Who is Eben Howard?

Thanks to the Boston Herald, new details have emerged about Eben Sewall Howard, the man who tried to attack Neil Entwistle on December 20 in the Middlesex Jail. Howard is 33 years old and suffers from schizophrenia. Like Entwistle, he is on trial for murder and was being housed in the jail's medical wing so that he would be isolated from other inmates. Allegedly, Howard killed his ex-wife's boyfriend and, while out on bail, assaulted a black hospital worker while yelling racial epithets. His father, Rick, explained his erratic behavior: "He's unfortunately suffering from schizophrenia, which may have had something to do with him lunging at Mr. Entwistle."

Now Howard is in Bridgewater State Hospital with Entwistle. He was sent there immediately after the attempted attack and is now on medication. "He's certainly better,'' said his father, "I talked to him today, as a matter of fact.''

Neil, meanwhile, will stay at Bridgewater for thirty days in total (he's been there for about half that time so far). Then the psychologists who are now evaluating him will tell the court whether he can return to jail or whether he must stay at the hospital. According to the Boston Globe, Neil's next hearing has been moved to January 26, probably to give him a few days to adjust to whatever the psychologists decide. It seems like he will, indeed, attend this hearing, which is good news.

I am looking forward to the psychologists' verdict. Neil's mind and personality seem quite similar to those of other notable wife-killers, such as Scott Peterson, Justin Barber, Christian Longo, and Charles Stuart. As far as I know, none of these guys have ever been psychologically evaluated, so whatever the shrinks decide about Neil will shed some light on the others as well.

The circumstances of Howard's attack are also interesting. I wonder if he knew about Neil's crimes and tried to assault him out of rage, or if the attack was merely a result of Howard's schizophrenic delusions. Most inmates hate baby killers and are eager to punish them for their crimes, so it's quite a coincidence that the first guy to attack Entwistle was most likely insane and possibly didn't even know who Neil was.