We have obtained convincing evidence that ayres is indeed lucid, displaying functional memory of distant and recent past events, as well as the cognitive ability to understand future events.
In the Press:
There is now a comprehensive news story about the surveillance efforts undertaken by professional private investigators for families and friends of the victims of the child molestation perpetrated by william hamiton ayres.
Please go to San Mateo County Times / Mercury News and read Aaron Kinney's excellent article.
This evidence has been provided to the San Mateo County District Attorney, the prosecutor, and other agencies.
We urge victims and their families and supporters to contact the DA, THIS WEEKEND and ask them to review the information
prior to proceedings THIS MONDAY August 22, 2011.
We have been informed that they intend to concede incompetence on Monday, and this would be a travesty of justice. It appears that the best case scenario is that ayres is sent to Napa for a minimal amount of time, and then probably released(?) We don't know what happens with the criminal charges at this point. It is possible that double jeopardy will then apply.
The main switchboard is closed for the weekend. DIRECT LINE to Wagstaffe:
Steve Wagstaffe 650-363-4752
A change of venue plea can be made with the Attorney General, but the URGENT thing this weekend is to contact Wagstaffe and your local
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Representative and ask them to seriously reconsider their intent to concede to this child molester's further attempt to skirt the law.
California Attorney General:
Voice: (916) 322-3360 or
(Toll-free in California)
(800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341
Emailiu@doj.ca.gov
EVIDENCE IS NOW AVAILABLE:
Evidence provided is VIDEO of Surveillance done by a professional Private Investigator and a copy of the report provided by that investigator.
The Surveillance Video:
We have loaded selected segments of the video to YouTube for ease of access. These videos have been edited from the original source as follows:
- Color has been adjusted, and video brightened for clips inside the restaurant.
Sections have been removed as follows:
- Clips that show relatively little activity or irrelevant footage have been removed.
- Sections of the video where the view is blocked by wait staff, or by the investigators while adjusting equipment have been removed.
- Most sections of the video that show ayres eating with no conversation have been removed.
- Many sections of the video that show ayres eating, then pausing to actively listen to other guests have been removed or cut short.
NOTE: There is no audio. This is by design. It is not legal in California to record audio of any conversation without consent of all parties; the original provided by the investigators is also free of audio.
Please see the surveillance report below, as the investigators took notes on topics of conversation and specific quotes.
Clip One: The ayres vehicle and residence under surveillance, and william ayres in his vehicle being driven by Solveig Ayres, ayres is wearing his usual "disguise" of a baseball cap and dark glasses. He has been spotted this way by many people, sometimes with his walker, sometimes with only a cane.
Clips Two and Three: william and Solveig went to lunch at La Vie in San Francisco on August 18, 2011 with a pair of as-yet-unidentified men. They had detailed discussions, and ayres himself dominated the conversation for at least 20 minutes.
These surveillance videos show many aspects of william ayres' behavior and the other people’s reactions to his behavior that appear to indicate very little cognitive impairment.
Natural behaviors:
- ayres clearly points to his chest when referring to himself in conversation.
- Other guests nod and react normally while ayres is engaging them in conversation, and his gestures seem appropriate, the guests react as if they are normal aspects of conversation.
- ayres is aware and acts appropriately when one of the lunch guests leaves early.
- ayres subconsciously moves the dishes around to make room when the meal arrives, while engaged in the conversation.
- ayres subconsciously uses his napkin when necessary and at appropriate times.
Active engagement:
- ayres is clearly directing/dominating the conversation for a good percentage of the time. (About 20 minutes.)
- ayres shows emotional/animated responses to the conversation.
- ayres directs the waiter in placement of the drinks when they arrive.
- ayres catches the waiter’s attention to let him know that they are wrapping up, and asks the waiter to bag some of the food to go.
- ayres uses his chopsticks for a good portion of the meal, after which the novelty appears to wear off (as is the case for other members of the party.)
- ayres frequently makes humorous comments which the others react appropriately to, and laughs on cue when others say something humorous.
The full, unedited video in the form provided to us by the Private Investigator is available. It is in an avi format, and is known to have problems on Apple computers. If you need access to the full version, email deepsounding@gmail.com and I will provide the link.
