IL - Rev. Fred Winters, 45, killed at Maryville church, 8 March 2009 *Insanity*

I just saw this on my Comcast homepage - so sad and senseless, as are all murders. Many prayers for the pastor who was killed, for those injured, and for all of the parishioners who were there. I hope the children that were in attendance get some help dealing with the tragedy that they had to witness.
 
Someone really has guts going into a church and shooting the pastor and others. This guy is going to have a lot to answer for when he meets his maker.
 
This does not surprise me. It is really getting crazy out here in the world today. I remember when I was little my dad saying that it was going to get where kids turn on parents and parents turn on kids at the time I thought there is no way that will happen. Now it happens all the time and it's only getting worst. I pray for the family and the church. I pray for the the guy that did this. I also pray for the world.
 
This got strange, I didn't know that Lyme's disease could cause mental/brain problems.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/09/national/main4853412.shtml

snipped from article:

"The man suspected of fatally shooting an Illinois pastor during Sunday services suffered from mental illness stemming from a tick bite, the suspect's family told a newspaper in an interview last August.

The suspect, whom a source told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is 27-year-old Terry Joe Sedlacek, allegedly walked into the First Baptist Church, walked toward Rev. Fred Winters and killed him with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, police said.

Sedlacek was the subject of a story in the Post-Dispatch about how Lyme disease had attacked his brain."

More at link above.

An article that was run about this young man 08/06/2008:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/4C02265C2982C7458625749D0012D670?OpenDocument

snipped from above article:

"Finally a desperate battery of tests for everything from West Nile to SARS pinpointed two tick-borne diseases: Lyme disease and ehrlichiosis."


I'm not sure what to think about the above. I send my prayers out the Victims of this tragedy.
 
Wasn't it said that Travis, the chimp who attacked Charla Nash a few weeks ago, had Lyme Disease as well? I didn't realize it could cause mental problems. Interesting.

I'm very sad for everyone involved here. What a horrible tragedy. Can you imagine what the parishoners are going through, having seen that???
 
Wasn't it said that Travis, the chimp who attacked Charla Nash a few weeks ago, had Lyme Disease as well? I didn't realize it could cause mental problems. Interesting.

I'm very sad for everyone involved here. What a horrible tragedy. Can you imagine what the parishoners are going through, having seen that???

As Lyme Disease progresses it attacks the brain.

I have never heard of it making anyone violent though or giving them homicidal ideation.

imo
 
Maybe Lyme's disease caused with an underlying mental illness..
 
This has hit everyone pretty hard around here. One parishioner said she thought it was a joke because the preacher deflected the bullets with his bible at first, and it looked like confetti coming from the bible.:( (we live about 20 minutes from where this happened)
 
I think this is frightening to a lot of us. All murders are terrible, even those where the victims are putting themselves in dangerous situations. But this one really hits home to those of us who attend church every Sunday. This man was standing there preaching in what one would think was a safe situation. None of us are safe when a crazed person tries to inflict harm for no apparent reason. Some try to do it in a way to get a lot of publicity, and I think this is what this man did. My heart goes out to his family and to his church family, especially those who witnessed it.
 
Being newly diagnosed with lyme disease, it is excruitiatingly painful.. I do not condone what this man has done, but I certainly can say that I wish I did not have the LYME diganosis, I am going on no sleep and the pain is HORRIBLE! If lyme is not treated it can progressivly get worse, and affect the brain. It can also cause alot of additional symptoms.
 
Being newly diagnosed with lyme disease, it is excruitiatingly painful.. I do not condone what this man has done, but I certainly can say that I wish I did not have the LYME diganosis, I am going on no sleep and the pain is HORRIBLE! If lyme is not treated it can progressivly get worse, and affect the brain. It can also cause alot of additional symptoms.
So sorry to hear of your illness. Is there a cure for Lyme's?
 
