An Oregon City-area woman who stabbed her husband after deciding his body was possessed by Satan was placed Monday under state mental health supervision for 20 years.
Helen Vendela Fricke, 62, was assigned to supervision by the state Psychiatric Security Review Board by Clackamas County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Rastetter. Fricke pleaded guilty except for insanity April 7 to attempted murder. An additional charge of second-degree assault was dropped during plea negotiations between prosecutor John Wentworth and defense attorney Daniel Woram.
According to police reports and court records, Fricke has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was under a physician's care. However, her medications apparently were inadequate, leading to delusions.
On April 4, 2014, reports say, Fricke's husband, Gary Fricke, awoke in the morning, noticing that their home on South Pear Road, east of Oregon City, was very hot. When he went downstairs, he saw that all the faucets in the house had been opened, with water pouring out.
While turning down the thermostat, his wife came up behind him and buried a butcher knife in his back, barely missing his spine. He then called 911.
Fricke was arrested by Clackamas County sheriff's deputies shortly afterward. She was released on bail and went to live with her daughter in Southeast Portland.
Meanwhile, under proper medications, Fricke has been much better able to control her behavior, according to a mental health evaluation. She now is staying in a Northwest Portland mental health facility.
Gary Fricke, who attended the hearing, has recovered well from the stabbing and does not appear to have suffered any serious lasting effects.
-- Rick Bella rbella@oregonian.com
503-294-5915; @southnewshound