In the Press:
There is now a comprehensive news story about the surveillance efforts undertaken by professional private investigators for families and friends of the victims of the child molestation perpetrated by william hamiton ayres.
Please go to San Mateo County Times / Mercury News and read Aaron Kinney's excellent article. (pdf)
We urge victims and their families and supporters to contact the DA, THIS WEEKEND and ask them to review the information prior to proceedings THIS MONDAY August 22, 2011. We have been informed that they intend to concede incompetence on Monday, and this would be a travesty of justice. It appears that the best case scenario is that ayres is sent to Napa for a minimal amount of time, and then probably released(?) We don't know what happens with the criminal charges at this point. It is possible that double jeopardy will then apply.
The main switchboard is closed for the weekend. DIRECT LINE to Wagstaffe:
Steve Wagstaffe 650-363-4752
A change of venue plea can be made with the Attorney General, but the URGENT thing this weekend is to contact Wagstaffe and your local San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Representative and ask them to seriously reconsider their intent to concede to this child molester's further attempt to skirt the law.
California Attorney General:
Voice: (916) 322-3360 or
(Toll-free in California)
(800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341
Emailiu@doj.ca.gov
EVIDENCE IS NOW AVAILABLE:
Evidence provided is VIDEO of Surveillance done by a professional Private Investigator and a copy of the report provided by that investigator.
The Surveillance Video:
We have loaded selected segments of the video to YouTube for ease of access. These videos have been edited from the original source as follows:
- Color has been adjusted, and video brightened for clips inside the restaurant.
- Clips that show relatively little activity or irrelevant footage have been removed.
- Sections of the video where the view is blocked by wait staff, or by the investigators while adjusting equipment have been removed.
- Most sections of the video that show ayres eating with no conversation have been removed.
- Many sections of the video that show ayres eating, then pausing to actively listen to other guests have been removed or cut short.
NOTE: There is no audio. This is by design. It is not legal in California to record audio of any conversation without consent of all parties; the original provided by the investigators is also free of audio. Please see the surveillance report below, as the investigators took notes on topics of conversation and specific quotes.
Clip One: The ayres vehicle and residence under surveillance, and william ayres in his vehicle being driven by Solveig Ayres, ayres is wearing his usual "disguise" of a baseball cap and dark glasses. He has been spotted this way by many people, sometimes with his walker, sometimes with only a cane.
Clips Two and Three: william and Solveig went to lunch at La Vie in San Francisco on August 18, 2011 with a pair of as-yet-unidentified men. They had detailed discussions, and ayres himself dominated the conversation for at least 20 minutes.
These surveillance videos show many aspects of william ayres' behavior and the other people’s reactions to his behavior that appear to indicate very little cognitive impairment.
Natural behaviors:
- ayres clearly points to his chest when referring to himself in conversation.
- Other guests nod and react normally while ayres is engaging them in conversation, and his gestures seem appropriate, the guests react as if they are normal aspects of conversation.
- ayres is aware and acts appropriately when one of the lunch guests leaves early.
- ayres subconsciously moves the dishes around to make room when the meal arrives, while engaged in the conversation.
- ayres subconsciously uses his napkin when necessary and at appropriate times.
- ayres is clearly directing/dominating the conversation for a good percentage of the time. (About 20 minutes.)
- ayres shows emotional/animated responses to the conversation.
- ayres directs the waiter in placement of the drinks when they arrive.
- ayres catches the waiter’s attention to let him know that they are wrapping up, and asks the waiter to bag some of the food to go.
- ayres uses his chopsticks for a good portion of the meal, after which the novelty appears to wear off (as is the case for other members of the party.)
- ayres frequently makes humorous comments which the others react appropriately to, and laughs on cue when others say something humorous.
The full, unedited video in the form provided to us by the Private Investigator is available. It is in an avi format, and is known to have problems on Apple computers. If you need access to the full version, email deepsounding@gmail.com and I will provide the link.
The Surveillance Report:
The investigative report appears to indicate that ayres is clearly lucid, displaying functional memory of distant and recent past events, as well as the cognitive ability to understand future events.
Some samples from the report:
- ayres states that he has to “go to court on Monday.”
- “The trio also discussed politics, the recent straw poles in Iowa and the current state of the Republican Party.”
- “ayres talked about joint pain, weight loss (“I’m down to 200 lbs. now” )…”
- “Both men spoke about the effects of Alzheimer’s and the unidentified man said that its only benefit was that “you can mention it in front of the lawyers ‘case it’s serving a purpose” which was greeted by laughter from all seated at the table.”
