Freakish Meat Cleaver Attack on Psychiatrists Rattles New York

By Anastacia Mott Austin

A man arrived shortly after 8:00pm Tuesday evening at the office of psychiatrist Kent D. Shinbauch on the upper east side of Manhattan, telling the doorman he had an appointment. Wearing a black baseball cap, he carried with him two pieces of black luggage on rollers.

He apparently entered the waiting room where he found another patient, a woman, waiting to see Dr. Shinbauch. After chatting with the woman, the man went into the office of Dr. Kathryn Faughey, another psychiatrist who shared office space with Dr. Shinbauch.

An enormous struggle commenced, and Dr. Shinbauch ran into the Dr. Faughey’s office, where he found her lying on the floor covered in blood, with blood splattered on the walls. "She’s dead," the attacker reportedly told Dr. Shinbauch before stabbing him in the face with a 9-inch knife and a meat cleaver.

The man then pinned the doctor to the wall with a chair, robbed his wallet of $90, and left the building, leaving his suitcases behind. The contents were unsettling: adult diapers, a woman’s blouse and slippers, eight knives, rope, and duct tape. The killer remains at large. This fact has unnerved the tony neighborhood.

"Everyone in the building is very nervous, because we know that this person is loose," said neighborhood resident Linda Elliott. "It's very frightening."

Dr. Shinbauch had called for help during the attack and was taken to a nearby hospital, but Dr. Faughey was dead. She had been stabbed repeatedly with the knife and meat cleaver.

The man did not appear to know either psychiatrist, and the seemingly random attack has left Manhattan stunned, especially the mental health community. Police are now searching for the suspect, described as blond man in his early 40s, about five feet ten inches tall, 200 pounds.

A patient of Dr. Faughey’s was distraught at the news. "I'm completely shocked," said Barbara Camwell, 51, to reporters. "She was warm and compassionate and I referred a lot of people to her. She was definitely the kind of therapist that everyone should have."

Attacks by unhinged patients are not unheard of, but they occur more often in high-security mental hospitals, and the attacker is almost always known to the victim.

A recent survey by the American Psychological Association revealed that nearly 40 percent of psychology professionals said they had been attacked by a patient on at least one occasion, and 49 percent reported having been verbally threatened by a patient.

Dr. Peter Kanaris, a Manhattan clinical psychologist, talked to reporters. "Experienced therapists are in the best situation to deal with a population accustomed to acting out," said Kanaris. "But it still doesn't guarantee safety and there still remains an element of risk."