True Crime Collection

Kathryn Faughey

Kathryn Faughey was a 56 year old New York City psychologist who was murdered in her office on the night of 12th February 2008.

David Tarloff had exhibited disturbing behaviours for almost 2 decades, and was well known to the medical and psychiatric establishment and the police force. During these years, up to the time of the Kathryn Faughey murder, he received a wide range of psychiatric assessments and treatments. He received medication and electroshock therapy by force.

On 12th February 2008, David walked past the doorman, rolling a suitcase behind him, saying that he was there to see Dr. Schinbach. David waited in the office reception area, chatting with a patient, while one of Dr. Faughey's evening sessions was in progress. After that session concluded, when he knew that Kathryn was alone in her office, he entered the room and attacked her with a meat cleaver. A psychiatrist from the same practice, Dr. Kent Schinbach, attempted to help her, but was seriously wounded by slashes in the face and neck.

David was arrested and arraigned for the murder and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation which found him to be mentally competent to stand trial. There was evidence that the attack had been premeditated, but that the intended victim was Kent. David told police that he had planned to rob Kent, who he remembered being involved in diagnosing him with schizophrenia in 1991 and arranging for his institutionalisation at that time. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations to protect patient confidentiality were reported to have delayed the initial investigation. David, who was expected to plead insanity in the case, was confined to a psychiatric unit of Bellevue Hospital while awaiting trial. His attorney said that "the evidence is clear that he did it, but the reasons he did it... are so crazy that we believe we have a very strong insanity defence." His trial was scheduled for October 2010, but during jury selection a mistrial was declared after 2 psychiatrists that the court had appointed to evaluate David found him mentally unfit to stand trial.

David went on trial for the murder in March 2013 in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Jury selection was completed on 8th March, 2013, and opening arguments were heard on 11th March. David admitted to committing the murder, but sought to avoid a prison sentence on the grounds of his mental illness. On 16th April, 2013, a mistrial was declared after the jury came back a third and final time with a note that they were deadlocked.

After mistrials in 2010 and 2013, third trial began with jury selection on 3rd March, 2014. Kathryn's immediate family were in the courtroom when the verdict was reached on 28th March, 2014. After 6 years, David was finally found guilty of murder in the first degree for Kathryn Faughey, assault in the first degree for Dr. Shinbach. Verdict was reached in less than 5 hours. On 2nd May, 2014 a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice sentenced David to life without a possibility of parole on the murder in the first degree and 25 years to life for assault in the second degree. Each of the Faughey's family members gave a victim impact statement of how their lives have changed. Before being sentenced David acknowledged that what he did was wrong and apologised to the family stating he was 46 years old and sick since he was 23. The Supreme Court justice was satisfied the jurors found David guilty.