Killing of Mark Lawrence
| Killing of Mark Lawrence | |
|---|---|
Undated photo of Mark A. Lawrence | |
| Location | McLean, Virginia, United States |
| Date | July 22, 2011 |
Attack type | Homicide–suicide by shooting |
| Deaths | 2 (Lawrence and Newman) |
| Victim | Mark Allen Lawrence, aged 71 |
| Perpetrator | Barbara Ann Newman |
| Motive |
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The killing of Mark Allen Lawrence (December 9, 1939 – July 22, 2011) occurred on July 22, 2011, at Lawrence's home in McLean, Virginia, where he worked as a semiretired psychiatrist. Lawrence's killer, 62-year-old Barbara Newman, was one of his long-time patients. Under severe symptoms from paranoid schizophrenia, Newman blamed Lawrence for her problems, pathologically believing that he controlled her life; she ultimately shot and killed Lawrence before committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
The murder put focus on violence against mental health professionals and the boundaries of the medical confidentiality when a patient shows clear signs of deteriorating health problems, with Lawrence having confided to a friend a day earlier that Newman's paranoia concerned him.