Billy Milligan
Encyclopedia
William Stanley Milligan (born Feb 14, 1955), known as Billy Milligan, was the subject of a highly publicized court case in Ohio
in the late 1970s. After having committed several felonies
including armed robbery, he was arrested for three rape
s on the Ohio State University
campus. In the course of preparing his defense, psychologist
s diagnosed Milligan with multiple personality disorder
. Milligan pleaded insanity, claiming that two of his alternate personalities committed the crimes without Milligan's being aware of it. He was the first person diagnosed with multiple personality disorder to raise such a defense.
farm country, and lived in Circleville
, with her husband, Dick Jonas. They divorce
d, and Dorothy eventually moved to the Miami, Florida
area, where she worked as a singer. There she began living with Johnny Morrison, a Jewish comedian who was still married.
Dorothy and Johnny had a son, Jim, in October 1953. In February 1955, in Miami Beach, they had a second son, William Stanley, later known as Billy Milligan. Dorothy and Johnny had a third child together, Kathy Jo, born in December 1956.
At this time, Johnny was 36 years old. According to biographer Daniel Keyes
, "Meeting the medical expenses overwhelmed Johnny. He borrowed more, gambled
more, drank more.... [He] was hospitalized for acute alcoholism
and depression
in ... 1958...." In what appeared to be an unsuccessful suicide
attempt, according to Keyes, "[Dorothy] found him slumped over the table, half a bottle of Scotch
and an empty bottle of sleeping pills on the floor." A few months after this attempt, on January 17, 1959, Johnny committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning
.
Dorothy took her children and moved away from Miami, eventually returning to Circleville, Ohio
, where she remarried her ex-husband Dick Jonas. This marriage lasted about a year. In 1962, she met Chalmer Milligan (1927–1988). Chalmer's first wife Bernice divorced him on "grounds of gross neglect". He had a daughter, Challa, the same age as Billy, and another daughter who was a nurse. Dorothy and Chalmer married in Circleville, Ohio on October 27, 1963.
At his later trial, Chalmer was blamed for abusing
Billy. Keyes claimed that Billy had multiple personalities from a much earlier age, however; his first three (no name boy, Christene, and Shawn) appearing by the time he was five years old.
1. Billy Milligan (William Stanley Milligan) is the core personality.
2. Arthur is an extremely sophisticated and educated Englishman. An expert in science and medicine, with a focus on hematology
. He is in "the spot"—that is, in charge of the shared body—during times that required intellectual thinking. Arthur is one of only two personalities who could classify a person in the group as an undesirable.
3. Ragen Vadascovinich is the "keeper of hate". His name is come from word "rage again". Ragen describes himself as Yugoslavian, has a Slavic
accent and can write and speak in Serbo-Croatian
. He controls the spot in dangerous times and can designate group members as "undesirable". He admitted committing robbery in order to support "the family," but had no knowledge of the rapes.
4. Allen is a con man and a manipulator. He is the most common person to talk to the outside world. He plays the drums and paints portraits. Also the only right-handed self. He is the only personality that smokes cigarettes.
5. Tommy is the escape artist; he is often confused with Allen. He plays the tenor sax and is an electronics expert. He is also a painter, specializing in landscapes.
6. Danny is afraid of people, especially men. He only paints still lifes, saying that this was because Chalmer made him dig his own grave and buried him in it.
7. David, age eight, is the "keeper of pain". He comes to the spot to take the pain of the others.
8. Christene, age three, was the one who would stand in the corner in school when "Billy" would get in trouble. She has dyslexia
, but Arthur taught her to read and write. Ragen has a special bond with her.
9. Christopher, Christene's brother, plays the harmonica.
10. Adalana, a lesbian
, cooks and cleans house for the others, and writes poetry. Milligan's attorney claimed that Adalana had admitted to committing the rapes without the knowledge of Milligan or the other alters.
11. Phil is a thug and took part in planning some small time crimes. Has a Brooklyn accent. Marked due to him being a criminal.
12. Kevin is a criminal planner; he helped devise a plan to rob a drug store. Labeled also because he is a criminal.
13. Walter is Australian. He calls himself a big-game hunter and has an excellent sense of direction. Was often used as a spotter. He was labeled because he shot and killed a crow.
