Rayne
04-07-2009, 01:30 AM
Police: Ax used to kill actor
Autopsy shows Louis Perryman died from multiple wounds.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Austin, Texas - Seth Tatum used an ax to kill Austin actor Louis Byron Perryman last Wednesday, according to a police arrest affidavit.
Detectives checked on Perryman, 67, at his home in South Austin on Thursday morning, the affidavit says, and found an ax near his body. A medical examiner ruled that Perryman died of multiple wounds, according to the affidavit.
Tatum, 26, stole Perryman's car after the attack, the affidavit said, and then drove it the next day to the Travis County Courthouse, where he confessed and turned himself in.
Perryman was a character actor who enjoyed a run of bit parts in films, including "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2," "Poltergeist" and "The Blues Brothers," and in television's "Walker, Texas Ranger."
The affidavit says that Tatum "decided to kill Perryman for the purpose of robbing Perryman of his car and other things that he needed."
Police said Monday they still do not know why Perryman was targeted.
A separate arrest affidavit says that on the day that Perryman was killed, Tatum fractured the skull of Carl Drake, the roommate of Tatum's mother, with gardening shears.
Court documents show Tatum was convicted of assaulting Drake in November 2005. Tatum was on probation at the time for an October 2005 theft; after the assault, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Tatum recently returned to Austin and stayed with his mother and Drake, family and police have said.
In an interview last week, Tatum's mother, Joan Tatum, said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms and was not on his prescribed medication.
As part of a competency hearing in 2006, a doctor said Seth Tatum had "mental illness and the diagnosis is bipolar disorder and polysubstance dependence," according to court documents.
Tatum had been prescribed valproic acid, commonly used as an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug; Thorazine, used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; and Elavil, an antidepressant, according to his competency test completed by Dr. Richard Coons.
Tatum faces capital murder and aggravated assault charges. He remains in the Travis County Jail with bail set at $2 million.
Autopsy shows Louis Perryman died from multiple wounds.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Austin, Texas - Seth Tatum used an ax to kill Austin actor Louis Byron Perryman last Wednesday, according to a police arrest affidavit.
Detectives checked on Perryman, 67, at his home in South Austin on Thursday morning, the affidavit says, and found an ax near his body. A medical examiner ruled that Perryman died of multiple wounds, according to the affidavit.
Tatum, 26, stole Perryman's car after the attack, the affidavit said, and then drove it the next day to the Travis County Courthouse, where he confessed and turned himself in.
Perryman was a character actor who enjoyed a run of bit parts in films, including "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2," "Poltergeist" and "The Blues Brothers," and in television's "Walker, Texas Ranger."
The affidavit says that Tatum "decided to kill Perryman for the purpose of robbing Perryman of his car and other things that he needed."
Police said Monday they still do not know why Perryman was targeted.
A separate arrest affidavit says that on the day that Perryman was killed, Tatum fractured the skull of Carl Drake, the roommate of Tatum's mother, with gardening shears.
Court documents show Tatum was convicted of assaulting Drake in November 2005. Tatum was on probation at the time for an October 2005 theft; after the assault, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Tatum recently returned to Austin and stayed with his mother and Drake, family and police have said.
In an interview last week, Tatum's mother, Joan Tatum, said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms and was not on his prescribed medication.
As part of a competency hearing in 2006, a doctor said Seth Tatum had "mental illness and the diagnosis is bipolar disorder and polysubstance dependence," according to court documents.
Tatum had been prescribed valproic acid, commonly used as an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug; Thorazine, used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; and Elavil, an antidepressant, according to his competency test completed by Dr. Richard Coons.
Tatum faces capital murder and aggravated assault charges. He remains in the Travis County Jail with bail set at $2 million.