^^I hope you recover quickly from your Lyme disease Ladybass0711. We have one of the top medical hospitals in the country here in the St. Louis area. Reports are out today that there was no way Lyme disease can account for this guy snapping. Maybe there will be more answers once the shooter is stable.
 
http://www.bnd.com/179/story/683314.html

"Sedlacek worked there, washing dishes and cooking appetizers. He would recite scenes from movies, changing voices for different characters, Leitschut said.

"He was just an odd bird who would do off-the-wall stuff," said former co-worker Sharri Whitworth.

He would bark like a dog, shout obscenities and strike out at shadows on the wall, Whitworth and Leitschut said.

Sedlacek would blow into a plastic milk jug, put the lid on and throw it across the room, Whitworth said.

"He was a very odd boy," Whitworth said. "He walked around in circles in the parking lot, talking to himself."

Cook Verna Gilley said she didn't think Sedlacek was violent but agreed he was odd.

"He would make these weird noises," Gilley said. "He even did it in the kitchen. I guess it would just help him get that stuff out of his head or something."

Ruth Abernathy told them that Sedlacek suffered from Lyme Disease, the employees said. Sedlacek took medication and continued to seek treatment as late as June in Florida."

The article above gives interviews of people that worked with this young man at his Parents restaurant. Unusual behavoir was described so it piqued my interest enough to go back and review another article I had posted before.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/4C02265C2982C7458625749D0012D670?OpenDocument

What caught my eye in that article was this:

"Terry Joe Sedlacek's parents worried that he was getting into drugs or alcohol when he started acting strangely during his junior year at Edwardsville High School.


In this article the Mother goes on to describe other symptoms and then that they (his family) had checked him into rehab, and it was after it was determined that he was not in need of rehab that he was...

"Doctors diagnosed him as mentally ill"

The article states that he did not respond as other's had to the meds prescribed for his mental illness. It is my understanding that this can happen.

I then read an article on Fox news and the expert in that article stated:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,507044,00.html

"“Chronic Lyme disease can be associated with seizures, depression, anxiety and even psychosis has been reported,” said Dr. Marc Siegel, an internist and FOX News Channel contributor.

“It’s possible, but the problem is, something being reported doesn’t always mean it’s the cause. For example, someone may have psychosis or seizures — but Lyme disease may not be the cause — so you have to be really careful.”

But wait, where did this "Lyme disease caused this young Man to commit murder" theory come from?

Same article:

"Sedlacek’s mother said Lyme disease attacked her son’s brain and caused the psychosis that caused him to kill the pastor and wound two others"

and:

"Sedlacek was reportedly taking several medications to combat Lyme disease and seizures, which nearly killed him in 2003, the paper reported."



Okay for all those that actually took the time to read my very long post, here is where I'm going with it.

Here is what I'm wondering. This young man was taking medications for the Lyme's disease but was he taking meds for his mental illness too?

This young man showed his first symptoms in his Jr. year of HS. I am not a mental health care worker but it is my understanding that there are a few very serious mental illnesses of which the symptoms become noticable in young men of that age range. Schizophrenia is one that comes to mind.

I, sincerly,hope that we do not have a situation where the reality and the residual social stimga of mental illness forced those who could have insured his proper care to be in denial. In other reports in media it is being said this young man planned this attack.
 
IF you catch the disease quickly you can cure it, however there are people who have had lyme disease for 10 years or more prior to diganosis, and now it has turned into chronic Lyme disease. I am not sure how long I have had it, cause I first started dsiplaying symptoms abotu 2 years ago, but chalked it up to just normal aches. So I am not sure what my prognosis is.
 
From July 2015:

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/crime/article26096128.html

Terry Sedlacek has been found not guilty by reason of insanity six years after he shot Winters dead during services before the eyes of the First Baptist congregation... It is not believed that Sedlacek and Winters had ever met or been in contact with each other before the murder...

Sedlacek was not present at the hearing Thursday and will remain in confinement at the Alton Mental Health Center. Any attempt to be released from the facility would require prior approval from a judge, with input from the state’s attorney’s office and the Winters family, under the Victims’ Bill of Rights.

However, Rekowski said it is unlikely. “I think it is pretty doubtful that Terry would ever be restored to sanity or fitness,” he said.
 

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