Muncie, IN: Curtis told court-appointed psychologist he has killed before

Accused wife-slayer Thomas Curtis claims he was ordered to kill during a stint as a Navy SEAL that officials say never took place.

By DOUGLAS WALKER
dwalker@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE -- Thomas Curtis told a court-appointed psychologist that his wife wasn't the first person he killed.

Testimony in the 46-year-old Muncie man's murder trial ended Wednesday, when Judge John Feick took the case under advisement. The judge must decide whether Curtis -- who by all accounts fatally stabbed wife Crystal in their northside mobile home last December -- is not guilty by reason of insanity.

Testimony on Wednesday indicated a Veterans Administration psychiatrist diagnosed Curtis as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to the horrific things he witnessed -- specifically, mass rapes and killings -- and participated in -- still more killings -- during nine years as a Navy SEAL.

A possible flaw in that diagnosis: U.S. military records reflect the Muncie man was never in combat, let alone a SEAL.

The defendant did serve a four-year stint in the Navy, from 1981 to 1985.

The only witness to testify Wednesday was court-appointed psychiatrist Rebecca Mueller, who said she did not believe Curtis was able "to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense."

Earlier witnesses said Curtis had also been diagnosed with bi-polar and "intermittent explosive" disorders.

"He told me he only recalled his wife saying, 'No, Tom,' and that brought him around," the psychiatrist said.

Curtis was arrested last Dec. 13 after he allegedly killed his 27-year-old wife in their trailer in Muncie Mobile Home Community.

Mueller said Curtis had described terrifying images -- from his purported Navy SEAL missions, including witnessing sexual assaults and both observing and taking part in killings -- that "plays like a movie in his head."

In response to a question from Judge Feick, Mueller said if Curtis had not actually been a SEAL or in combat settings, "it would be difficult to understand" his post-traumatic street disorder.

If Curtis is determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity, he would remain in custody, and placed in the care of the Indiana Department of Mental Health.

Feick expressed concern, however, that if Curtis was placed in a state hospital, "they will (soon) kick him out."

"In this day and age, probably so," Mueller responded. She suggested the defendant perhaps could live in the supervised setting of a group home.

In her closing argument, Deputy Prosecutor Judi Calhoun maintained Curtis, who called 911 dispatchers immediately after the stabbing, "absolutely knew the wrongfulness of his act."

"I feel sorry that his wife is gone," Calhoun said. "I'm sure he is, too."

However, she noted testimony from a neighbor that indicated Curtis had said he was capable of killing his wife if he didn't take his prescription medications.

Public defender Kelly Bryan maintained his client's actions were the result of his mental illnesses.

"This is the homicide that makes no sense," Bryan said, suggesting Crystal Curtis had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when her husband emerged from their bedroom armed with an ornamental dagger.

"I think that anybody laying on that couch probably would have met the same fate," he said.

Contact Douglas Walker at 213-5851.