially not a live-wire, but I wouldn't assume that means she was
a frumpy, ugly fat woman.
> >LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
>
> ***Well, he's definitely in the minority, I'm sure.
>
> But I'm curious as to his age. I'd bet past 55. Do you know?
Maggie, * SHE * is in her late 30's. Her patients do not know she smokes.
BethF
"Patty" <eartha...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f0e77308.03041...@posting.google.com...
.
>
> "I don't know why she did it. She was very pretty AND slender. Looked 15
years
> younger than her age. She was a petite little thing. Only wore a size 6.
Why,
> why would someone like that do this?"
Patty, if you said that I would think you were the most horrible,
superficial bitch!!
Maggie
>news:20030413143532...@mb-fc.aol.com...
>
>> If anyone I was close to did something like this, I'd want to do
>everything
>> possible to throw the blame on the other victim and make it appear that
>he
>did
>> her wrong. I'd try to make it clear that that my friend/family member
>would
>> never do something like this without a good reason and that the doc
>clearly had
>> to have been involved with her. (There's not even a hint of this in the
>> Mitchell case, from anyone.) And what better way to do this than to
>establish
>> her beauty and irresistibility (if it was at all believable, that is)?
>
> I am not ready to assume anyone who calls a woman "funny, kind, reliable"
>means that she is ugly. This woman sounds like a bit of a loner, and she
>might be socially not a live-wire, but I wouldn't assume that means she
>was
>a frumpy, ugly fat woman.
***Now I really, really, really want to find a picture, because I'd bet almost
anything from reading the descriptions of her in news stories that, due to
looks or personality (and likely, both), it was pretty quickly concluded that
Mitchell and McGovern weren't romantically involved. Surely there's someone
here from Boston who's seen a picture (if, indeed, any exist) or can direct us
to one.
>
>> >LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
>>
>> ***Well, he's definitely in the minority, I'm sure.
>>
>> But I'm curious as to his age. I'd bet past 55. Do you know?
>
>
>Maggie, * SHE * is in her late 30's. Her patients do not know she smokes.
***Yikes. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Chocolic
By Ellen Barry, Globe Staff, 4/11/2003
As friends, family, and investigators searched for a possible motive in
Tuesday's slaying of a Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologist, an
antipsychiatry ''watchdog group'' said that Colleen Mitchell's psychiatric
medication had spurred her to shoot Dr. Brian McGovern and then turn the
gun on herself.
Members of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which is affiliated
with the Church of Scientology, planned a protest at the hospital today
against the use of antidepressants such as Zoloft, which Mitchell had
apparently been taking.
There is a long history of allegations that selective seratonin reuptake
inhibitors (a tremendously popular category of antidepressants that
includes Prozac and Paxil) drive people to violence or suicide. In 2001, a
Wyoming jury made a $6.4 million judgment against GlaxoSmithKline, which
makes Paxil, after an oil field worker taking the drug shot his wife,
daughter, and granddaughter and then committed suicide. The company
appealed the decision and ultimately settled out of court. The following
year, the Food and Drug Administration filed a brief supporting the drug
maker's position.
A Harvard Medical School psychiatrist said yesterday that it is
''preposterous'' to assign blame for a crime to an antidepressant like
Zoloft. The drugs increase buildup of a naturally occurring chemical,
seratonin, around nerve endings in the brain. Although ''edgy'' people may
sometimes see an exaggeration of that quality, he said, the effects are
transient.
''These medicines are not that powerful, frankly, for good or for ill,''
said Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin, chief of the Clinical Psychopharmacology
Research Program at McLean Hospital. ''It is not a cause for misbehavior,
not an excuse for misbehavior, and it doesn't help us understand the
misbehavior.''
But a Utah activist who has testified as an expert witness against drug
manufacturers said a high level of seratonin in the brain can cause people
to ''act out their nightmares,'' leading them to commit violent crimes. Ann
Blake Tracy, director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness,
said she had become increasingly suspicious of SSRI antidepressants as she
watched more and more friends in Utah begin taking them, ''doing violent
things completely out of character for them.''
The debate over the drugs has emerged in Boston several times since 1990,
when a McLean researcher, Dr. Martin Teicher, published a study showing
that 3.5 percent of patients taking Prozac attempt or commit suicide due to
severe agitation. Eight years later, Teicher helped to patent a
reformulation of the drug, whose application states that the new version
reduces side effects such as ''intense, violent suicidal thoughts.''
This story ran on page B7 of the Boston Globe on 4/11/2003.
-------------------------------
Figures, blame it on the antidepressant meds.
Chocolic
tinydancer
What a load of bullshit!
td
>
>
>
>
Chocolic
"tinydancer" <tinyd...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:X0sma.35007$q2.2...@fe08.atl2.webusenet.com...
It seems when you are depressed and commit a crime, the fault is either
because you weren't on antidepressants or you were.