14. April only has thoughts about destroying Billy's stepfather. Declared an Undesirable when she convinced Ragen to kill Chalmer. Luckily though Arthur was able to talk him out of it at the last second.
15. Samual is the Jewish person. He is the only one who believes in God. Was marked because he sold some of the other people's personal paintings.
16. Mark is the workhorse. He is often referred to as the zombie because he does nothing unless he is told, and will stare at walls when bored.
17. Steve is the impostor, he uses imitations for comedy. Steve never accepted that he was an MP. He was made to be undesirable because his comedy caused the family problems.
18. Lee is the prankster and his practical jokes normally get the family into trouble. He does not care about consequences for his actions. He was made an undesirable because one of his jokes put them into solitary confinement.
19. Jason is the pressure valve. He was used at the beginning to release tension for the family, but he caused them to get into too much trouble and was marked as an undesirable.
20. Bobby always dreams of leading some adventure or fixing some global crisis, but he has no ambitions and was labeled due to that fact.
21. Shawn, who is four and deaf, makes buzzing sounds so he can feel the vibration in his head. He was labeled an undesirable because there was no benefit from being deaf later on in life. (Even though he is an undesirable he was never cast into the shadows beyond the spot; he was just never allowed to take the spot.)
22. Martin is a snob, from New York. He wants things just handed over to him without earning them.
23. Timothy worked in a florist shop until he encountered a homosexual who flirted with him. He went into his own world after that.
in Ohio, for rape and armed robbery. He was released on parole in early 1977. He was also forced to register as a sex offender
. In October 1977, Milligan was arrested for raping three women on the Ohio State University
campus. He was identified by one of his victims, from existing police mug shots of sex offenders, and from fingerprints lifted from another victim's car.
Since he had used a gun and guns were found in a search of his residence, he had violated his parole as well. He was indicted
on "...three counts of kidnapping
, three counts of aggravated robbery and four counts of rape."
In the course of preparing his defense, he underwent a psychological examination by Dr. Willis C. Driscoll, who diagnosed Milligan with acute schizophrenia
. He was then examined by psychologist Dorothy Turner of Southwest Community Mental Health Center in Columbus, Ohio
. During this examination, Turner concluded that Milligan suffered from multiple personality disorder. Milligan's public defenders, Gary Schweickart and Judy Stevenson, pleaded an insanity defense, and he was committed "...until such time as he regains sanity
".
s, such as the Athens State Hospital, where, by his report, he received very little help. While he was in these hospitals, Milligan reported having ten different personalities. These ten were the only ones known to psychologists. Later on an additional 14 personalities, labeled "The Undesirables" were discovered. Among the first ten were Arthur, a prim and proper Englishman
; Allen, a manipulator; Tommy, a con-artist; Ragen Vadascovinich, a Yugoslavian
communist who Milligan claimed had committed the robberies in a kind of Robin Hood
spirit; and Adalana, a 19-year-old lesbian
who craved affection and who had allegedly committed the rapes.
Milligan received treatment from psychiatrist David Caul, who diagnosed the additional fourteen personalities.
where he owned Stormy Life Productions and was going to make a short film (which apparently have never been made). His current location is unknown, his former acquaintances have lost contacts with him.
Daniel Keyes
authored a biography called The Minds of Billy Milligan. Another book by Keyes, The Milligan Wars, was published in Japan
in 1994, in Taiwan
in 2000, but not yet in the United States
, owing to Milligan's ongoing lawsuit against the State of Ohio for the allegedly inadequate treatment he received in Ohio facilities.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in the late 1970s. After having committed several felonies
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
including armed robbery, he was arrested for three rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
s on the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
campus. In the course of preparing his defense, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
s diagnosed Milligan with multiple personality disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
. Milligan pleaded insanity, claiming that two of his alternate personalities committed the crimes without Milligan's being aware of it. He was the first person diagnosed with multiple personality disorder to raise such a defense.
