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Jessica Nelms

Attorney Derek Enderlin, left, consults with Jason Mark Carter during Carter’s bench trial on Friday.

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Jessica Nelms

Karen Thorne, Kevin Perkins’ sister, addresses the court on Friday after Perkins’ killer, Jason Mark Carter, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Seen to Thorne’s right is Solicitor Chrissy Adams.

WALHALLA — Thirty-four-year-old Jason Mark Carter isn’t a free man, but he will not be held criminally responsible for the brutal 2006 slaying of his mother and stepfather.

Judge Alex McCauley found Carter not guilty by reason of insanity on Friday.

Carter had been charged with two counts of murder for shooting Debbie and Kevin Perkins in their upscale, Seneca home in March 2006.

Much of McCauley’s decision hinged on the painfully detailed expert testimony of forensic psychiatrist Donna Schwartz-Watts, who interviewed Carter 16 times after his arrest to evaluate his mental state. Schwartz-Watts, who has testified in her capacity as a psychiatry expert more than 750 times, said she couldn’t recall a more difficult case than Carter’s.

The saga began March 26, 2006, when sheriff’s deputies made a welfare check at the Perkins’ 419 Meldau Road home. Neighbors told authorities they’d seen no sign of Mr. or Mrs. Perkins for three days, despite their cars being at the residence.

Deputies found nothing of note while canvassing much of the house, but upon entering the basement area, where neighbors would later tell investigators Carter spent nearly all of his time, they discovered Carter’s personal effects and blood. After making entry into a small bunker area within the basement, deputies found Carter kneeling over the bodies, extensively wrapped in plastic.

Both had been killed by single gunshot wounds to the head.

Deputies reported that Carter simply told them “watch your step,” as they entered the crime scene.

It is suspected that Carter’s parents had been killed on March 23 and that, for three days, Carter stayed, ate and drank in the same room in which the victim’s bodies laid decomposing.

In 2007, Carter was found unfit for trial, but it wasn’t until Friday that the disturbing details of the suspect’s behavior was unveiled. Carter was found to be mentally competent and fit for trial after being given schizophrenia treatments, including injections and oral medication. He’s significantly improved since 2006, Schwartz-Watts said, but remains seriously mentally ill.

After his arrest and mental evaluation, Schwartz-Watts said it became clear to her that Carter was psychotic, as he displayed disorganized thinking in which his unrelated thoughts were organized into statements as if they were rational.

“Disorganized thinking is extremely difficult to fake. It’s the hallmark of mental illness,” Schwartz-Watt said. “I would leave the interviews and after two hours I’d still feel I hadn’t accomplished anything.”

Carter’s own defense attorney, Derek Enderlin, told McCauley that he had serious problems with his client due to his mental state.

“Early on, I could not even communicate with him,” Enderlin said.

A DIFFERENT PERSON

An audiotape entered into evidence documented Carter’s behavior just after he’d been taken into custody. In it, Schwartz-Watts testified Carter made chanting noises, as well as sexual comments, indicating he was having some sort of sexual conversation in the back seat of the police car while no one else was in it.

But Carter’s odd behavior pre-dated the murders, as testimony would show. Neighbors knew him to be a hermit. On Feb. 2, deputies had been called to the Perkins home in response to an altercation between Mr. Perkins and Carter. No arrests were made. The relationship between Carter and his stepfather had been strained, partially due to Carter’s unauthorized use of Perkins’ credit card. Carter had Mr. Perkins’ credit card and pin numbers on his person at the time of his arrest.

Carter had lived with the couple since they were married when he was 7 years old.

He attended USC Upstate and Spartanburg Methodist for some time, but never earned a degree. When he was in his 20s, his behavior became more erratic as he traveled and lived among homeless people in San Francisco. He also spent time in the jungles of Costa Rica.

It was when Greg Perkins, his step-uncle, went to Costa Rica to retrieve Carter that it became apparent he had become a different person, Schwartz-Watts said.

Carter made wild claims such as a descendent of Henry Ford had given him $200,000, and that he could dodge bullets. Many who knew Carter would later tell investigators that when he returned from Costa Rica, they became fearful of him.

Schwartz-Watts also described the “bizarre” crime scene as a testament to Carter’s insanity. Books ranging from terrorism to magic to alchemy were found. In the basement where the crime took place, male enhancement drugs, odd drawings possibly related to the occult, olive oil and sex toys were found strewn about the room.

He would end his letters written in jail with the farewell of a political candidate running for office. He went from 235 pounds to 165 from his refusal to eat.

NOT CONVINCED

Committed to the S.C. Department of Mental Health for 120 days, Schwartz-Watts and Solicitor Chrissy Adams both indicated it would be much longer than that. The psychiatrist indicated he would very well remain a life-long patient.

“Our sympathy goes out to the family members and friends of these two innocent victims, Debbie and Kevin Perkins,” Adams said. “While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, removing Jason Mark Carter from the community and placing him in a secure facility, potentially for the rest of his life, will provide a measure of safety to those family members, friends and to the community as a whole.”

Mrs. Perkins’ sister, Lynne Crocker, said it was imperative Carter never be released.

"He has to be accountable for what he did. There have to be consequences and those consequences are he should never be free again, ever, for a lifetime," Crocker said.