A neurologist's testimony about Kinkel's mental state made the teen sit up and listen for the first time in three days of proceedings

November 5, 1999
Web posted at: 11:37 a.m. EDT (1537 GMT)

In this story: 'Holes' in Kinkel's brain How long in prison? Mental illness in teen killer's family Kinkel writes of 'voices' in his head RELATED STORIES, SITES

EUGENE, Oregon (CNN) -- A sentencing hearing continues Friday for Kip Kinkel, the Oregon teen-ager who pleaded guilty to murdering his parents and a subsequent high school shooting rampage that left two students dead.

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Kinkel will have to serve at least 25 years. The hearing that began Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court is to determine if that sentence will be extended. The prosecution wants Kinkel to get life.

A neurologist who testified for the defense on Thursday pointed to a multicolored computerized scan of Kinkel's brain, explaining that "holes" in what is normally a smooth surface indicate reduced brain activity consistent with new research into children who become schizophrenic.

Dr. Richard Konkol, responding to a question from Kinkel's attorney, Mark Sabitt, agreed that the "holes" would make the teen more susceptible to a psychotic episode.

"I think it would," responded Konkol, chairman of pediatric neurology at Kaiser Permanente Northwest Health Plan and a professor at Oregon Health Sciences University.

In a move that avoided a trial, Kinkel, 17, abandoned an insanity defense and pleaded guilty September 24 to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder in the May 1998 slayings of his parents and two classmates at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon.

Another 25 students were wounded in the attack; Kinkel also attacked a detective with a knife.

In his plea bargain, Kinkel agreed to serve 25 years for the murders, but it remains up to Judge Jack Mattison whether to extend the sentence up to 220 years by tacking on additional years for the attempted murders.

Konkol said the scan fit new research about childhood schizophrenia, which would appear to support a psychologist's diagnosis of Kinkel as a paranoid schizophrenic. Konkol said he believed the cause of the brain damage was developmental, and perhaps genetic.

Kinkel killed his parents, two students at his high school and injured 25 others in the shooting spree

His testimony prompted Kinkel to sit up and take notice for the first time. The teen had spent most of the first three days of testimony hiding his face in his arms or laying with his forehead on the table and people recited details of his crimes.

The neurologist was followed by a private investigator, Joyce Naffziger, who said she had found frequent cases of mental illness -- including schizophrenia -- in Kinkel's extended family. Four out of five first cousins on Kinkel's mother's side had been institutionalized, she said.

A child psychologist also testified Thursday that Kinkel's fascination with guns and bombs and his strained relationship with his father led the teen's mother to bring him in for treatment. The psychologist, Jeffrey Hicks, said he found Kinkel extremely depressed and angry, but not psychotic.

Kinkel began taking the antidepressant drug Prozac in 1997, but earlier court exchanges have indicated he stopped taking it before the shootings.

As the hearing opened on Tuesday, the excerpts of a journal kept by Kinkel were read aloud in court. In it, the teen said he had been a terrible son and didn't deserve such wonderful parents.

He also wrote: "My head just doesn't work right."

"Goddamn these voices in my head," one excerpt says. "I have to kill people. I don't know why. I have no other choice.'"

Correspondent Rusty Dornin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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