Richard HappBy Mark W. Olson

Richard Happ, 39, who stabbed his Waconia parents to death in 1999, was recently transferred from a maximum security hospital to a non-secure treatment facility.

The Carver County Attorney’s Office opposed the transfer. However a Judicial Appeal Panel overturned an earlier decision and allowed Happ’s move.

After Happ murdered his parents in their Waconia home with a butcher knife, his brother, David Happ, escaped the carnage and dialed 9-1-1. Richard Happ fled in a responding Carver County Sheriff’s Office squad car, resulting in a chase that ended near Lake Minnetonka.

In 2000 Carver County Judge Robert Goggins later found Happ not guilty by reason of mental illness.

According to a Carver County Attorneys’ Office press release, Happ was indefinitely committed as mentally ill and dangerous. Since the judge’s decision, Happ has been at the Minnesota Security Hospital, a maximum-security psychiatric hospital in St. Peter, for those committed by the court as mentally ill and dangerous. He is at the highest security rating, according to Judicial Appeal Panel documents.

The decision overturns a 2006 decision by the commissioner of Human Services to deny a transfer and allows Happ to be moved to the less-secure Forensic Transitions Unit.

Arguments

Happ was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is being treated with five psychotropic medications, according to the Judicial Appeal Panel documents. He has also been treated for chemical dependency.

Happ has followed his treatment plan and “has maintained consistent behavior control of any aggressive impulses,” since he was admitted, the findings state.

Happ has also had hundreds of unaccompanied liberties on the hospital campus and accompanied off-campus privileges. He serves as a mentor and role model to other patients, the findings state.

However, Happ also suffers from visual hallucinations, which he recognizes as delusions, the Appeal Panel documents stated. A doctor has concluded that Happ “has no more than a moderate risk of committing a future violent offence.”

The Carver County attorney retained Dr. Maureen Hackett, a psychiatrist and former clinical director of the Minnesota Security Hospital, to conduct an evaluation of Happ. Hackett doesn’t support the move because Happ continues to have “violent hallucinations.”

“It is of her opinion that the closer that (Happ) gets to less structure, he experiences more symptoms. Therefore she does not believe that his treatment needs can be met with less security,” the findings stated.

Happ’s brother, David, also testified against the transfer. According to the findings, “He believes that (Happ’s) treatment team is now lauding (him) for being a model patient as previous treatment providers had before their parents were killed. Mr. Happ expressed fear that his brother might still try to harm him and other family members if given the opportunity.”

Prior to the murders, Happ had been hospitalized five times for mental illness, beginning in early adolescence. And in 1998, it was reported that he had held a knife to his mother, and was hospitalized.

“My job is to protect the public,” said Carver County Attorney Jim Keeler. "We’ve fought to keep Happ in a secure setting because he is violent and dangerous. … I respectfully disagree with the panel’s decision, but will abide by the ruling,” Keeler said.

Legal wrangling

The recent Judicial Appeal Panel decision is the latest in a series of legal proceedings regarding Happ’s status and placement.

In December 2002, three years after the murders, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, over the objection of the Carver County Attorney, approved Happ’s transfer from the Minnesota Security Hospital to a less secure facility.

The Carver County attorney appealed the decision to an appeal panel. During the appeal process, Happ’s treatment team decided to withdraw its support for the transfer because he was found to be experiencing symptoms similar to those he experienced at the time of the murders, the press release stated.

When the Minnesota Security Hospital again petitioned for Happ to go to a less restrictive facility, the Carver County Attorney’s Office requested a forensic evaluation from Hackett.

Based on her opinion that Happ was not ready for transfer, the Carver County attorney continued to oppose the transfer.

On Oct. 26, 2006, the Commissioner of Human Services, based in part on Hackett’s findings, denied the request for transfer. This latest decision overturns the commissioner’s ruling.