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Accused Cop Killer Suffered Serious Abuse, Expert Tells Jury

Published

1 year ago

April 26, 2024

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An accused cop killer currently on trial in St. Louis endured years of childhood abuse at the hands of both parents, an upbringing that a forensic psychologist says ultimately led to the August 2020 psychotic episode in which Thomas Kinworthy killed St. Louis police officer Tamarris Bohannon.

The prosecution and defense agree on the basic facts of the case. On August 29, 2020, Kinworthy was armed when he ran into a house on Hartford Street in Tower Grove South. The home’s two residents fled out the back door and called the police. Bohannon, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, responded to the scene, where Kinworthy opened fire on him and killed him as he approached the front door. After a 12-hour standoff, Kinworthy was taken into custody and charged with murder.

Kinworthy’s attorneys are pursuing a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, arguing that Kinworthy couldn’t understand what he was doing was wrong when he killed the 29-year-old father of three.

That strategy depends in large part on the testimony of forensic psychologist Patricia Zapf, who first took the stand yesterday and said that Kinworthy meets the standard for being not guilty by reason of insanity.

She testified today that she’d reached this conclusion because Kinworthy was in an “acute psychotic episode” and “disconnected from reality” on August 29, 2020.

Zapf testified she has extensively interviewed Kinworthy, his father, ex-wife and others. The picture those interviews painted of Kinworthy’s life leading up to the killing of Bohannon is grim, including a history of extensive mental, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by both parents.

Kinworthy was directly molested by his mother, Zapf said, and as a child was made by both parents to perform sexual acts on other adults at various times in his adolescence. She added that Kinworthy’s parents were both very involved in drug culture, with both mom and dad using crack cocaine.

At one point, his parents split, with his mother moving to Florida and Kinworthy staying in St. Louis with his father.

His father beat him and “verbally degraded him,” Zapf said, saying that even when she interviewed Kinworthy’s dad, he told Zapf his son never did anything right.
click to enlarge POOL PHOTO / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Forensic psychologist Patricia Zapf testified in court today that Thomas Kinworthy suffered years of sexual abuse from both parents and has heard voices since he was a pre-teen.

Zapf also said that at one point, as the pre-teen Kinworthy was living with his father here, his mother kidnapped him and took him to Florida.

In Florida, Kinworthy’s life was even worse than in St. Louis. Life with his mother was “unstable and impoverished,” and she trained him to steal things from stores. There was significant sexual abuse in Florida, Zapf said, with his mother forcing him to have sex with various adults.

It was around this time, in Kinworthy’s pre-teen years, that he began hearing voices and lighting fires, said Zapf.

Around the age of 14, Kinworthy came back to live with his father in St. Louis, where he stayed in a flop house, smoked crack with his dad and was again subject sexual abuse by people passing through to buy and sell drugs.

Zapf testified that there was a history of mental ailments on both sides of Kinworthy’s family and that the severe stressors added throughout years of abuse would have exacerbated his underlying disposition to mental illness. In her opening statement on Monday, Kinworthy’s attorney said that he has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and has heard voices much of his adult life.

As an adult, Zapf said, Kinworthy would slip into manic states, not sleeping for days and having indiscriminate sexual encounters with numerous partners.

In 2006, Kinworthy’s dad was charged federally as part of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He was initially sentenced to almost 20 years, but was released early, according to court records.

Five days before he would kill Officer Bohannon, in August 2020, Kinworthy, then 43, came to St. Louis to reconnect with his father. Over the next several days, Kinworthy met with dad for about an hour a day. His dad later told Zapf he “recognized something was off” about his son but didn’t confront his son about his unusual behavior.

On the day of the shooting, Zapf said Kinworthy was in a “sexual frenzy state,” had a sexual encounter with a man near Tower Grove Park, and then Facetimed his ex-wife from the park. During that call, he was hiding behind a tree, “white as a ghost” and professing that he believed people were out to get him.

Kinworthy would soon call his ex-wife back after he was barricaded in the Hartford house after killing Bohannon. Zapf testified that the ex-wife found the conversation largely incoherent, but understood Kinworthy to be saying goodbye.

Prosecutor Mary Pat Carl only had about half an hour to question Zapf today before proceedings were called to a halt for the weekend break. However, even in that relatively brief period, the jury got a sense of what the prosecution’s strategy is likely to be regarding Zapf’s expertise.

Carl called to the jury’s attention that Zapf had billed $27,000 to Kinworthy’s defense for her time working for them.

Carl also argued that the process by which Zapf wrote her report about Kinworthy was in contradiction to the process Zapf laid out as a best practice in her own book, specifically that an expert compiling a report on a defendant’s state of mind should have “all the information” before telling the defense what conclusions that report will contain. Carl implied that Zapf had already decided on the basic conclusions of the report before she conducted several “collateral” interviews of Kinworthy’s family members.

Right before the end of today’s proceedings, Carl alluded to jailhouse phone calls during which Kinworthy’s ex-wife and Kinworthy encouraged their child to Facetime Kinworthy’s father.

“Wouldn’t it be good to know whether or not the man they are claiming did horrible abuse and traumatized the defendant is someone they’re also encouraging their daughter to have a relationship with?” Carl asked Zapf. “That wouldn’t weigh in on their credibility at all?”

Zapf said she wasn’t aware of the jailhouse calls.

Kinworthy’s trial is set to resume Monday morning with Carl’s continued questioning of Zapf.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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