One young man bought a gun and robbed banks. One went on an arson spree, police allege. One told police he beat an acquaintance in the head with a crowbar because he didn’t like him and felt disrespected.

A common thread connects these three young men, bank robber Jeffrey R. Cox, 22, arson suspect David R. Jay, 24, and beating suspect Barry L. Sterling, 20: All are college-age white males from middle-class backgrounds. All are described by their attorneys or family members as exceptionally bright. And all said after their arrests they had mental- or emotional-health problems and had considered killing themselves.

Instead, they went on to commit some of the most serious and potentially deadly crimes of the past year in Douglas County.

“One of the crimes is that if they really do have suicidal tendencies or mental illness, that they haven’t received adequate treatment so that they can keep their symptoms under control,” said Karen Ford Manza, executive director of the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. “Not only have they perhaps inflicted pain on other families and people, but their own lives now are potentially going to be spent in the prison system.”

Emotional, mental troubles

Each man described having different emotional and mental troubles.

• Former Kansas University student Cox said he had severe depression and bought the gun he used in bank robberies because he planned to kill himself. He was charged with robbing five banks in all, three in Lawrence in 2003 and two in Ohio. A federal judge sentenced him Wednesday to seven years in prison for two of the robberies, and more charges are pending in Douglas County.
• Jay, who was charged with setting 14 fires in Johnson County and suspected in three in Lawrence, said he simply wanted to see a fire — the more spectacular, the better, a detective testified. Since his arrest, Jay has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome — essentially high-functioning autism — attention-deficit disorder, mild cognitive delay and a form of psychosis.

Bank robber blames crimes on depression (12-2-04) Testimony paints fantasies of teenager ‘hurting people’ (7-14-04) Arson case testimony points to pyromania (6-29-04)

• Sterling, who’s charged with attempted murder in the June 1 crowbar attack on Travis D. Adams, turned his head and sobbed into a handkerchief at a pretrial hearing Thursday in District Court as he watched a videotaped statement he gave to Lawrence Police detectives.

Sterling, whose father died in a car accident when he was a child, told officers he had anger problems stemming from childhood experiences and family life. He said his problems were “larger and deeper than what I think can get fixed,” including fantasizing about hurting people who angered him.

One issue the three young men have in common is their report of suicidal tendencies. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among white men in their early 20s, according to Marcia Epstein, director of Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence.

Highly unusual alleged crimes

Attorneys and others who work in the local courts say the majority of defendants they see have behavioral-health problems, and it’s estimated 20 percent of the state’s prison population is taking psychotropic drugs.

But the crimes alleged against Cox, Jay and Sterling are highly unusual — far from the routine drug offenses, disturbances or thefts that land many people with mental-health issues in court.

Epstein says it’s important for the public to know there’s no established link between suicidal tendencies and aggression or violence toward others.

“Unfortunately, lots of people experience depression. The vast majority of those people will never harm another person,” she said.

‘Couldn’t take the chaos’

Jay’s mother, Joyce, said that growing up in Beloit, her son was a bright child who went to space camp and was on a quiz-bowl team in school.

When he went to basketball games to watch his older brother and sister play, Jay was interested in the ductwork and public-address system in the gymnasium, she said. He had a passive temperament and often was made fun of, she said.

And she recalled that her son underwent a change after he enrolled at Kansas University.

“David, when he lived at home, was used to having quiet in his room, in his space,” she said. “When he went into the dorms, he couldn’t take all the noise. He couldn’t take the chaos.”

Jay was misdiagnosed with panic disorder while living in Lawrence, Joyce Jay said.

She said that after he quit school at KU and got a job, he called his parents, told them what happened and said he was fine. Shortly before the arsons, Jay was laid off from a job at Pearson Government Solutions in Lawrence, she said.

“We had always thought, ‘He’ll come around. He’s going to find his way.’ That wasn’t what was happening,” she said. “He was lost in a different world altogether.”

Jay’s mother said she had been devastated to realize the extent of her son’s mental-health issues, and she said it showed that if young people feel they might need help, they should seek it and follow through.

“If you don’t act on it when you have that feeling, and you go back into the up and down emotionally, you don’t get the help you need,” she said.