Molin Trial: Day III

I received this email yesterday from Pat Angel:

I have been reading about the "Steve Molin" case and I just wanted to share some information with you.

I lived in Darby as a kid and I attended Darby-Colwyn High School. Steve Molin was several years older than me and graduated the same year as my sister. My father worked with Emily Molin at Conrail and was friends with her, as well. So much so, that they sat together on the train each evening on the way home from Philly.

Every evening Steve would pick his Mom up from the train or he would walk her home. I just find all of this very hard to believe that he killed his mother.

When I was in high school, word was that Steve was mentally retarded or slow. I don't know what the classification was, but he acted like a nine/ten year old kid.

He was, more or less, just pushed through school, as far as his classwork was concerned, with the exception of wood shop. He was an excellent carpenter. That said, I never, ever, remotely saw anythng to suggest he would harm anyone - especially his mother. Mentally, Steve seemed much, much younger than his chronological age and I can't see him even being able to take care of his mom. She took care of him.

Just to give you an idea of his behavior, at age 20, when he would see my sister (who he had a crush on) he would be screaming her name as he walked down the street, (first and last name) at least three, four, five times and Emily would have to intervene and tell him that was enough. This happened at least two, three times a week, every week for years. He was like a loud boisterous kid who couldn't wait his turn. As you can imagine, he was teased a lot at school, because he was very childlike and gullible. My sister always felt bad for him and was very kind and treated him well and he was crazy about her.

Twenty years later, he met my sister at the mall and the first thing he said to her was, "oh, you got fat." My sister and I couldn't stop laughing. By then, he was about 40 years old. That was typical for Steve, he was very immature. Mentally, he was like a kid. I just cannot believe that he would of purposely done this. Have the courts had him evaluated? Has he been found to be mentally competent?

This is so sad. His mother would be devastated that he is in this position. He will more than likely be used and abused while in prison. I left Darby over 35 years ago, and both my parents have been gone for over 30 years. I have not seen Steve or Emily in over 30 years, but I find it hard to believe that Steve Molin is in jail and being tried for killing his mother. I just don't believe it.

To Pat's question about whether the courts have had him mentally evaluated the answer is no. At least, as far as I know.

There are other people who know Steve, who also question his level of mental competence. But his attorney apparently decided this would be a fruitless road to travel down. Steve's character witnesses, most of whom Steve worked for as a plumber at one time or another, all testified to his competence and his reliability and as a plumber. One of the things they liked best about him were his "reasonable" rates. I would argue that it's possible that his rates were "unreasonably" low for the work he did. He may have been a competent plumber but he was a lousy businessman.

States Attorney Beau Oglesby made a point of asking Molin's business acquaintances about his "competence" in his work. To a person, they all sang his praises. In my opinion, Oglesby wanted to make sure the jury didn't have any reasonable doubt Molin had the mental ability to form the intent to commit of murder.

Outside of court, Harry Collinson, who has known Molin for 10 years, offered the layman's opinion that he probably suffers from some form of autism for which he has never been formally disagnosed. It would explain his child-like personality, his odd manner of speaking, and his occasional emotional outbursts.

Could such a person commit murder? I don't know why not. I think it is clear that Molin is "competent" to stand trial. He is assisting in his own defense. He obviously knows the difference between right and wrong. And he remains steadfast in his denials that he intentionally harmed his mother.

It would have been interesting to see him on the witness stand. He does, as former District Justice Tom Lacey testified, exudes the quality of someone who would have a hard time being deceptive.

While his story about what happened that night has holes in it that you could drive his 2,000-pound work van through, no one has been able to shake him from the core part of it. Whether this is just a matter of stubborness, rationalizing, or pure deception, I don't know. But I least suspect the latter.