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Testimony

Cathy and Mark Katsnelson
Marlton, NJ

Before the
Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health

January 19, 2005

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Task Force,

We are here today to express our support of legislation to reform New Jersey’s current laws regarding the treatment of people with severe mental illness.  We do not speak from the perspective of a patient, or of a family or care giver of someone struggling with mental illness, but we are here today as tragic, innocent victims of a patient with untreated, severe mental illness, and unfortunately, we are not alone.  We will share our own personal story with you, and while it is a devastating one, there are far too many other families in New Jersey who would also be able to stand before you and tell you their stories as well.

On October 17th, 2002, our then, 11-year-old son, Gregory, completed his daily homework assignments and after getting permission to go out, jumped on his bike to go and find his friends.  In our neighborhood, there are woods and lakes that allow the residents to enjoy the beauty of nature.  Through the woods there are foot and bike paths that were always considered a ‘safe’ environment for our children to explore and find adventure.   Unfortunately, on that crisp, Autumn afternoon when Gregory entered the bike path just feet away from our home, he had no idea of the danger he would encounter.  He was suddenly yanked from his bike and brutally murdered and his body left face down in the lake by 26-year-old Ronald Pituch.  His body was discovered shortly after the attack by neighbors walking their dog on the trail.  Evidence at the scene indicated an intense struggle, but the probability of a small 11-year boy defending himself against a full grown 26-year-old man determined the inevitable outcome.

We later learned that Gregory was not the only victim that day.  Before taking our son’s life, Ronald Pituch had savagely beaten his own mother to death with a bar bell because she had not gotten him a pack of cigarettes.  He tied up his 5-year-old niece who had witnessed the violence and left the house on his motorcycle.  On the way from his neighborhood to ours, he briefly got off of the motorcycle to assault an elderly woman passing by before ending his manic rampage with Gregory’s murder.

In the more than two years that have passed, we have learned through statements made by the Pituch family and documents entered as evidence by defense attorneys in the criminal prosecution of Ronald Pituch, that he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was refusing treatment and medication for his illness.  While his family reported signs of instability in the weeks prior to the violent spree, they were unsuccessful in getting the help from mental professionals that they were desperately seeking.  The family was assured many times that he was not homicidal or suicidal although he had demonstrated violent behavior on several occasions, and, as is common among people with severe mental illness, he continued to deny his sickness.  There are reports of him harassing a young woman that he knew from high school with unfounded, delusional fantasies.  Yet, with the current laws in New Jersey, no one was able to do anything to prevent the tragedies that occurred on October 17th, 2002.  Through our experience, we have learned that New Jersey is one of only eight states in the country where if a person with severe mental illness refuses treatment and medication to control their symptoms, families, care givers, mental health professionals and courts find that “their hands are tied.”  There is nothing they can do to intervene and prevent the tragedies that are, many times, foreseen until the patient becomes dangerous and it is too late as our story proves.  Because of the limitations of the current law, two innocent people died that afternoon.

We believe that the law needs to be changed.  We, as a society and community, should no longer allow these inconceivable tragedies to occur.  New Jersey needs to protect the innocent victims like Gregory and Mrs. Pituch as well as the citizens who suffer with severe mental illness who are too sick to voluntarily seek and accept treatment.  It is reassuring that 37 Senators have co-sponsored a bill to bring assisted outpatient treatment to New Jersey.  We are even more hopeful of this bill’s success because of one of the primary co-sponsors, acting New Jersey Governor Codey, is using his new position to advocate so strongly for broader reforms to help people with severe mental illness.

We think passage of assisted out patient treatment is a logical and humane first step toward improving New Jersey’s mental health system.  We hope that when the law is passed, it will be called Gregory’s Law in honor and memory of our son.  We do not want Gregory’s death to be in vain, and we do not want any other family to be forced to endure the pain that we have been struggling to cope with since losing Gregory.  We are aware that changing the law will not help everyone and prevent every tragedy, but these laws are proven to save lives and increase the likelihood of decreasing the tragedies.  We feel that if we can be involved in saving even one life, it would be a fitting legacy for our son, and be what Gregory would want.

In memory of our son, Gregory, we respectfully submit this testimony to you today.  Thank you for your time and the opportunity to be heard.

Cathy and Mark Katsnelson

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