Patton State Hospital, a maximum-security forensic psychiatric facility in San Bernardino County, has held several of California’s most recognized criminal defendants over its history. Among the famous patients at Patton State Hospital are mass shooter Edward Charles Allaway, Isla Vista killer David Attias, 1950s pinup model Bettie Page, former Manson Family member Dianne Lake, and spree killer Nathan Trupp. Each was placed at Patton after being found not guilty by reason of insanity or incompetent to stand trial, rather than sent to prison.
Edward Charles Allaway
Allaway is likely the best-known person ever committed to Patton. On July 12, 1976, the custodial worker walked into the basement of the California State University, Fullerton library with a .22-caliber rifle and killed seven people, wounding two others, in one of the earliest mass shootings on an American college campus.1Los Angeles Times. Edward Allaway Case The dead included custodians, a photographer, a retired professor, a library assistant, a graphic artist, and an audio technician.2Recordnet. Psychiatrist Says College Library Killer No Longer Dangerous Allaway said he targeted co-workers at the campus media center because they had taunted him about his belief that pornographic films were being produced on campus.
After the jury deadlocked on sanity, Superior Court Judge Robert P. Kneeland found Allaway not guilty by reason of insanity. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and spent decades at Patton.1Los Angeles Times. Edward Allaway Case By 2001, Patton staff reported that his illness was “in remission,” that he no longer required psychiatric medication, and that he would not pose a danger if released under supervision. Orange County judges rejected the petitions anyway. By 2016, Allaway had been denied release five times and was transferred from Patton to Napa State Hospital. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said publicly that “Allaway should never be released.”3ABC7. CSU Fullerton Gunman Transferred to NorCal Hospital Without Notice
David Attias
On February 23, 2001, eighteen-year-old UC Santa Barbara freshman David Attias drove his car into pedestrians in Isla Vista, killing four people: Nick Bourdakis, Chris Divis, Elie Israel, and Ruth Levy. A fifth victim, Albert Levy, was critically injured and died in 2016.4Noozhawk. David Attias Petitions for Release From Supervision Witnesses said Attias got out of the car, fought with bystanders, and shouted that he was “the angel of death.”5Los Angeles Times. Attias Found Legally Insane
A jury convicted him of four counts of second-degree murder but found him not guilty by reason of insanity in June 2002. Attias had a documented mental health history going back to early childhood, with diagnoses ranging from attention deficit disorder to schizophrenia.5Los Angeles Times. Attias Found Legally Insane He spent about ten years at Patton. In 2012, Judge Thomas Adams ruled that Attias had recovered his sanity and released him into California’s conditional-release program, under which he lived in Oxnard with supervision for roughly another decade.4Noozhawk. David Attias Petitions for Release From Supervision In 2022, at 39, he petitioned for unconditional release and restoration of sanity, testifying that he was committed to sobriety and his anti-psychotic medication and did not plan to drive again.
Bettie Page
The 1950s pinup model spent years at Patton under circumstances a world away from her earlier fame. After moving to Southern California in the late 1970s, Page was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia following violent mood swings that accompanied her third divorce.6ABC. Bettie Page Profile She was committed to Patton for roughly 20 months after assaulting her landlady with a knife. A second, more serious attack, in which she stabbed a different landlady multiple times and caused injuries that included the loss of a finger and severe facial lacerations, led to a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity and a ten-year sentence at Patton.7Los Angeles Times. Bettie Page Obituary Page was released in 1992 and lived the rest of her life largely out of public view.
Dianne Lake
Dianne Lake was one of the youngest members of the Manson Family, joining the group at 14 and spending two years with Charles Manson and his followers. As a minor, she was not involved in the August 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders. After the group’s arrest, authorities sent her to Patton because of her age. She had reported hallucinations and memory problems, which court-appointed psychiatrists attributed to a temporary drug-induced psychosis from heavy LSD use rather than a lasting mental disorder.8New York Times. Manson Accuser Upheld on Sanity
Lake spent eight months at Patton, a period she later described as one in which she felt “safe” and “protected,” pursuing schooling and activities such as learning the flute.9Elle UK. Life in a Cult – Dianne Lake and the Family After her release in August 1970, she became the final prosecution witness in the Tate-LaBianca trial, testifying at 17 about beatings and death threats from Manson and giving testimony that linked co-defendants Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel to the murders.8New York Times. Manson Accuser Upheld on Sanity
Nathan Trupp
In late 1988, Nathan Nicholas Trupp carried out a two-state killing spree driven by paranoid delusions. On November 29, 1988, he allegedly shot and killed three people at a bagel shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two days later, he traveled to Los Angeles and shot two unarmed Universal Studios security guards, Jeren Beeks, 27, and Armando Torres, 18, after they refused his demand to see actor Michael Landon, whom Trupp believed was a Nazi.10Los Angeles Times. Nathan Trupp Committed to Patton State Hospital Court-appointed psychiatrists found Trupp suffered from severe hallucinations and delusions, including a belief that the bagel shop victims were part of a conspiracy with Landon and that he was killing “Nazis.”
In February 1989, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Trupp incompetent to stand trial and ordered him committed to Patton until he could assist in his own defense.10Los Angeles Times. Nathan Trupp Committed to Patton State Hospital Prosecutors said at the time that if Trupp were ever found competent, they would pursue a plea arrangement, but expressed the view that he would likely remain confined for life.11Los Angeles Times. Nathan Trupp Case
Other Patients of Note
Patton has also housed Richard Turley, a Boy Scout leader convicted of molesting youths in his troops, and Chris Clarke, who killed his fiancée in 1985.12SBC Sentinel. AB 349 Lauded and Resisted
One name often associated in press coverage with Patton does not belong there. Adult film performer Ron Jeremy was charged with 34 counts of sexual assault involving 21 alleged victims and found mentally incompetent to stand trial because of severe dementia. Although his defense initially expected placement in a state hospital, a judge ruled in late 2023 that Jeremy would be released to a private residence with round-the-clock care after multiple facilities declined to house him.13ABC7. Ron Jeremy Release to Private Residence
Why These Patients Ended Up at Patton Rather Than Prison
Patton does not take voluntary admissions. Its roughly 1,527 beds are reserved for people committed through the criminal courts, primarily those found not guilty by reason of insanity, those deemed incompetent to stand trial, mentally disordered offenders on parole, and sexually violent predators.14California Department of State Hospitals. DSH-Patton That is why the names above share a hospital rather than a prison: in each case a judge or jury concluded that mental illness, not criminal culpability in the ordinary sense, drove the conduct. Some, like Attias and Page, were eventually released after years of treatment. Others, like Allaway, have been repeatedly denied release despite clinical findings that their symptoms are controlled.