Tampabay: Baker Act invoked in Rotell case

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Baker Act invoked in Rotell case

A jail psychiatrist orders murder suspect Kristina Gaime held in a Pasco crisis center.

By AMY ELLIS and JAMES THORNER

The woman accused of killing one son and trying to kill another has been moved from a Pasco County jail cell to a local mental health center under the state's Baker Act.

On orders of a jail psychiatrist, 34-year-old Kristina Gaime was taken to The Harbor, a locked 30-bed crisis center in New Port Richey. She is not guarded by deputies, but she is watched by center personnel.

The Baker Act calls for as much as 72 hours of observation when an individual poses a threat to themselves or others. When that time expires, Gaime may be moved to a hospital for treatment of still unexplained burns, which her attorneys say will require skin graft surgery.

"At this point, anything is better than her sitting in jail," said Angelo Ferlita, her attorney. "She is in a very fragile state."

Gaime, a home health nurse, is accused of poisoning her 6-year-old son, Mathew Rotell, with morphine and carbon monoxide. Investigators also think she tried to kill Mathew's brother, Adam, 8, in a murder-suicide attempt.

Mathew's death came just two weeks before a hearing in which Gaime stood to lose custody of both boys to their father, Stephen Rotell.

On Thursday, Gaime's parents, Gary and Kathleen McDuffie, brought clothes to their daughter at The Harbor. They spoke to her through a wall telephone, said their attorney, Mark Hershock.

"They're so burned out," Hershock said of the McDuffies, who have been criticized by investigators as having hindered the investigation into Mathew's death. "They're just getting a week or two just to regroup."

The Sheriff's Office initially requested that Harbor staff members treat Gaime at the Land O'Lakes jail, but the Harbor would only agree to treat her at its secure crisis unit in New Port Richey, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said.

The cost of Gaime's care will be paid by the Sheriff's Office, Doll said. It was not clear Thursday how much her treatment and observation will cost.

Because Gaime is charged with murder and attempted murder, authorities could have kept her at the jail, said Martha Lenderman, a consultant who once led the state's Baker Act program.

However, the nature of the crime suggests that Gaime probably is no danger to anyone but herself, Lenderman said.

"Her alleged victims were very selective," Lenderman said. "This is not a person who is going to go out and hurt someone else."

Sheriff's officials also want to keep a close eye on Gaime, who has threatened suicide since her arrest, Doll said.

Gaime's mental condition also raises the possibility that her attorneys might use an insanity defense, said Walter Afield, a psychiatrist who has testified in dozens of Florida murder cases.

Given the strict definition of insanity in the state of Florida, he said, they might have an uphill battle.

"Based on her letter, she knew what she was doing," Afield said, referring to one of two notes that officials say Gaime left behind. "If you knew right from wrong at the time of the offense, then insanity won't work."

Ferlita, one of two noted criminal defense attorneys representing Gaime, said it was too early to speculate on a defense strategy.

"We don't know all of the facts, and we haven't arrived at any conclusions," he said.

Based on a note investigators found in a safe in Gaime's Land O'Lakes town house, Gaime gave each boy six white pills. Then, police said, she injected them both with morphine and carried them to her minivan in the garage.

Poisonous auto exhaust streamed into the van through a piece of garden hose Gaime rigged to the tailpipe, investigators said.

Mathew died from a morphine overdose and high levels of carbon monoxide, according to an autopsy report. Adam, who also had morphine in his system, was unconscious when paramedics arrived.

Gaime's parents were the first to arrive at her home April 12, when Mathew was found dead.

The McDuffies have been under suspicion since they told police two different stories about what happened that morning, neither of which match investigators' murder-suicide theory.

They also said they arrived at the house to find Adam cracking ice cubes in the kitchen. Paramedics said the boy was passed out and difficult to revive.

Hershock, the McDuffies' attorney, said the inconsistent stories are understandable considering the shocking tragedy the McDuffies encountered.

In light of the charges against Gaime, prosecutors should not pursue "simple misdemeanor obstruction charges" against the McDuffies, he said.

"I'd hope they'd see the big picture and just let it go," he said.

Prosecutors have refused to say whether charges may be filed against the couple. They also will not say whether they plan to seek the death penalty against Gaime.

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