I plan to live a year
among the Masai tribesman of Africa
who grow seven feet tall and drink blood
from the necks of cows
Mother found me on the roof of our house,
feet dangling over the eaves like it was
some fishing pier,
and even though I told her
(over and over and over I told her)
that I was simply trying to find a quiet
place to think,
she was convinced
I was working up the courage
to throw myself off
Daniel Keyes
This book is the factual account of the life, up to now, of William Stanley Milligan, the first person in U.S. history to be found not guilty of major crimes, by reason of insanity, because he possessed multiple personalities.
vii.
One serious problem we faced as I began to write was developing a chronology. Because Milligan had “lost time” frequently since early childhood, he rarely paid attention to clocks or calendars and was often too embarrassed to admit not knowing the day or month.
4.
Carrie Dryer, the first victim, remembered that the rapist wore gloves and carried a small revolver. Occasionally his eyes drifted from side to side — the symptom of an eye condition she recognized as nystagmus.
11.
As an officer headed into the bedroom, Milligan glanced up. “Don’t kick that box in there. You’ll blow it up.”
Boxerbaum sat in back with Milligan, who didn’t respond to questions about the rapes. He just leaned forward, awkward because of the handcuffs at his back, and mumbled disconnected remarks: “My brother Stuart is dead … Did I hurt anyone?”
“Did you know any of the girls?” Boxerbaum asked. “Did you know the nurse?”
“My mother’s a nurse,” Milligan mumbled.
“Tell me why you went to the OSU area for your victims.”
“The Germans are going to come after me…”
“Let’s talk about what happened, Bill. Was it the nurse’s long black hair that attracted you?’
Milligan looked at him. “You’re strange.” Then, staring again, he said, “My sister’s gonna hate me when she finds out.”
Boxerbaum gave up.
13.
Milligan cringed in the corner of the tiny cell, shaking violently. Suddenly, after a slight choking sound, he fainted. A minute later, he opened his eyes and stared around in astonishment at the walls, the toilet, the bunk.
“Oh God, no!” he shouted. “Not again!”
He sat on the floor, staring dully into space. Then he saw cockroaches in the corner and his expression blanked and changed. Crossing his legs, he hunched up close, his chin cupped in his hands, and smiled childishly as he studied them running in circles.
15.
“You just keep messin’ with these po-lice,” the said, “they’s gonna beat you to death. You c’n jus’ take my word, ’cause I been in the joint many times. You evah been locked up?”
Milligan nodded. “That’s why I don’t like it. That’s why I like to leave.”
16.
Milligan kept shaking his head and rubbing his cheek, trying to talk about the facts of the case. Then he mumbled, “Plead me not guilty. I think I may be crazy.”
21.
That evening the desk sergeant called Schweickart at home.
“Your client tried to kill himself again.”
“Oh my God! What’d he do?”
“Well, you’re not going to believe this, but we’ve got to press charges against him for destroying county property. He shattered the toilet bowl in his cell and slashed his wrists with a sharp piece of porcelain.”
Chapter Two
January 31, 1978
[Dorothy Turner]
“Wait a minute. If you’re not Billy, who are you?’
“I’m David.”
“Well, where’s Billy?”
“Billy’s asleep.”
“Asleep where?”
He pointed to his chest. “In here. He’s asleep.”
“I have to talk to Billy.”
“Well, Arthur won’t let you. Billy’s asleep. Arthur won’t wake him up, ’cause if he does, Billy’ll kill himself.”
25-26
“How old are you, David?”
“Eight, going on nine.”
“And why are you the one who came to talk to me?”
“I didn’t even know I was coming on the spot. Somebody got hurt in the jail and I came to take the pain.”
“Would you explain that?”
“Arthur says I’m the keeper of the pain. When there’s hurt, I’m the one who takes the spot and feels it.”
“That must be awful.”
Tears brimmed in his eyes as he nodded. “It’s not fair.”
“What’s ‘the spot,’ David?”
“That’s what Arthur calls it. He explained to us how it works when one of the people has to come out. It’s a big white spotlight. Everybody stands around it, watching or sleeping in their beds. And whoever steps on the spot is out in the world. Arthur says, ‘Whoever is on the spot holds the consciousness.’ “
“Who are the other people?”
“There are a lot. I don’t know them all. I know some of them now, but not everyone. Oh, wow.” He gasped.
“What’s the matter?”
“I told you Arthur’s name. Now for sure I’ll get in trouble for telling the secret.”
26.
The next day Dorothy Turner noticed something different in Milligan’s expression as he entered the interview room. He avoided her eyes and sat in the chair with his knees drawn up, playing with his shoes. She asked how he was feeling.
He didn’t respond at first, looking around, glancing at her from time to time with no sign of recognition. Then he shook his head, and when he spoke it was as a boy with a cockney accent. “Everythin’ is loud,” he said. “You. All the sounds. Oye don’t know what’s goin’ on.”
“Your voice seems funny, David. Is that an accent?”
He peered up at her impishly. “Oy’m not David. Oy’m Christopher.”
“Well, where’s David?”
“David’s been naughty.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, the others are awful mad at ‘im ’cause ‘e told.”
“Will you explain that to me?”
“Oye can’t. Oye don’t want t’get inter trouble loike David.”
“Well, why is he in trouble?” she asked, frowning.
“‘Cause ‘e told.”
“Told what?”
“You know. ‘E told the secret.”
“Well then, will you tell me some things about yourself, Christopher? How old are you?”
“Thirteen.”
“And what do you like to do?”
“Oye play the drums a little, but Oy’m better on the ‘armonica.”
“And where are you from?”
“England.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Just Christene. She’s three years old.”
She watched his face closely as he spoke in his crisp cockney accent. He was open, earnest, happy, so different from the person she had spoken to just the day before. Milligan had to be an incredibly good actor.
27.
On February 4, her third visit, Dorothy Turner noticed that the young man who walked into the interview room had a different bearing than she had seen either of the other two times. He sat casually, slouched back in the chair, gazing at her arrogantly.
28.
Don’t you remember talking to me the day before yesterday?”
“Hell, no. I ain’t never seen you in my life.”
“Could you tell me your name?”
“Tommy.”
” ‘Tommy’ who?”
“Just Tommy.”
“And your age?”
“Sixteen.”
“And could you tell me a little bit about yourself?”
“Lady, I don’t talk to strangers. So leave me alone.”
For the next fifteen minutes she tried to draw him out, but “Tommy” remained sullen.
hexafu 