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Warning: This post contains discussion of murder and sexual abuse.
Vince Gilmer was a kind, well-liked doctor in his small town of Cane Creek, North Carolina – that is, until July 2004, when he was arrested for the vicious murder of his father. How could this beloved man turn into a violent criminal?
In court, Vince defended his actions by explaining that he had been a victim of his father’s sexual abuse since childhood and that his father had assaulted him on the day of the murder. Despite these claims, Vince was found guilty of the murder.
Five years later, another Dr. Gilmer arrived in Cane Creek. Benjamin Gilmer was not related to Vince, but because of the similarities between the two men (surname, profession, age), the case grabbed Benjamin’s interest. Sarah Koenig, a reporter with the program This American Life, got in contact with Benjamin and they decided to investigate Vince’s story together.
People described Vince’s behavior in the months leading up to the murder as unstable. He had gotten into a serious car accident (possibly intentionally) in which he hit his head; had started drinking heavily following his divorce; and had stopped taking his prescribed antidepressant (Lexapro, an SSRI). When Benjamin and Koenig visited Vince in prison, he told them that he had heard voices on the day he committed the murder. Vince theorized that he might have been suffering from SSRI withdrawal.
Benjamin thought SSRI withdrawal was a plausible diagnosis, and he also wondered if perhaps Vince had gotten a traumatic brain injury from his car accident. To get a psychiatrist’s perspective, Benjamin invited a friend of his to meet Vince. Noticing Vince’s odd gait and wide gesticulations, the psychiatrist had a different suggestion: Vince might have Huntington’s disease.
Huntington’s is a neurodegenerative disease that can cause motor impairment as well as cognitive/emotional issues like confusion, anxiety, and impulsivity (Novak & Tabrizi, 2010). Koenig describes it as “a cruel trifecta of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lou Gehrig’s disease, rolled into one.” The average age of onset is 40 years, and life expectancy after diagnosis is only 10-25 years. Huntington’s is a genetic disease – offspring of affected parents have a 50% chance of getting it too (Novak & Tabrizi, 2010). It’s possible Vince’s father had it, as he had exhibited some symptoms but was never diagnosed. There is no cure for Huntington’s and no way to halt the progression of the disease, although some drugs such as Tetrabenazine have been shown to reduce symptoms of chorea (the sudden jerking movements characteristic of the disease) (Novak & Tabrizi, 2010).
Symptoms of Huntington’s include hallucinations, irritability, moodiness, paranoia, hyperkinesia, confusion, memory loss, and anxiety. Vince basically checked every box. To diagnose Huntington’s, a DNA test is required to detect CAG trinucleotide expansion in the HTT gene (DynaMed). A normal HTT gene will have fewer than 36 CAG repeats, while a gene with 40+ repeats is strongly indicative of Huntington’s. Imaging can also be useful for diagnosis, as Huntington’s is characterized by cerebral atrophy (Novak & Tabrizi, 2010). Vince’s DNA test confirmed that he had Huntington’s.
But does Huntington’s create murderers? People with Huntington’s are actually much more likely to be the victims of violence than to commit violence (Finan, 2022). But perhaps the combination of Huntington’s, antidepressant withdrawal, stress, and years of abuse could cause somebody to “snap”. That’s what Dr. Mary Edmonson suggests happened in Vince’s case (Finan, 2022). What do you think?
After many years, Benjamin succeeded in his mission to get Vince’s conviction overturned. In January 2022, the Virginia governor granted Vince a pardon. Vince is now in late-stage Huntington’s and has become more physically disabled; he has extreme difficulty with talking and swallowing, and though he can still walk, he falls often. As of March of this year, Benjamin was in the process of becoming Vince’s legal guardian and was making plans for Vince to go to a medical care facility where he will receive appropriate treatment.
Do you know of another interesting true crime case with medical connections? Email Rachel Brill at rgbrill@gwu.edu.
References and Further Reading:
DynaMed. Huntington Disease. EBSCO Information Services. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://www.dynamed.com/condition/huntington-disease
Finan E. After a Beloved Small-Town Doctor Murdered His Own Father, the Clinic's New Doc Solved the Mystery of Why. People. March 3, 2022. https://people.com/crime/after-a-beloved-small-town-doctor-murdered-his-own-father-the-clinics-new-doc-solved-the-mystery-of-why/
Gilmer, Benjamin. The Other Dr. Gilmer. Ballantine Books; 2022.
Koenig, S. Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde. This American Life. April 12, 2013. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde
Novak MJ, Tabrizi SJ. Huntington's disease. BMJ. 2010 Jun 30;340:c3109. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c3109. PMID: 20591965. https://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c3109.long
