James Gordon Wolcott, as a 15-year-old, murdered the entire family, but was not convicted of a crime because psychologists found him paranoid schizophrenia. He changed his name, gained education and worked as a lecturer at the university. Years later, his secret was revealed.
- The murder in the Wolcott house took place on August 4, 1967. James Walcott’s father, mother and 17-year-old sister were shot dead. The boy quickly confessed to the murder of the family
- After the experts found him insane, he was sent to a psychiatric institution. When he left seven years later, he obtained a degree and, under a changed name, taught for 27 years at the university
- When the press found out about his secret, local authorities demanded Wolcott’s release, but the university refused. It turned out that both the school and the students appreciate his work
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James Gordon Wolcott lived in central Texas, in the city of Georgetown. His father, Gordon B. Wolcott, headed the university’s biology department. His mother, Elizabeth, was active in the religious community. James and his 17-year-old sister Libby attended their local high school.
“I killed them before they had a chance to murder me”
At ten pm on August 4, 1967, James and Libby were returning home with friends after a rock concert in nearby Austin. Just after midnight, James was sniffing model airplane glue in his room. He was addicted to him. He claimed to “energize him”. Immediately after armed with a .22 caliber rifle, he entered the salon and shot his father. He fired two shots in his chest. He killed his sister by shooting once in the chest and once in the face. The teenager found his mother in his parents’ bedroom, where he shot her twice in the head and once in the chest.
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His father and sister both died right away. The mother was dying on the bed. James hid the rifle in a crack above the bedroom wardrobe. After disposing of his guns, he ran out of the house and stopped a car in which three students were driving. He told them that someone had killed his family and they went home with him. Inside the apartment, the students found Mrs. Wolcott, lying on the bed, no longer responding to their questions. One of the students called an ambulance and the police.
Sitting on the porch of the Wolcotts’ house, James kept shouting, “How could this have happened!” He, of course, knew exactly how it happened. When the students thought that the killer might still be in the apartment, they fled the scene. Elizabeth Wolcott died in the hospital.
A few hours later when one of the officers asked James if he had killed his family, the boy pleaded guilty. At this point, James was conscious enough to detail what he had done and to show the cops where he had hidden the shotgun.
Several psychiatrists examined James at the Williamson County Jail. They found out from the young murderer that he had been sniffing glue for several months. James also told doctors that he was considering suicide. He said his parents and sister tried to drive him crazy. He said:
I killed them before they had a chance to murder me.
James stated that he hated his family. He told psychiatrists that his mother chewed her food so loudly that he had to leave the room. His sister had an annoying Texas accent, and his father had him cut his hair and kept him from attending peace rallies.
There had been no cases of mental illness in the Wolcott family before, but psychiatrists concluded that the boy suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Its symptoms include, for example, delusions. «Often the sick have, for example, persecutory delusions, then they have the impression that someone is following them. There are also, for example, delusions, when the patient has the impression that the environment is too interested in his affairs »- we wrote in Medonet, describing this serious illness.
Young Wolcott’s defense lawyer relied on insanity. In October 1967, after a short trial, the jury found the boy innocent on account of insanity. The jury believed James had no idea killing his family was wrong. To this day, it is one of the few such judgments. An extremely rare mental illness completely disturbs the murderer’s consciousness and evaluation of his actions.
In February 1968, a judge sent James Wolcott to Rusk Hospital in Texas. He was to stay there until his condition improved. In 1974, seven years after the murder of the family, psychiatrists from the Rusk hospital decided that the young man was ready to return to life in freedom.
Then… James Walcott’s hearing was lost. It was only years later that a local newspaper found his way. In July 2013, journalist Ann Marie Gardner published an article about him. The story she described is extraordinary.
«He’s a genius!»
It was revealed that after leaving the Rusk Hospital, Walcott settled in Austin, Texas, where he enrolled at the Stephen F. Austin University. Two years later, he completed his first-cycle studies in psychology. As the only living child of his deceased parents inherited their property and started receiving a monthly scholarship from my father’s university pension fund.
In the late 70s, James Wolcott changed his name to James St. James. In 1980, after obtaining his master’s degree, St. James started his PhD studies. In 1988, as a doctor, he began lecturing psychology at the Millikin University in Decatur. Nobody at school knew that a psychology professor had killed three members of his family 21 years earlier. If he had revealed his past, he probably wouldn’t have got the job.
When his past came to light, the then 61-year-old scientist headed the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Millikin University. Local authorities demanded the dismissal of the lecturer, but the university and students supported their employee.
He’s very intelligent, he’s almost a genius!
– one of the students praised in an interview with CNN, who strongly supported the lecturer. “There is no reason for him to leave if he hasn’t done anything wrong here,” she said.
When a scandal broke out around him in 2013, the person himself did not comment on the matter. You can find a conspiracy theory online that says Wolcott was misdiagnosed and really was a genius killer.
St. James is still one of the psychology lecturers, and you can read many positive opinions about his classes on the Internet.