Patrick Arbelo, the 26-year-old Fairfield University graduate who held a classroom of students hostage for over six hours two years ago, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 19, 2003.
Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani ordered Arbelo be committed to a maximum-security state psychiatric hospital in Middletown for 90 days where officials will further review his condition, according to a report by the Connecticut Post.
Arbelo was diagnosed as suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder during the trial by psychiatrist Dr. Paul T. Amble, who recommended Arbelo be spared prison time in favor of receiving psychiatric treatment.
Damiani lambasted Arbelo for his actions before announcing the verdict.
“The trauma parents had to undergo, thinking their child was in that classroom, to me, is incomprehensible,” he said, according to the Post.
Elizabeth Dreyer, professor of the class taken hostage, was content with Damiani’s sentence.
“I was pleased with the verdict for Patrick Arbelo, as it will enable him to get the professional psychological help he needs,” she said. “The legal and medical communities worked very hard to bring about a just sentence, and I think they succeeded.”
One of the students taken hostage also accepted the sentence.
“I think psychiatric help is the most beneficial judgment,” said Andrea Vavasour, ’05. “While his actions were obviously wrong and illegal, I think it was due to his mental instability and serving time in prison wouldn’t prevent him from doing something like that or more drastic after he was released.”
The judge ruled that Arbelo had kidnapped 24 of the 27 students he was charged with kidnapping, after letting three students leave immediately without incident.
Arbelo walked into Professor Elizabeth Dreyer’s “Voices of Medieval Women” class just after 4 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2002, carrying a cardboard box with exposed wires, claiming to have a bomb.
Arbelo then ordered the students to throw their books and backpacks out of the Canisius Hall classroom window and demanded that a personal statement he wrote to be read on WCBS-AM radio before the hostages would be freed.
Gonzaga Hall, located directly across from Canisius, was evacuated until 2 a.m. while the ordeal transpired.
“I was watching TV in my dorm when all of a sudden someone pounded at my door and screamed to evacuate immediately,” said Rebecca DeSanto, ’05. “Since I had no idea why, it was quite startling.”
Arbelo slowly released students, some of which had become hysterical, throughout the night until he surrendered himself to police shortly after 10 p.m. that evening.
Arbelo is expected to stay in psychiatric care until Oct. 15, 2003 when Damiani will review a report from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services on Arbelo’s mental state, according to published reports.
Following a hearing on the case, Arbelo could possibly be released pending the judge’s decision, the Post report states.
Heather Manning contributed to this report.
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