Crimes NEWS

State paying to rebuild a killer’s face

Published by onlines on October 15, 2009

MADISON – Daryl Strenke called to his former girlfriend to come out of her Comstock mobile home so the two, who had recently broken up, could talk. Samantha “Sam” Verby told him to come inside. As Verby blurted out, “What are you doing?” Strenke aimed his 12-gauge shotgun at her head and fired, killing her.

Verby’s two friends ducked for cover as Strenke then turned the gun on himself, blowing away the lower part of his face.

The crime left the Verbys without a daughter and a 7-year-old girl without her mother. But Strenke, of Turtle Lake, survived the shotgun blast, eventually pleading guilty to second-degree intentional homicide for the June 30, 2002, shooting. Strenke sustained significant injuries that make it impossible to eat or speak normally.

Later this month, the Columbia Correctional Institution inmate is expected to have the first of what likely will be a series of extensive – and expensive – surgeries to repair his shattered face, his mother, Darlene Strenke, confirmed.

The decision by the state Department of Corrections to OK the surgeries is raising questions about how far the state should go to provide medical treatment to prisoners who rely on the state for their care.

Strenke’s mother is defending the decision, saying Strenke, 45, is “tortured” by his injuries. He is serving a 60-year sentence, including 30 years behind bars.

Verby’s mother is unsympathetic. She said Strenke should have to live with the consequences of his crime.

“Taxpayers feel their money should go to better things than rebuilding his face,” said Alice Verby, of Turtle Lake. “He did it to himself. Let him live that way.”

A duty to limit suffering

Corrections spokesman John Dipko would not confirm or deny that Strenke would receive surgery, citing patient confidentiality rules.

However, Dipko emphasized that any “reconstructive surgery would be undertaken for medically necessary reasons only, not for elective purposes.”

The department has a legal responsibility “to deliver adequate health care to inmates under its custody,” he said, adding that “deliberate indifference to an inmate’s serious medical needs” would violate the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

“Our actions as a correctional health care provider are consistent with this constitutional directive, including instances in which an individual is identified by an outside medical specialist as in need of reconstructive surgery to protect the individual’s life and health,” Dipko said.

Helen Potts of Physicians for Human Rights said there are other reasons the department may be obliged to provide the care.

“Doctors have an ethical duty to prevent and limit suffering of patients in their care, and a duty to practice medicine in a neutral way without fear or favor,” said Potts, an attorney and human-rights expert at the Cambridge, Mass.-based group. “And under international human-rights law, governments are obligated to respect the right to health and refrain from limiting access to medical care for prisoners.”

Weighing the need – and the cost

State Rep. Ann Hraychuck, D-Balsam Lake, who was the sheriff of Polk County in 2002 and helped prosecute Strenke, said she sees both sides. Taxpayers don’t want their hard-earned money wasted, but the state must care for people in its custody, she said.

“I do understand that institutions are responsible for providing necessary medical treatment,” Hraychuck said, noting that as sheriff, she ran the Polk County Jail. “Now my job is to protect taxpayers … and make sure they’re getting the best bang for their buck.”

In the end, Hraychuck said, she trusts Department of Corrections Secretary Rich Raemisch, former Dane County sheriff, made the right decision. Given the budget cuts across state government, Hraychuck said, “I can’t imagine that the secretary of the Department of Corrections would OK any kind of treatments or surgery that isn’t absolutely necessary.”

Attempts by the Wisconsin State Journal to determine how much the facial reconstruction might cost were unsuccessful.

Asked to estimate the cost of such procedures, UW Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said it would be impossible without a physical examination and knowing the patient’s detailed medical information. But she hinted it could be expensive.

“Complicated reconstructions for severe injuries in particular very often present unexpected developments all along the way,” Brunette said. “I don’t think we can responsibly provide even a ballpark estimate at this stage of the process.”

‘They’re still a human being’

Without surgery, Darlene Strenke said, her son would continue to struggle to speak and eat. She said his speech is nearly impossible to understand, and his food must be pureeed.

“He doesn’t have any teeth. He doesn’t have a roof in his mouth, and he’s only got part of a nose,” she said.

Verby said alleviating Strenke’s suffering at a time her family continues to struggle with its own loss doesn’t seem fair. Her husband, Larry, was the first on the scene, running from the family owned Staples Lake Bar near Samantha’s home. Her granddaughter was just a few feet away when her mother was shot to death.

“It took quite a long time for her to go to sleep by herself,” Verby said. “She was afraid someone else was going to shoot through her room.”

Darlene Strenke admits there was a time when she would have felt the same as Alice Verby – until her own son was sent to prison.

“It doesn’t matter who they are, what crimes they’ve committed, (prisoners) still deserve the (medical) care,” she said. “They’re still a human being.” ( source: madison.com )

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