ST. LOUIS — St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder and St. Louis Police Officer Tamarris Bohannon were both killed by men who Dr. Patricia Zapf says meet the standard to be found not guilty by reason of mental defect.
Zapf is the star witness for the defense team for Thomas Kinworthy, who is charged with the first-degree murder of Bohannon. He’s also accused of wounding of another officer, shooting and injuring a homeless man and forcing a couple out of their home at gunpoint before barricading himself inside it for 12 hours in August 2020.
She testified for about four hours Friday about his abuse of “every kind you can imagine” at the hands of both of his parents, and how that contributed to her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.
“He was experiencing an acute psychotic episode,” she said.
Prosecutors only got about 45 minutes to cross examine Zapf and began by noting to the jury how often she has testified on behalf of defense attorneys – including the Snyder case.
In that case, Trenton Forster was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Blake Snyder despite Zapf’s testimony about diagnosing him with bi-polar disorder. Zapf said Forster was paranoid, angry and obsessed with buying a gun—and unable to consider the consequences of his actions.
In that case, Zapf said social media posts, phone calls and text messages where Forster said he wanted to kill, writing "f--- the police"..."I want to take them out," were the rantings of a teenager who couldn't think clearly, which was complicated by his history of getting high and drunk since he was around 12 years old.
In Kinworthy’s case, Zapf testified that Kinworthy was the victim of sexual abuse by his mother starting at the age of 6. Both of his parents also traded their son for sexual favors with their drug dealers.
She said various stressors contributed to manic episodes throughout Kinworthy’s life, including the death of his premature son in 2012.
His manic episodes included frenzied sexual experiences and indiscriminate sexual contacts with men and women.
He told her he had periods when he would hear voices telling him to kill himself, and that motorcycle accidents in 2010 and 2012 were actually suicide attempts along with a time he jumped out of a 40-foot tree.
“He didn’t really care what was happening to him,” she said.
Zapf said interviews with Kinworthy’s father, stepmother and ex-wife Amy all factored into her assessment.
Amy confirmed Kinworthy had committed crimes against her.
“He would act out and be violent never apologize because he would never remember that it happened,” Zapf said. “That’s pretty typical of trauma response, you have periods where you’re not remembering what went on.”
Amy detailed a phone call her ex-husband made to from inside the home where he had barricaded himself during the shooting.
“He was telling her, People are after me, the police are after me, they’re coming for me,' she basically said that he was saying his goodbyes, like, 'Tell the kids I love them,'” Zapf said. “He thought he was going to die, the voices were telling him to kill himself.”
Prosecutors called Zapf’s expertise into question, saying she is more of an expert on determining whether someone is competent to stand trial rather than a retrospective look at someone’s mental health.
Assistant Circuit Attorney Mary Pat Carl also asked Zapf why she started writing her report diagnosing Kinworthy before she talked to Kinworthy’s relatives.
Carl also brought up records of jail phone calls between Kinworthy, his ex-wife and their daughter, whom they are encouraging to have a relationship with Thomas Kinworthy Sr.
“She tells you that this man horribly abused her husband and now they are encouraging her to have a relationship with him?” Carl asked.
The defense objected, and court adjourned for the day.
The trial is scheduled to last until May 3.