Episode 15: PART 2 – Ms. Rambo

TwistedPhilly

To recap part one, Sylvia Seegrist was a resident of Springfield, Pennsylvania, a suburb about 10 miles outside the city of Philadelphia. On Wednesday, October 30, 1985, Sylvia brought an automatic rifle to the Springfield mall and in a span of less than 15 minutes killed 3 people, and seriously wounded 7 others.

Sylvia had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 1975 when she was just 15 years old. And over the next ten years Sylvia was institutionalized a dozen times. In the years leading up to the massacre at the Springfield Mall, Sylvia’s behavior continued to decline. She was frequently escorted out of local businesses for intimidating and scaring patrons. She ranted and raved about the government, the system and often made threats against society. There were more instances than I can count when Sylvia expressed her desires to hurt other people.

In part 2 we review Sylvia’s trial and incarceration, and take a deeper look at the mental health system with help from TwistedPhilly listener Jen. Too often cases like these are sensationalized to focus only on the violent crimes, when we also need to consider the needs for mental health support in preventing stories like Sylvia’s. Help keep this show going. Subscribe on iTunes, leave a review and let me know what you’d like to hear!

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