Childhood
Milligan's mother, Dorothy, grew up in OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
farm country, and lived in Circleville
Circleville, Ohio
Circleville is a city in and the county seat of Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, along the Scioto River. The population was 13,485 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, with her husband, Dick Jonas. They divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d, and Dorothy eventually moved to the Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
area, where she worked as a singer. There she began living with Johnny Morrison, a Jewish comedian who was still married.
Dorothy and Johnny had a son, Jim, in October 1953. In February 1955, in Miami Beach, they had a second son, William Stanley, later known as Billy Milligan. Dorothy and Johnny had a third child together, Kathy Jo, born in December 1956.
At this time, Johnny was 36 years old. According to biographer Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.-Early life and career:Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New...
, "Meeting the medical expenses overwhelmed Johnny. He borrowed more, gambled
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
more, drank more.... [He] was hospitalized for acute alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
in ... 1958...." In what appeared to be an unsuccessful suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempt, according to Keyes, "[Dorothy] found him slumped over the table, half a bottle of Scotch
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
and an empty bottle of sleeping pills on the floor." A few months after this attempt, on January 17, 1959, Johnny committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide . Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect...
.
Dorothy took her children and moved away from Miami, eventually returning to Circleville, Ohio
Circleville, Ohio
Circleville is a city in and the county seat of Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, along the Scioto River. The population was 13,485 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, where she remarried her ex-husband Dick Jonas. This marriage lasted about a year. In 1962, she met Chalmer Milligan (1927–1988). Chalmer's first wife Bernice divorced him on "grounds of gross neglect". He had a daughter, Challa, the same age as Billy, and another daughter who was a nurse. Dorothy and Chalmer married in Circleville, Ohio on October 27, 1963.
At his later trial, Chalmer was blamed for abusing
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
Billy. Keyes claimed that Billy had multiple personalities from a much earlier age, however; his first three (no name boy, Christene, and Shawn) appearing by the time he was five years old.
The People
These ten are the alters whom Ragen and Arthur decided were not "undesirable". They freely shared consciousness, and doctors quickly learned of their existences.1. Billy Milligan (William Stanley Milligan) is the core personality.
2. Arthur is an extremely sophisticated and educated Englishman. An expert in science and medicine, with a focus on hematology
Hematology
Hematology, also spelled haematology , is the branch of biology physiology, internal medicine, pathology, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases...
. He is in "the spot"—that is, in charge of the shared body—during times that required intellectual thinking. Arthur is one of only two personalities who could classify a person in the group as an undesirable.
3. Ragen Vadascovinich is the "keeper of hate". His name is come from word "rage again". Ragen describes himself as Yugoslavian, has a Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
accent and can write and speak in Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
. He controls the spot in dangerous times and can designate group members as "undesirable". He admitted committing robbery in order to support "the family," but had no knowledge of the rapes.
4. Allen is a con man and a manipulator. He is the most common person to talk to the outside world. He plays the drums and paints portraits. Also the only right-handed self. He is the only personality that smokes cigarettes.
5. Tommy is the escape artist; he is often confused with Allen. He plays the tenor sax and is an electronics expert. He is also a painter, specializing in landscapes.
6. Danny is afraid of people, especially men. He only paints still lifes, saying that this was because Chalmer made him dig his own grave and buried him in it.
7. David, age eight, is the "keeper of pain". He comes to the spot to take the pain of the others.
8. Christene, age three, was the one who would stand in the corner in school when "Billy" would get in trouble. She has dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, but Arthur taught her to read and write. Ragen has a special bond with her.
9. Christopher, Christene's brother, plays the harmonica.
10. Adalana, a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, cooks and cleans house for the others, and writes poetry. Milligan's attorney claimed that Adalana had admitted to committing the rapes without the knowledge of Milligan or the other alters.
The Undesirables
These people were labeled "undesirable" after breaking the rules laid down by Ragen and Arthur. These alters were no longer allowed "on the spot" (i.e., to hold consciousness) and only revealed themselves after Milligan was sent to the hospital.11. Phil is a thug and took part in planning some small time crimes. Has a Brooklyn accent. Marked due to him being a criminal.
12. Kevin is a criminal planner; he helped devise a plan to rob a drug store. Labeled also because he is a criminal.
13. Walter is Australian. He calls himself a big-game hunter and has an excellent sense of direction. Was often used as a spotter. He was labeled because he shot and killed a crow.
