Murder Med For Depression 03/05/2010 New Hampshire Husband Kills his Wife
Murder Med For Depression 2010-05-03 New Hampshire Husband Kills his Wife

http://web.archive.org/web/20130202072936/http://ssristories.com/show.php?item=4172

Summary:

Paragraphs nine through eleven read:  ""He first tried counseling and later saw a doctor for prescriptions, but his depression and anxiety persisted, his lawyers wrote. Marchand was hospitalized Aug. 10, 2009, following two suicide attempts, they wrote."

"He remained at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for 10 days, where he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and severe intermittent explosive disorder, his lawyers wrote. In addition to being suicidal and depressed, Marchand was suffering from insomnia, anxiety, nightmares and paranoia."

“ 'He was noted to have a flat effect. He was disheveled and malodorous,'  they wrote."

Paragraph fourteen reads:  "The doctor found he was suffering from severe depression and impulse control disorder, and ordered further increases to his prescriptions and referred him for counseling."

SSRI Stories note:  Paranoia is listed as a side-effect of antidepressants in the Physicians Desk Reference.



http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/725182-196/hollis-man-seeks-2-trials-over-slaying.html?i=1


Hollis man seeks 2 trials over slaying

By ANDREW WOLFE

Staff writer

NASHUA – A Hollis man accused of beating his wife to death has requested two separate trials: one to decide whether he killed her and a second to determine whether he was insane.

Gary Marchand is accused of beating and stabbing his estranged wife, Phyllis Marchand, 45, to death in their home at 458 Silver Lake Road. The couple had recently separated and put the house up for sale.

Marchand has been jailed since his arrest Sept. 25, and his trial on first- and second-degree murder charges is currently scheduled to begin Oct. 5 in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

He faces life in prison without chance of parole if convicted of first-degree murder and up to life for second-degree murder.

Marchand’s lawyers, public defenders Sarah Newhall and Michael Davidow, filed notice of their request for “bifurcated trial” on March 25. Prosecutors have not filed any response, and the court has not acted on their request, court records indicate.

Marchand’s lawyers ask, essentially, that he be tried twice. The first trial would focus on evidence about the murder itself and whether Marchand killed his wife as charged. If he were convicted, they propose a second trial, focusing on whether the murder was a product of insanity.

“At the time of Ms. Marchand’s death, Mr. Marchand was suffering from serious psychiatric problems, for which he had been seeking treatment for a number of years,” his lawyers wrote.

Marchand began seeking treatment for mental health problems in 2004.

He first tried counseling and later saw a doctor for prescriptions, but his depression and anxiety persisted, his lawyers wrote. Marchand was hospitalized Aug. 10, 2009, following two suicide attempts, they wrote.

He remained at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for 10 days, where he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and severe intermittent explosive disorder, his lawyers wrote. In addition to being suicidal and depressed, Marchand was suffering from insomnia, anxiety, nightmares and paranoia.

“He was noted to have a flat effect. He was disheveled and malodorous,” they wrote.

Marchand was discharged Aug. 20, with prescriptions for new and increased medication, and an appointment with Community Council the following month.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave his home to fill the prescriptions, however, and tried to have himself hospitalized again four days later, they wrote. He continued with out-patient treatment and saw a psychiatrist at Community Council on Sept.4, they wrote.

The doctor found he was suffering from severe depression and impulse control disorder, and ordered further increases to his prescriptions and referred him for counseling.

“In that time frame, up to and including the date of the crime alleged … Mr. Marchand’s condition deteriorated, to the point where it seriously compromised his cognitive abilities,” his lawyers wrote.

A friend of Marchand’s called police on the afternoon of Sept. 25 after dropping Marchand off at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua. Marchand was treated for a cut to his wrist from an apparent suicide attempt, police have said.

Marchand allegedly confessed to his friend that he killed his wife three days earlier, police said.

When Hollis police went to check the house, they found Phyllis Marchand’s body in the bathtub, wrapped in a shower curtain, bound and gagged. There was blood all over the kitchen floor, and it was clear that she had been murdered.

Police contacted Marchand at the hospital, and he went willingly from there to the Hollis police station, where he was arrested. Police got warrants to search his body and clothing, and document various scratches on his hands and neck.

Andrew Wolfe can be reached at 594-6410 or awolfe@nashuatelegraph.com.