- “There were teenagers standing there with their pants down mooning some cars that were passing by the crowd.”
- “One of my patients in the past’s father had traumatized him before he got onto a school bus”
We can't stress this enough: we understand that the DA intends to concede that ayres is incompetent to defend himself at trial, and give him a slap on the-wrist, temporary commitment. The standard for incompetence is normally VERY strict, and we do NOT believe that this proof has been met, and in fact we believe that ayres is being deceptive about his level of competence. We think that this evidence clearly shows that ayres is much more competent than not. If you agree, please let the DA know before Monday!
We are distressed that the DA appears to not be swayed by this new evidence.
We thank all of those, near and far, who have helped in this matter.
[UPDATE NOTE: On August 22, 2011 the prosecutor did indeed concede incompetence, in spite of these efforts.]
We have identified the two other men who were dining with william and Solveig ayres on the 18th, who Solveig refers to as ayres' "very, very good friends." (Whatever THAT means...) They are, as we expected the second we saw this video: Larry Lurie, M.D., and Robert Kimmich M.D, both San Francisco shrinks and past presidents of the Northern California Psychiatric Society, a pathetic organization from which a great number of past officers were signatories of a letter pleading for financial help for child molester ayres while he was on trial. (Lurie was also the author of the lovely letter)
Lurie is sitting immediately to william ayres' right, and Kimmich is sitting to Solveig's left.
Lurie should know about Alzheimer's: He's been writing practice guidelines too... wonder if there's a chapter on what the symptoms would look like, for example, if you wanted to make it seem as if you're symptomatic? Why yes, there certainly is!
Keep this in mind when thinking about ayres' alleged incompetence:
1) ayres' primary care physician, Dale Ritzo, put ayres on Aricept for treatment of Alzheimer's (or the dementia related to it) but ayres didn't take to it, so they took him off of it.
2) In July 2010, ayres had an MRI that showed minimal shrinkage of the brain, normal for his age, and it did NOT show "white matter" that usually shows up in Alzheimer's patients.
3) ayres got a 26 out of 30 on his first mini-mental state examination (MMSE or Folstein test) but the second time he took it he scored 29 out of 30. According to published information, a score of 25 or better is considered to be "normal" The scores normally trend lower over time in an Alzheimer's patient.
It's interesting that Lurie is such great friends with ayres, who claims that he was "trained" to give "physical exams" to children in treating them. After all, Lurie says THIS when comparing his hobby of sculpting to treating patients:
The “tactile, hands-on” nature of this art form is particularly intriguing to him, Lurie noted. “I had thought of becoming a surgeon, but didn’t feel I had the skills, but even thinking about that specialty must have meant that I like the touching aspect. Psychiatry, in contrast, is so hands off.”
Even "very, very good friend" Lurie exposes ayres' lie.
UPDATE May 9, 2012:
As of this update, ayres has been locked up at Napa State Hospital, receiving "treatment" for his alleged dementia. He is seeking release to "outpatient" treatment:
ayres' gambit to avoid criminal trial, while successful, has begun to unravel: even the prosecutor, who previously conceded that ayres is demented, has made accusations in court that the child molester is actively and deliberately refusing treatment. Further, the molester has made comments on the record that he is avoiding treatment at the instruction of his attorney Jonathan McDougall. Read more about it here.
UPDATE August 3, 2012:
Napa State Hospital has stated that, in fact, william hamilton ayres IS COMPETENT, and has always been competent, and has been malingering -- faking his dementia in order to avoid prosecution.
Read about it here: william ayres: Lying, Malingering, Child Molester
Ok, let's see if everyone can keep this straight:
ReplyDelete- At the end of June, 2011. after the mental competency mistrial, prosecutor Mckowan told the mother of the victim that there would be no retrial; that no jury would find Ayres to be competent; that they wouldn't send him to Napa (state hospital.)
- On August 8, 2011, Mckowan reiterated to the relative of an in-statute victim that "No jury would find Ayres to be competent"; that they would not send Ayres to Napa as his "dementia" wouldn't improve; and that his lawyer was looking for some cushy rest homes for him.
- A few days later, a mother of an Ayres victim met with a San Mateo government official and told him what Mckowan had said about no jury finding Ayres to be competent, and that they wouldn't send him to Napa, a place for the mentally ill.
