Question of sanity raised in seaman's near-fatal attack

NORFOLK

Seann Matson had a bad feeling about one of his fellow sailors on the guided missile cruiser Cape St. George.

Seaman Richard Mott was a loner. When he and Matson stood duty together, Mott hardly talked - except to ask about guns and silencers. In early 2007, Matson spoke to his section leader about his unease. Don't worry, he was told.

Next, Matson told a corpsman he thought Mott needed a psychiatric evaluation. Not until higher-ups request one, he was told.

Weeks later, Navy authorities say, Mott attacked a sailor eating breakfast on the crowded mess deck of a barge at a Portsmouth shipyard where the cruiser was undergoing repairs. The victim, Seaman Jose Garcia, had his throat slashed and his chest and abdomen stabbed - wounds that nearly proved fatal.

The March 2007 attack came to light as part of a military judicial proceeding against Mott, who's charged with attempted murder. Matson, now a petty officer 2nd class, testified Wednesday in a preliminary hearing at Norfolk Naval Station.

The commander of the Navy's Mid-Atlantic Region, Rear Adm. Mark Boensel, ultimately will decide whether to pursue charges against Mott, who has spent much of the last 18 months at the Butner Federal Medical Center, a prison hospital in North Carolina. If convicted of attempted murder, he could face life in prison.

Mott's civilian lawyer, Greg D. McCormack, said after the hearing that it was "very clear from the get-go that there were psychological issues." Mott was initially deemed not competent to stand trial, he said.

McCormack said that if the case goes to trial, he will press for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. He said a Navy psychiatrist determined Mott was not mentally responsible for his conduct the day of the attack.

Multiple witnesses to the attack testified that Mott yelled, "He raped me!" or "You raped me!" as he slashed Garcia.

Garcia had reported to the ship two days earlier. McCormack told the court he doesn't think Garcia had any contact with Mott before the attack.

"There's no contention here that this young man ever did anything to my client," he said.

Mott claimed to have been raped in 2003 in Texas, said Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Jonathan Oakes, who interviewed Mott after the attack.

Mott also claimed that he had been kidnapped and raped by military special forces troops when he was 13 years old, that he managed to escape by killing some of them, and that President Clinton and then-Gov. George Bush had apologized for the incidents, Oakes testified.

Oakes said Mott told him he bought a Winchester pocket knife the night before the incident. He said Mott told him he wanted to kill Garcia with as few cuts as possible, so he targeted the sailor's throat and diaphragm. He also said Mott seemed crushed to learn that Garcia was alive.

"Would that disappoint you, if Garcia didn't die?" Oakes asked.

Yes, Mott told him.

Garcia joined the Navy as an 18-year-old in August 2006. The Cape St. George was his first assignment. He is being discharged as a result of his injuries, which include constant pain and nerve damage to his face, he testified.

The Cape St. George is now homeported in San Diego.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com