The Surveillance Report:
The investigative report appears to indicate that ayres is clearly lucid, displaying functional memory of distant and recent past events, as well as the cognitive ability to understand future events.
Some samples from the report:
- ayres states that he has to “go to court on Monday.”
- “The trio also discussed politics, the recent straw poles in Iowa and the current state of the Republican Party.”
- “ayres talked about joint pain, weight loss (“I’m down to 200 lbs. now” )…”
- “Both men spoke about the effects of Alzheimer’s and the unidentified man said that its only benefit was that “you can mention it in front of the lawyers ‘case it’s serving a purpose” which was greeted by laughter from all seated at the table.”
- “There were teenagers standing there with their pants down mooning some cars that were passing by the crowd.”
- “One of my patients in the past’s father had traumatized him before he got onto a school bus”
We can't stress this enough: we understand that the DA intends to concede that ayres is incompetent to defend himself at trial, and give him a slap on the-wrist, temporary commitment. The standard for incompetence is normally VERY strict, and we do NOT believe that this proof has been met, and in fact we believe that ayres is being deceptive about his level of competence. We think that this evidence clearly shows that ayres is much more competent than not. If you agree, please let the DA know before Monday!
We are distressed that the DA appears to not be swayed by this new evidence.
We thank all of those, near and far, who have helped in this matter.
[UPDATE NOTE: On August 22, 2011 the prosecutor did indeed concede incompetence, in spite of these efforts.]
We have identified the two other men who were dining with william and Solveig ayres on the 18th, who
Solveig refers to as ayres'
"very, very good friends." (Whatever THAT means...) They are, as we expected the second we saw this video:
Larry Lurie, M.D., and
Robert Kimmich M.D, both San Francisco shrinks and past presidents of the
Northern California Psychiatric Society, a pathetic organization from which a great number of past officers were
signatories of a letter pleading for financial help for child molester ayres while he was on trial. (Lurie was also the author of the lovely letter)
Lurie is sitting immediately to william ayres' right, and
Kimmich is sitting to Solveig's left.
Lurie should know about Alzheimer's: He's been writing practice guidelines too... wonder if there's a chapter on what the symptoms would look like, for example, if you wanted to make it seem as if you're symptomatic? Why yes, there certainly is!
Keep this in mind when thinking about ayres' alleged incompetence:
1) ayres' primary care physician, Dale Ritzo, put ayres on Aricept for treatment of Alzheimer's (or the dementia related to it) but ayres didn't take to it, so they took him off of it.
2) In July 2010, ayres had an MRI that showed minimal shrinkage of the brain, normal for his age, and it did NOT show "white matter" that usually shows up in Alzheimer's patients.
3) ayres got a 26 out of 30 on his first mini-mental state examination (MMSE or Folstein test) but the second time he took it he scored 29 out of 30. According to published information, a score of 25 or better is considered to be "normal" The scores normally trend lower over time in an Alzheimer's patient.
It's interesting that Lurie is such great friends with ayres, who claims that he was "trained" to give "physical exams" to children in treating them. After all, Lurie says THIS when comparing his hobby of sculpting to treating patients:
The “tactile, hands-on” nature of this art form is particularly intriguing to him, Lurie noted. “I had thought of becoming a surgeon, but didn’t feel I had the skills, but even thinking about that specialty must have meant that I like the touching aspect. Psychiatry, in contrast, is so hands off.”
Even "very, very good friend" Lurie exposes ayres' lie.
UPDATE May 9, 2012:
As of this update, ayres has been locked up at Napa State Hospital, receiving "treatment" for his alleged dementia. He is seeking release to "outpatient" treatment:
ayres' gambit to avoid criminal trial, while successful, has begun to unravel: even the prosecutor, who previously conceded that ayres is demented, has made accusations in court that the child molester is actively and deliberately refusing treatment. Further, the molester has made comments on the record that he is avoiding treatment at the instruction of his attorney Jonathan McDougall.
Read more about it here.
UPDATE August 3, 2012:
Napa State Hospital has stated that, in fact, william hamilton ayres IS COMPETENT, and has always been competent, and has been malingering -- faking his dementia in order to avoid prosecution.
Read about it here: william ayres: Lying, Malingering, Child Molester