- The public official who was very concerned, then called District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe on August 16, 2011 and asked him about Mckowan's remarks.
Wagstaffe stated that Mckowan was "wrong" that no jury would find him to be competent and about Napa, and he gave the government official his word that there were only two options on the table: Napa or a retrial." The government official asked Wagstaffe to give him his word on this. Wagstaffe did.
However, just TWO DAYS LATER, a lawyer representing an in-statute victim called Mckowan and asked her what was going on with the Ayres case. She stated that "Ayres had dementia and we are dropping the case. " The lawyer stated that an investigator had collected evidence that Ayres was competent.
Mckowan replied " I don't believe Ayres is competent. We're dropping the case on Monday August 22 because Ayres has dementia"
Huh? What prosecutor in their right mind wouldn't jump at the chance to look at evidence that a molester who raped young boys was competent? Not Mckowan. She stopped taking the lawyer's calls.
Then on Friday August 19, the lawyer got hold of Wagstaffe who gave yet another story about Ayres. He told him that he was going to Napa!!
We hear that DA Wagstaffe is scrambing today and is NOT pleased that the parents of the victims actually took matters into their own hands to get justice. God knows the DA's office wasn't doing it.
ReplyDeleteWe also hear that Wagstaffe- who's never met a reporter whose call he didn't immediately return- has been hiding out from the reporter at the San Mateo County Times today who wants his take on the surveillance issue. But Wagstaffe won't respond to him.
A bunch of angry parents called Wagstaffe about the surveillance video today. He only called one of them back. This is what he told her:
ReplyDeleteHe said that he looked at the videos and read the transcript, and that the overwhelming,
dramatic evidence we needed was a video tape of Ayres driving a car. He would
have gone back and retried him for that. He also mentioned seeing him without a walker
would have helped.
He was very disturbed about McKowan telling people that Ayres would never go to Napa. He
said he never knew that, and if that's the case it's a serious violation.
We talked about re-trial, and he said because of the 8-4 verdict on the competency trial, he could
not justify a repeat since he has an obligation to the taxpayers against spending more money on
a subsequent trial that can't be won.
Here is the official plan for Monday: The DA's office will argue for committment to Napa
State Hospital, and only Napa. They will not agree to any other hospital. He said the presiding
judge is conservative, and the defense attorney agrees with Napa. He could be sent there for a
minimum of 180 days, or up to whatever the judge feels is fair. However, here is the kicker,
there will be a 4 to 6 week planning report on the decision before a committment. He said he will
talk to the press and tell them his decision.
Hello!! Wagstaffe said that if they had had video of Ayres driving a car, that would have been significant?
ReplyDeleteThen how come the San Mateo Police Department IGNORED a report on August 11, 2011 that doctors who had worked with Ayres in his old office building was seen DRIVING?
And what does a walker have to do with being mentally competent?
The Nazi Prison Guard in Cleveland was convicted at age 91 in a wheelchair.
Did Wagstaffe really think a lame comment about the walker would pass the smell test?
Fucked by the DA, fucked by the prosecutor, fucked by the defense lawyer, and now looks like fuck by the papers to, huh.
ReplyDeleteThey should all get a ChoMo van and drive around holding down little kids for molestors to attack.
The only thing I see which is inappropriate behavior is that ayres didn' t attempt to smack down Solveig's hand when she was ravaging her soup bowl and then entered over to ayres plate and started attacking his food!
ReplyDeleteShe was ravaged for sure, on the ole seafood diet, if she sees it she will eat it.
Ayres looks like he is having the time of his life! A captive audience, a free meal, threw his own walker in the back of the Honda, got a good parking spot in San Francisco, a mid-day strawberry daiquiri, laughing.....
ReplyDeleteAnd oh so coordinated with his emotions right down to the timing of his "Broadway Hands" effectively showing how coordinated he is.
Perfectly timed hand gestures along with his stories!
He is very competent.
" he could
ReplyDeletenot justify a repeat since he has an obligation to the taxpayers against spending more money on
a subsequent trial that can't be won." (???)
A) He had an obligation to the taxpayers to protect them from child molesters.
B) He had an obligation not to fuck up the first two trials using taxpayer money. Where the fuck was this turd when things were going downhill?
While Wagstaffe told the mother of a victim today that they "would never win a retrial and that the cost would not be justified to the taxpayers " then why did he tell a San Mateo Supervisor on August 16, 2011, just four days earlier that there were only two options:"Napa or a retrial.?"
