Workplace Violence/Murder Zoloft 05/08/1997 Massachusetts Man Kills his Two Business Partners
 
 Summary:<br><br><!--StartFragment -->Paragraph one reads: &quot;<strong>A Sharon double killer whose 1999 insanity bid was rejected claims he was `involuntarily intoxicated&#39;&#39; by Zoloft and turned homicidal because of the anti-depressant&#39;s &#39;`toxic&#39;&#39; effects.&quot; <br /><br />Last paragraph reads: &quot;&#39;I think Richard Shuman is a very, very decent individual and was a wonderful family man,&#39; his trial attorney, Kevin Reddington, said. &#39;I think that a lot of the grief from that case lies at the foot of the doctor who prescribed him that medication.&#39;&quot;<br /><br /></strong><blockquote><a href="http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=28433">Click here for the full article</a><br /><font color="#003366"><strong>Sharon murderer blames Zoloft for &#39;97 killing spree</strong><br /></font>By <strong>Dave Wedge</strong><br /><em>Wednesday, May 19, 2004</em></blockquote><strong>A</strong> Sharon double killer whose 1999 insanity bid was rejected claims he was ``involuntarily intoxicated&#39;&#39; by Zoloft and turned homicidal because of the anti-depressant&#39;s ``toxic&#39;&#39; effects. <br />Richard Shuman, who is serving a life sentence for the 1997 murders of his business partners, Jack Badler and Howard Librot, claims Zoloft prescribed to him eight days before the killings sent him into a ``severe drug-induced agitation&#39;&#39; called akathisia. <br />The condition, marked by explosive violence and suicidal tendencies, gained widespread publicity in 2000. Shuman claims he should get a new trial based on ``important new research specifically linking Zoloft&#39;&#39; to akathisia. Dedham Superior Court Judge Margaret Botsford last week denied his motion for a new trial. <br />Shuman, 55, reportedly fell into a deep depression because of work woes and was put on Zoloft after attempting suicide. On Aug. 5, 1997, he shot Badler, 50, at a Stoughton office, drove a mile and then fatally shot Librot, 60. <br />``I think Richard Shuman is a very, very decent individual and was a wonderful family man,&#39;&#39; his trial attorney, Kevin Reddington, said. ``I think that a lot of the grief from that case lies at the foot of the doctor who prescribed him that medication.&#39;&#39; <br /><br /> 
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