ANTIDEPRESSANT, COCAINE, DEPAKOTE: Man Kills Mother, 2 Small Children, & Dog

On the morning of May 12, 2008,
Covington was admitted to University Community Hospital for a drug overdose. Tests showed he
had taken cocaine, acetaminophen and salicylate, another anti-inflammatory drug
used for mild to moderate pain, the defense filing states. Doctors also found
tricyclics, which is an antidepressant, and valproic acid, a drug used for
seizures and migraines.

The defense says a psychiatrist who
examined Covington for the case will testify that Covington’s bipolar disorder,
combined with the drugs in his system, rendered him mentally incapable of
forming the intent to commit first-degree murder.

Mental health defense pursued

By ELAINE
SILVESTRINI

esilvestrini@tampatrib.com

Published: February 2, 2010

TAMPA – A man charged with killing
and mutilating his girlfriend and her two children should not face the death
penalty because he was mentally incapable of intending to commit first-degree
murder, his attorneys say.

Lisa Freiberg and her children,
Heather Savannah, 2, and Zachary, 7, were found slain inside their Lutz mobile
home in 2008. The
family dog was also killed.

The deaths were so grisly that
investigators could not identify the bodies by looking at them.

Authorities say Edward Covington was
found huddled in a closet in the mobile home with blood on his hands, feet and
back.

The killings took place between 6
and 11 a.m. May 11, 2008, and it appeared Covington had stayed in the home
overnight, investigators say. He told detectives he killed Freiberg and her
children, according to court records.

Covington’s public
defenders
are asking a judge to allow them to
present evidence at trial about his mental condition at the time of the killings
and his mental health history, which they say dates to when he was
15.

A defense court filing says
Covington, 37, does not intend to use an insanity defense, which would be aimed
at seeking a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Rather, the defense
hopes to persuade jurors to convict Covington of the lesser offense of
second-degree murder, making him ineligible for the death penalty.

Covington, his attorneys say, has
been diagnosed with bipolar disorder; a therapist who examined Covington in
2005, when he was working as a state corrections officer, described “classic
symptoms of rage and anger, and episodes of severe depression.”

On the morning of May 12, 2008,
Covington was admitted to
University Community Hospital for a drug overdose. Tests showed he
had taken cocaine, acetaminophen and salicylate, another anti-inflammatory drug
used for mild to moderate pain, the defense filing states. Doctors also found
tricyclics, which is an antidepressant, and valproic acid, a drug used for
seizures and migraines.

The defense says a psychiatrist who
examined Covington for the case will testify that Covington’s bipolar disorder,
combined with the drugs in his system, rendered him mentally incapable of
forming the intent to commit first-degree murder.

The charges against Covington
include three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of abuse of a dead
human body and one count of felony animal cruelty. Prosecutors are seeking the
death penalty.

Covington is being held without
bail.

According to the defense filing,
Covington tried to shoot himself in the head and was hospitalized under the
state’s Baker Act when he was 16. The next year, he overdosed on
drugs

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