Jury decides knife attack was attempted murder

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

A Clark County jury decided a 38-year-old man, who went on a knife wielding rampage at the Clark County Social Services center in Henderson in December 2003, did so with the intent to kill.

Michael Tracy McLaughlin was found guilty on three counts of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon and one count each of battery with use of a deadly weapon and burglary with use of a deadly weapon.

McLaughlin, who stared straight ahead and had no visible reaction as the verdict was read Friday, is to be sentenced Sept. 23 by District Judge Donald Mosley.

If Mosley decides to sentence McLaughlin -- a seven-time felon -- as a habitual criminal, McLaughlin could get 10 to 25 years in prison, 10 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole or life in prison without parole.

Deputy District Attorney Pam Weckerly said she was "happy with the verdict because it acknowledges what the victims endured."

Prosecutors alleged McLaughlin was upset with the quality and amount of benefits he was receiving from the social services center. Three days prior to the attack McLaughlin was told by his caseworker that he qualified for medical assistance but not the rent subsidy he wanted.

McLaughlin became enraged and stabbed, kicked and punched receptionist Kathy Atkinson, 56, security guard Steven Glenn, 32, and social worker Susan Rhodes, 55. He also attacked St. Therese Center volunteer Edward Johanns, 55.

Atkinson, Rhodes and Glenn suffered knife wounds and were taken to University Medical Center's trauma unit. It's unclear whether Johanns' cut on the left side of his head by his ear -- a wound that would later require seven stitches -- was the result of a knife or a chair thrown at him by McLaughlin.

Although Atkinson, Rhodes and Glenn continue to work for the county they no longer work at the Henderson Social Services Center. Glenn still suffers from severe back problems and Rhodes experiences constant numbness on the left side of her head caused by blows suffered at the hands of McLaughlin.

The question of what McLaughlin's true intentions were as he punched, kicked, stabbed and threw chairs at several people at the center was the focus of closing arguments.

Deputy Public Defender Lynn Avants asked the jury why the district attorney's office charged McLaughlin with three counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon for the attacks on three people and then battery with use of a deadly weapon for the same acts.

"He (McLaughlin) is responsible, what he did is felonious, make no mistake about it. But it's not attempted murder," Avants told the jury.

But Weckerly argued it was "ridiculous" to see McLaughlin's actions as anything but attempted murder. She said the reason McLaughlin wasn't charged for attempted murder for his attack on Johanns was because he was "not as relentless" and didn't "go after him (Johanns) again and again. The defendant got a break on that one."

"I don't think you have to be a mind reader," Weckerly said. "Look at his actions, over and over and over again, his intent was to kill."

Weckerly acknowledged McLaughlin might have been a homeless and broke man as Avants described him, but said that was in no excuse for his actions.

"He's (McLaughlin) got problems, but everyone in that clinic had issues," Weckerly said. "Having problems doesn't take you off the hook for what you do, for stabbing three people."

McLaughlin, who was living with a relative at the time of the rampage, has a lengthy arrest record. He had previously been charged with possession of drugs, possession of a weapon, burglary, car theft, driving under the influence and resisting arrest -- but most of the charges were either dropped or reduced to lesser offenses, according to court records. He was sentenced in 1999 to two to five years in prison for possession of a stolen vehicle; records don't show how long he actually served.