Toby Whelchel piece, published in The Daily News June 17
The intervention could have begun long before.
and the tragedy might have never occurred
By Doug Thorburn
Investigators were reportedly stumped in trying to figure out what set off Toby Whelchel, who went on a killing spree in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley May 30-31 that left four dead. The thinking goes, if we can figure out what triggers the anger that explodes into such rampages, tragedies might be prevented.
The problem is, all indications point to a damaged brain, which is usually caused by untreated alcoholism. If true, it doesn’t matter what he was upset over. There is no particular set of events or difficulties occurring in his life that normal people wouldn’t have dealt with in a more civilized manner. Those with alcoholism don’t need any particular provocation.
Because of the stigma it carries, others are reluctant to diagnose or even suggest the possibility of alcoholism. If someone engages in bad behavior, most think the benefit of the doubt is given by suggesting anything but. In other words, it’s better to think the cause of misbehaviors is that the person is fundamentally flawed, has incredibly poor judgment or suffers from mental illness, than to label him or her “alcoholic.”
However, alcoholism causes distortions of perception and memory, resulting in impaired judgments, manifesting as destructive behaviors and problems. By reversing the idea, we can see that misbehaviors and problems are indicators of alcoholism. Criminal and unethical behaviors in particular can be excellent clues to early-stage addiction to alcohol and other drugs, long before the person has lost control over use.
Toby Whelchel exhibited numerous such clues, the most obvious report of which was an arrest in 1990 for disorderly intoxication and assault on a police officer. As recovering alcoholics point out, if drinking causes problems, the problem is the drinking.
There were numerous other incidents suggesting alcoholism in its early hidden form. Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks said that Whelchel’s rap sheet comprises 1 1/2 pages of violent acts over the last 15 years. Most experts estimate that well over 80% of those convicted for violent crimes are alcohol or other-drug addicts.
Whelchel, a former captain in the Air Force, was court-martialed in 1999 after a six-month period of failing to show up to work on time, which he blamed on medical problems. Repeated tardiness is one of many behavioral clues to alcoholism, as is pinning blame on everything and everyone else. He was a drifter for whom Sheriffs have found 26 different addresses. Instability and drama are common themes in the lives of alcoholics.
According to a 2002 probation report, he claimed he was bankrupt. He blamed Riverside County for his woes, belittled jail deputies by calling them “ignorant idiots” and excused himself for having acted out when arrested because of his “chronic insomnia” and low blood sugar.
While any one of these may occur without alcoholism, a pattern of financial errors, other personal woes and a hot temper dramatically increases the odds. Alcoholics often have insomnia and according to some experts, as many as 40% are hypoglycemic.
Although Whelchel’s criminal history was reportedly “filled with examples of gross overreaction to authority figures,” along with “acts and threats of violence with little provocation,” he received no prison sentences. And, crucially, there is no report that he was ever treated for alcoholism. Unfortunately, this is the norm: while there are an estimated 25 million alcoholics in the United States, only one or two million are in a treatment or 12-step program.
The fact that alcoholics can usually be treated only after hitting “bottom” does not preclude close persons and the law from initiating and prodding the process. By inflicting pain from logical consequences and offering appropriate choices, recovering alcoholics tell us that we can instill in the addict a desire to get clean and sober. Shortening the period of active addiction reduces the odds that tragedy will occur.
The threat of spending time in prison often provides requisite pain. Recovering alcoholic Martin Sheen had the district attorney issue an arrest warrant for his son, actor Charlie Sheen, for violating parole for assaulting his girlfriend. When offered a choice of rehab or jail, he chose rehab and wore an electronic ankle cuff to make sure he didn’t stray. He’s been sober ever since and there have been no more assaults. This is not the exception, but rather the rule: recovering addicts rarely engage in the criminal or unethical acts that are common when drinking or using.
There were dozens of opportunities for which society could have intervened by offering Toby Whelchel the appropriate choice of freedom with regular and random blood and urine-tested abstinence, or imprisonment. The law could have put him away for any relapse, starting the process all over again. If it had set such ground rules in 1990, Whelchel might have gotten sober. In the worst case, he’d be in prison. In either case, four innocents would probably be alive today.
Doug Thorburn, who lives in Northridge, is President of the PrevenTragedy Foundation and has authored four books on alcoholism, the latest of which is Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society’s Most Destructive Disease. Write to him by e-mail at DougThorburn@mindspring.com .