Wathen v. United States

The facts of this case are concededly grotesque. As the majority views the unhappy events:

On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9,1965, * * * plaintiff and Miss McLaughlin set out by car * * *. [F]or unknown reasons an altercation took place between them. They left the car, whereupon plaintiff seized a 4-barreled Derringer and killed her with two shots as she sought to flee * * *.

Plaintiff, a veterans’ preference eligible, was at this time employed by the Internal Revenue Service. Charged with murder, he was found by a Maryland state court to have been not guilty by reason of insanity. Since that…