ReplyDeleteAs it was the prosecutor who bungled the first criminal trial and the competency retrial, we would argue that the DA's office owes it to the tax payers to try again.
But come to think of it, no. It needs to be taken over by the Attorney General's office.
Did he ever ask the taxpayers what they want? That is just an excuse. Wagstaffe is full if them.
ReplyDeleteRemember folks Wagstaffe came up short 20,000 votes out of the ballots that were cast when he ran unopposed.
I left the box blank by his name. I refuse to vote for a wishy washy DA who cares nothing about the law.
Funny (sarcasm) money was a supposed issue when Fox dropped my case years ago before budget woes. Gave a doctor a free pass.
What about the law, I am a taxpayer and voter and I want criminals prosecuted, especially child molesters.
At least newly elected San Mateo Supervisor Dave Pine has met with the mother of an Ayres victim and has expressed concern about the handling of the case.
ReplyDeleteWe would urge you to email both Pine and Horsley this weekend to urge them to contact Wagstaffe on behalf of the victims and ask for a delay in a decision.
Dave.pine@comcast.net
donhorsley@sbcglobal.net
Wagstaffe" said that he looked at the videos and read the transcript, and that the overwhelming,
ReplyDeletedramatic evidence we needed was a video tape of Ayres driving a car."
If Wagstaffe thought that driving a car was such an important indicator of competency, then why didn't Wagstaffe tell the San Mateo Deputy Police Chief to act on those tips that came in to him on August 11, 2011, stating that doctors in Ayres' old office building at 215 N. San Mateo Drive had seen him driving a car?
The police never responded to those tips. But friends and relatives of victims on their own, knocked on the doctors' doors themselves.
How arrogant of Wagstaffe to sit there and say"Not good enough evidence." Not a pat on the back for the poor families who scraped their money together for an investigator.
Shame on his office for such a cold unfeeling attitude towards victims..
What is going on with this monster?
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous @January 12, 2012 7:41 AM:
ReplyDeleteNot really sure what's going on with him. He was sent to Napa State sometime around October 26th, 2011. We're not sure what the duration is. The law talks about a minimum of about 6 months locked up in a secure mental health facility for cases that include child molestation, violence, etc.
We assume that either ayres will get tired of the game and he'll be magically "cured" and released, or perhaps he'll stay locked up until he's "better" if ever. We don't know what will happen to him with regard to being locked up. We assume that he is working to get released at some point without conceding competence. With his political, judiciary, prosecutorial, and other county connections, we assume that he will be out sooner rather than later.
His criminal charges are "Suspended" as best we know, until he is "cured." If he is "cured" then the DA could feasibly start the criminal re-trial, if they felt like it.
We've heard that people from the DA's office think that he will be locked up in a state facility indefinitely, as there doesn't appear to be any private institution that qualifies as a lockup facility. They also think that he will be non-curable (even though ayres' own doctors provided medical scans and tests that seem to show that ayres is well within normal range for mental acuity.)
My take is that if ayres is ever released, the COURT will be notified.
We don't know what happens AFTER that, if it happens, but I'm personally assuming that the whole issue would be dropped at that point.
I'm sorry I didn't read this before writing a comment on June 5th. The man is a psychopath. He has absolutely no conscience.
ReplyDeleteA neurologist could run a brain MRI or a brain CT-scan (preferably, a CT-scan with contrast) and easily confirm that this man does (or does not) have dementia or Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Dementia usually lasts for a year or two and it always evolves into AD.
ReplyDeleteNobody who has dementia or AD would joke, or laugh at a joke, about the supposed advantage(s) of having either stage of the disease. Moreover, no empathic person would make such a joke in the presence of someone who has dementia or AD. That this man's friend apparently joked in such a manner and in his presence tells me without doubt this man does not have dementia or AD.
The July 2012 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin provides an overview of psychopathy. Psychopaths are selfish, narcissistic bullies and compulsive liars who cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They are ruthless predators who constantly seek easy prey. To them, fear is not an unpleasant sensation.
“I don’t feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt.” - Ted Bundy
Exactly so. And it has already been done. Before the competency trial, in fact.