Chocolic
tinydancer
There are probably 10,000 times more people 'helped' by
medications..........
td
>
>
>
BethF
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
to find a picture, because I'd bet almost
> anything from reading the descriptions of her in news stories that, due to
> looks or personality (and likely, both), it was pretty quickly concluded
that
> Mitchell and McGovern weren't romantically involved. Surely there's
someone
> here from Boston who's seen a picture (if, indeed, any exist) or can
direct us
> to one.
i would like to see one too now! I am hoping you are wrong because i simply
hope her friends aren't that superficial!!
>
>
> >> >LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
> >>
> >> ***Well, he's definitely in the minority, I'm sure.
> >>
> >> But I'm curious as to his age. I'd bet past 55. Do you know?
> >
> >
> >Maggie, * SHE * is in her late 30's. Her patients do not know she
smokes.
>
> ***Yikes. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
It does. Its a habit from stress of residency i think.
Maggie
>news:20030413210956.08824.00000955@mb-> ***Now I really, really, really
>want
>to find a picture, because I'd bet almost
>> anything from reading the descriptions of her in news stories that, due
>to
>> looks or personality (and likely, both), it was pretty quickly concluded
>that
>> Mitchell and McGovern weren't romantically involved. Surely there's
>someone
>> here from Boston who's seen a picture (if, indeed, any exist) or can
>direct us
>> to one.
>
>i would like to see one too now! I am hoping you are wrong because i simply
>hope her friends aren't that superficial!!
***If Mitchell had any friends, they haven't been quoted--just her family and
some co-workers.
I'm just trying to look for an explanation for the total lack of suggestion,
innuendo, whatever of any romantic relationship between Colleen and the doc
(which would certainly be the usual case in such a situation). One explanation
could be that she was known to be a lesbian. Another could be that the idea of
a relationship between her and McGovern is completely unbelievable. I tend to
think it's the latter, because I believe if she was out as a lesbian, that fact
would have made its way into one of the news stories.
FWIW (probably nothing), in my search for a picture last night, I listened to
one local broadcast which described Mitchell as "the 5'5" Mitchell." I kept
waiting to be filled in on her weight or dress size but the newscaster didn't
come through for me. I thought it was sort of a weird reference--I don't
usually wonder about the height of murder suspects.
Maggie < still searching for a pic--isn't there anyone from Boston out there?
>
>
>>
>>
>> >> >LOL! I have a cardiologist friend who smokes. Truly.
>> >>
>> >> ***Well, he's definitely in the minority, I'm sure.
>> >>
>> >> But I'm curious as to his age. I'd bet past 55. Do you know?
>> >
>> >
>> >Maggie, * SHE * is in her late 30's. Her patients do not know she
>smokes.
>>
>> ***Yikes. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
>
>
>It does. Its a habit from stress of residency i think.
>
Maggie
Did My Homework
> From the Boston Globe:
>
> Anguish preceded shootings at MGH
> By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, 4/11/2003
>
> Colleen Mitchell normally kept her personal life to herself, but recently, some
> co-workers say, the 51-year-old secretary was anguished. Within the past few
> weeks, she flew to Virginia abruptly to see her 78-year-old father, whom she
> said had suffered a minor stroke as he was caring for her mother, who has
> Alzheimer's disease.
>
Colleen being paged,'' Neary-Ludmer said. ''Colleen was this blue-eyed,
blonde-haired, `all right what now?' ball of energy. ... She had great
command.''
As a second job, Mitchell tended bar at the Sun Tavern, just to talk to people
who didn't need any help, she jokingly told friends.
She also led a whirlwind social life. At age 30, after years of chubbiness, she
lost 40 pounds and began to attract attention, attending parties with friends
from the hospital, who gathered to drink and dance in short skirts and scrubs.
''We had a ball,'' said Cummings, whose basement often filled with revelers
during those parties in the 1980s. ''Colleen shined. ... Everyone was looking
at her.''
Mitchell discreetly dated a string of doctors at the hospital, but nothing ever
seemed to work out. She seemed undaunted by heartbreak, rarely talking of
settling down.
''In a weird way, being single suited her,'' said Catherine Heineman, a nurse
who worked closely with Mitchell. ''She was happy-go-lucky and spontaneous. She
wasn't real open about the guys she was dating. That may have been because they
were guys we knew.''
In the mid-1980s, according to friends, Mitchell met the love of her life: a
rising star emergency room doctor and ladies' man. Her happiness crumbled in
1991 when he died of AIDS at the age of 37. A relative said he had contracted
the disease from a patient.
''She never got over it,'' Cummings said. ''Smiling, laughing, joking, it's a
way of hiding pain. ... She always seemed to handle the devastating things:
meeting someone and then not going out anymore, meeting someone else and not
seeming to connect. I think she would get to a point, and then she would cut it
off, because she was afraid to get hurt.''
> Maggie
>
> "The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is