Murder In Napa California

Napa State Hospital opens doors for rare tour

The patio at Napa State Hospital where psychiatric technician Donna Gross was found dead last October, strangled to death, was deserted Friday as a shuttle-load of reporters toured the facility.

A few plants and flowers left behind by Gross’ colleagues were the only telltale signs of the brutal slaying, allegedly at the hands of a patient with a long history of violence who is now at Napa County Jail. Peacocks strutted by what’s left of the brick wall where authorities suspect Jess Massey left Gross for dead.

The top half of a 5-foot brick wall that hid Gross’ body following the night attack has been demolished for security reasons.

During Friday’s media tour, few patients were visible on the vast lawns inside the 77-acre secured treatment area. The grounds, with their century-old oaks, were park-like.

Yet to get inside, visitors had to pass through a prison-like sally port, through a high-security 16-foot chain-link fence topped with spools of sharp concertina wire and tied to motion detectors.

No patient has ever escaped since the fence went up in the late 1990s, an official said during the tour. The security inside the fence is a different story.

Inside the high-security zone, where more than 940 patients committed through the criminal court system live, patients haven’t been allowed to walk unaccompanied since Gross’ killing, officials said. 

More than seven months after Gross death, Department of Mental Health officials continue to answer questions about the October killings and other violent incidents at Napa State Hospital.

Even Friday, during the media tour, a patient was assaulted as he waited for his medications, the patient’s father later reported. Hospital officials said they could not confirm the incident.

Tour guides from Napa State and the state Department of Mental Health tried to give reporters a taste of what life is like on the treatment units inside the fence.

At the sally port, foot traffic activity picks up during shift changes, they said. Inside the zone, staff gets about in service vans, shuttle buses, police vehicles and golf carts. Hospital peace officers, who are not armed, patrolled the grounds on bikes.

Inside the zone, there’s even “a very active and competitive” soccer program, said Dolly Matteucci, Napa State’s executive director.

Visitors must walk through a metal detector after leaving car keys and cell phones inside small-size lockers. The visitors area resembles a plain school cafeteria from decades ago.

Death penalty off table in Napa hospital killing - KTIV ...

NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty against a psychiatric patient charged with murder in the death of a nurse at a California mental hospital.

Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein told the Napa Valley Register on Friday that his office decided not to pursue a death sentence against Jess Willard Massey after receiving input from parties including the victims' family.

Massey is accused of strangling 54-year-old Donna Gross at the Napa State Hospital on Oct. 23 after demanding cash and cigarettes. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder with special allegations and burglary.

Massey was convicted of burglary in 1995 and admitted to the hospital in 1999 after being found not guilty by reason of insanity.

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Information from: The Napa Valley Register, http://www.napavalleyregister.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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