DeleteI mention these results briefly at the end of this very article, and again, with plenty of detail about exactly how many times ayres has been diagnosed to be COMPETENT here:
http://williamayreswatch.blogspot.com/2012/05/ayres-unraveling-dementia-gambit.html
To wit:
➲ Dr. Robert Telfer, ayres’ neurologist, indicates that he evaluated ayres a few months after the criminal molestation trial. Telfer put ayres on Aricept for treatment of the dementia related to Alzheimer’s. He states that ayres “did not take to it” and therefore wasn't taking the medication.
➲ In July, 2010, ayres had an MRI that showed minimal shrinkage of the brain, within normal parameters for ayres’ age.
➲ ayres took two Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) tests. A score of 25-30 is normal, a score of 21-24 is considered to indicate minimal impairment. Scores below 21 can be considered to indicate dementia, (10 – 20 is “Moderate”) These scores generally don’t increase over time in a person suffering deteriorating mental status. On ayres’ first test, he scored a 25 (NORMAL - no dementia) and on his second test just before the competency trial, he scored a 29 (NORMAL, no dementia).
➲ An MRI indicated that there was no presence of “white matter” amyloid plaques that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
By the way, as mentioned, This "friend" that ayres was joking with was Larry Lurie, a psychiatrist pal who has written papers on Alzheimer's disease and its symptoms.
DeleteI didn't know about this man's July 2010 MRI or MMSE tests until tonight. Some people who have dementia or Alzheimer's Disease do worse when they take a verbal or written test for a second time than they did when they took it for the first time. I'm surprised to hear that this man did BETTER during his re-test. That he suddenly improved surprises me. Even so, the results of his 2010 brain MRI and his colleague's joke do much more than the MMSE to convince me that he is faking dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. Like psychological exams, verbal and written tests can easily be faked, but medical scans can't easily be faked - unless perhaps several clinical personnel were to be in on the deceit. But why would they risk their reasonably well-paid jobs (especially in this tough economy) in order to do so?
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the results of the 2010 MRI prove that this man understands the charges that are pressed against him and that, by implication, he is deceiving countless people in order to avoid prosecution? Now I'm more than ever mystified as to why he was sent to a hospital rather than convicted and sentenced to prison.
Has this man taken a brain MRI (or preferably, a brain CT-scan with contrast) in 2012? Hopefully, yes. If not, he should do so ASAP. If he should do so and if the results of the new test(s) is (or are) normal, that should end the deceit and prove his guilt.
I don't understand why some people defend psychopaths, even when there is a Himalayan mountain of evidence against them. The charm, status, or popularity of the psychopath should not trump the rights of those whom he has targeted.
Medical Fact is irrelevant as far as justice is concerned. EVEN IF the court could FORCE ayres to take another MRI or CT-scan, the Defense attorney can still contest the results, thus requiring the hearing.
DeleteTo be sure, it would be additional evidence that the judge could use in his determination, but it's doubtful that in the circumstances ayres would agree to the testing.
Defense attorney McDougall already objected to his client being INTERVIEWED by the original non-biased, court appointed doctors, and had to be ORDERED by the court to allow it...
I'm guessing that the odds that the court would force ayres to undergo a medical "procedure" are slim to none.
This man would refuse to undergo brain CT-scan (with contrast?) or another brain MRI only if he has something to hide. If he really had dementia in 2010, by now he would have Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and probably be unable to independently decide whether to undergo another brain scan. If this man refused to get another such scan, I would be 100 percent convinced that he is faking dementia and/or AD. I think that is a reasonable assumption.
DeleteCould a skilled lipreader be used to interpret for the court the dialog in the restaurant-scene surveillance film? If so, could the film be used as evidence?
The burden to prove incompetence is now squarely on the defense. If there is a test that shows ayres to be incompetent without a shadow of a doubt, we will surely hear about it.
DeleteThe surveillance film and the accompanying report (by a licensed PI, who has a reputation staked in being honest and objective) should both be admissible as evidence in court.
The prosecutor has stated that she felt that a jury in a competency retrial would not have believed a paid report. (In spite of the fact that they believed the paid doctors in the competency trial that ended in mistrial.) See here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B049vcyp2C46aW1PanhwZlRUMUE
This is not about logic and indisputable results, it is about the opinion that the jury has about those results, and logic is not an option, as far as justice is concerned.
I remember growing up in the same community as Ayers and his family. He was at "the top of the world" living in Hillsborough, CA. with a highly lucrative practice and participating in a local TV educational show on sex education. I'm glad that the truth came to light about this guy and am so sorry for those that he has victimized over the years.
ReplyDelete