14. April only has thoughts about destroying Billy's stepfather. Declared an Undesirable when she convinced Ragen to kill Chalmer. Luckily though Arthur was able to talk him out of it at the last second.
15. Samual is the Jewish person. He is the only one who believes in God. Was marked because he sold some of the other people's personal paintings.
16. Mark is the workhorse. He is often referred to as the zombie because he does nothing unless he is told, and will stare at walls when bored.
17. Steve is the impostor, he uses imitations for comedy. Steve never accepted that he was an MP. He was made to be undesirable because his comedy caused the family problems.
18. Lee is the prankster and his practical jokes normally get the family into trouble. He does not care about consequences for his actions. He was made an undesirable because one of his jokes put them into solitary confinement.
19. Jason is the pressure valve. He was used at the beginning to release tension for the family, but he caused them to get into too much trouble and was marked as an undesirable.
20. Bobby always dreams of leading some adventure or fixing some global crisis, but he has no ambitions and was labeled due to that fact.
21. Shawn, who is four and deaf, makes buzzing sounds so he can feel the vibration in his head. He was labeled an undesirable because there was no benefit from being deaf later on in life. (Even though he is an undesirable he was never cast into the shadows beyond the spot; he was just never allowed to take the spot.)
22. Martin is a snob, from New York. He wants things just handed over to him without earning them.
23. Timothy worked in a florist shop until he encountered a homosexual who flirted with him. He went into his own world after that.
The Teacher
24. (Note: the teacher is not an Undesirable.) The Teacher, was by far the greatest milestone to helping Billy achieve fusion. He is the sum of all other 23 people put together, and has almost total recall of all the other people's actions and thoughts.Arrest
In 1975, Milligan was imprisoned at Lebanon Correctional InstitutionLebanon Correctional Institution
The Lebanon Correctional Institution is a prison operated by the U.S. state of Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Warren County's Turtlecreek Township, about four miles west of Lebanon and two miles east of Monroe on State Route 63...
in Ohio, for rape and armed robbery. He was released on parole in early 1977. He was also forced to register as a sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
. In October 1977, Milligan was arrested for raping three women on the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
campus. He was identified by one of his victims, from existing police mug shots of sex offenders, and from fingerprints lifted from another victim's car.
Since he had used a gun and guns were found in a search of his residence, he had violated his parole as well. He was indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
on "...three counts of kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, three counts of aggravated robbery and four counts of rape."
In the course of preparing his defense, he underwent a psychological examination by Dr. Willis C. Driscoll, who diagnosed Milligan with acute schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. He was then examined by psychologist Dorothy Turner of Southwest Community Mental Health Center in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. During this examination, Turner concluded that Milligan suffered from multiple personality disorder. Milligan's public defenders, Gary Schweickart and Judy Stevenson, pleaded an insanity defense, and he was committed "...until such time as he regains sanity
Sanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
".
Incarceration
Milligan was sent to a series of state-run mental hospitalMental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
s, such as the Athens State Hospital, where, by his report, he received very little help. While he was in these hospitals, Milligan reported having ten different personalities. These ten were the only ones known to psychologists. Later on an additional 14 personalities, labeled "The Undesirables" were discovered. Among the first ten were Arthur, a prim and proper Englishman
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
; Allen, a manipulator; Tommy, a con-artist; Ragen Vadascovinich, a Yugoslavian
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
communist who Milligan claimed had committed the robberies in a kind of Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
spirit; and Adalana, a 19-year-old lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
who craved affection and who had allegedly committed the rapes.
Milligan received treatment from psychiatrist David Caul, who diagnosed the additional fourteen personalities.
Release
Milligan was released in 1988 after a decade in mental hospitals. In 1996 he lived in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where he owned Stormy Life Productions and was going to make a short film (which apparently have never been made). His current location is unknown, his former acquaintances have lost contacts with him.
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.-Early life and career:Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New...
authored a biography called The Minds of Billy Milligan. Another book by Keyes, The Milligan Wars, was published in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1994, in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
in 2000, but not yet in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, owing to Milligan's ongoing lawsuit against the State of Ohio for the allegedly inadequate treatment he received in Ohio facilities.