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| Sharon murderer blames Zoloft for
'97 killing spree
By Dave
Wedge
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
A Sharon
double killer whose 1999 insanity bid was rejected claims he was
``involuntarily intoxicated'' by Zoloft and turned homicidal because of
the anti-depressant's ``toxic'' effects.
Richard
Shuman, who is serving a life sentence for the 1997 murders of his
business partners, Jack Badler and Howard Librot, claims Zoloft prescribed
to him eight days before the killings sent him into a ``severe
drug-induced agitation'' called akathisia.
The
condition, marked by explosive violence and suicidal tendencies, gained
widespread publicity in 2000. Shuman claims he should get a new trial
based on ``important new research specifically linking Zoloft'' to
akathisia. Dedham Superior Court Judge Margaret Botsford last week denied
his motion for a new trial.
Shuman,
55, reportedly fell into a deep depression because of work woes and was
put on Zoloft after attempting suicide. On Aug. 5, 1997, he shot Badler,
50, at a Stoughton office, drove a mile and then fatally shot Librot, 60.
``I
think Richard Shuman is a very, very decent individual and was a wonderful
family man,'' his trial attorney, Kevin Reddington, said. ``I think that a
lot of the grief from that case lies at the foot of the doctor who
prescribed him that medication.''
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