Manhunt On For suspect In Psychologist's slaughter

NEW YORK -- A man who hacked a psychologist to death at her Upper East Side office remained on the loose Wednesday, police said.

Kathryn Faughey, 56, was stabbed to death with a meat cleaver and a 9-inch knife at around 9 p.m. Tuesday in her office suite on East 79th Street, in a bustling neighborhood just blocks from a major hospital complex.

Police said they recovered three knives from the scene including the cleaver; a suitcase on wheels filled with women's clothing and adult diapers; and another bag filled with eight smaller knives that were not believed to have been used in the attack.

At the crime scene, one of the knives was found near the dead victim's left foot, and the 9-inch knife and the meat cleaver were both bent, police said. The handle had come off the cleaver, according to police.

"The condition of the room was that of a fierce struggle," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said at a briefing Wednesday. "There was blood on the floor and on the walls."Police also said there was blood on walls, an overturned desk on the floor and papers scattered everywhere.A detailed sketch of the suspect and surveillance videotapes of him entering and leaving the building were released. Police were trying to determine whether he was one of the victim's patients. Police said the man, wearing a green overcoat and baseball hat, arrived at the office around 8 p.m. Tuesday, saying he had an appointment with Dr. Kent Shinbach, a geriatric psychiatrist who worked in the same office suite as the victim. According to police, the suspect walked past a doorman, into the waiting room and then into Faughey's office. As he assaulted her, police said, Shinbach ran to help.
The assailant then attacked Shinbach, pinning him to the wall with a chair and stealing $90 before escaping through a basement door at around 8:54 p.m. Shinbach was in serious condition at New York Hospital with slash wounds on his head, face and arms.

The attack sent shockwaves through the city's large community of mental health professionals. "This is, I think, an extraordinary occurrence," said Sharon Brennan, a psychologist in Manhattan and a spokeswoman for the New York State Psychological Association. "It has had a shocking impact on the whole New York community." Alexandra Pike, who lives across the street in the same apartment building where the victim lived, allowed a news photographer to shoot the scene from her family's apartment and said she used his telephoto lens to look into the victim's office. "You could see there were shades torn down, there was overturned furniture. Papers were strewn all over, and you could see blood all over the place," said Pike, a 20-year-old journalism student.

Faughey, a licensed psychologist, described herself as a specialist in cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing thoughts that cause feelings or behaviors. On her Web site, Faughey said she treated patients for relationship issues, coping with breakups, anxiety, panic attacks, stress over job changes and online intimacy. In an interview with The New York Times in 2004, Faughey offered some advice on breaking up in a digital age: "In the old days it was burn the letters," she said. "Today, clear the hard drive." Faughey was remembered fondly by her neighbors. Pill Lee, who works for a nearby dry cleaner, described her as a quiet, smiling woman whose favorite outfit was a black pantsuit and white blouse. "She was very pleasant, very friendly, but she was quite private and reserved," said Elaine Hartstein, whose husband was Faughey's dentist and practiced in the building where the victim lived. The slaying unnerved residents in the affluent neighborhood.

Serious attacks by patients on their mental health providers are rare, but they do happen, although usually in institutions that see more seriously ill patients. A psychiatrist in Omaha died from head injuries in August, several days after a patient with a grudge and a history of violence attacked him as he arrived at a medical center. It is common for therapists who see patients in their homes or private offices to install alarm systems, or even help buzzers, in the event that a patient starts to lose control. In Manhattan, these safety systems are often complemented by the usual security systems for office buildings, which include doormen and video cameras. "Safety is always a concern," Brennan said. She added that therapists are thoroughly trained in how to assess a patient's potential for violence, and would normally see patients in a private setting only if they had determined that the safety risk was low.