Murder Attempt Med For Depression 07/09/2001 Florida Man Charged with 15 Counts of Attempted Murder
 
 Summary:<br><br>Paragraph 5 reads:&nbsp; &quot;&#39;<strong>He was taking a lot of medications </strong>for back pain<strong> and depression, Rhoden said. &#39;We don&#39;t know what effect, singularly or together, those had on what happened</strong>. He is a Navy veteran and while in the Navy got a serious back injury that has deteriorated.&#39;&quot;<br /><br />___________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Accused shooter had history of mental disorders, wife says<br />FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne, FL)<br />September 7, 2001<br />Author: Brian MonroeLocal=Staff <br />Estimated printed pages: 2 <br /><img src="../localhost/C_/Program%20Files/Eudora%20Pro/Embedded/2b247421.jpg" alt="[]" width="1" height="1" /> <br /><br />By Brian Monroe<br />Florida Today<br /><br />SHARPES -- Bandaged, shirtless and in a wheelchair, Samuel Watts was in court Thursday after being charged with 15 counts of attempted <strong>murder</strong> and one count of aggravated battery in a shootout with Cocoa police Saturday at his home.<br /><br />Via close-circuit television, Watts appeared before County Court Judge T. Mitchell Barlow, but his attorneys didn&#39;t ask for bail, which usually happens during the proceeding.<br /><br />Instead, attorney Kenneth Rhoden asked to set up a second appearance before Circuit Court Judge John D. Moxley, who is assigned the case, to hash out charges with the State Attorney&#39;s Office.<br /><br />Watts is charged with one count of attempted <strong>murder</strong> for each of the 15 bullets investigators were able to locate at the scene.<br /><br />&quot;He was taking a lot of <strong>medications</strong> for back pain and <strong>depression</strong>,&quot; Rhoden said. &quot;We don&#39;t know what effect, singularly or together, those had on what happened. He is a Navy veteran and while in the Navy got a serious back injury that has deteriorated.&quot;<br /><br />Rhoden said he would fight the 15 counts of attempted <strong>murder</strong>.<br /><br />&quot;Usually by law you aren&#39;t charged by the amount of bullets fired at a person, but the amount of people you try to kill.&quot;<br /><br />The standoff began about 3:30 p.m. when a process server tried to present Watts with papers regarding a financial matter, Cocoa Police spokeswoman Barbara Matthews said.<br /><br />Police said Watts tried to run over the server with his car before locking himself inside his home on Hightower Court.<br /><br />Police were able to contact Watts&#39; wife, who said there were weapons in the house and that Watts had a history of mental disorders.<br /><br />She was not in the home when she talked to police or when the SWAT team surrounded the house.<br /><br />One neighbor, who was home during the shooting, says it remains fresh in his mind.<br /><br />&quot;I kept calm because I had a lot of other tragedies happen in my life recently,&quot; said Jean Milos, who lives a few houses away. &quot;I guess I am still numb.&quot;<br /><br />Watts&#39; next court date is Sept. 28.<br /><br />CAPTION:<br /><br />Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY<br /><br />Samual Wattsof Cocoa made his first appearance at the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes on Thursday. He was charged with 15 counts of attemped <strong>murder</strong>. <br />Edition:&nbsp; Final <br /><br />all<br />Section:&nbsp; Local;State<br />Page:&nbsp; 01<br />Record Number:&nbsp; brv2001121711261363 <br /><br />OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):<br /><a href="http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:FLTB&amp;rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&amp;rft_dat=0F6AB5A36A9BAB48&amp;svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&amp;req_dat=0FC00B934DD580D0">Accused shooter had history of mental disorders, wife says</a><br />&nbsp;<br /> 
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