Counselors Told Stalked Student She Should Move

A University of Richmond student fatally shot by her former boyfriend this week had been advised to move from her apartment because the man was dangerous, Henrico County's chief prosecutor disclosed yesterday.

After counselors from Henrico's victim-witness unit read Hill's "stalking log," which chronicled her troubles with 30-year-old Joe Casuccio, they "told her that this man was dangerous and she needed to move out," Kizer said.

Kizer said counselors urged Hill to have someone begin escorting her from her car after she arrived at her Cardinal Forest apartment. After Hill broke off their relationship in late September, Casuccio started showing up at her home and accosting her, at times vandalizing her car and apartment.

There is something wrong here. The victim is being told to move out of the place she lives while the person causing the trouble is wandering around free. This man was known to be bipolar, he had previos breakdowns, but no decisive action was taken.

Casuccio was jailed on a $10,000 bond, which he posted the next day. "That's a pretty big bond for a misdemeanor" offense, noted Henrico Chief Magistrate John Mehfoud

It is a lot for a misdemeanor, but it's only $1000 out of pocket. To a lunatic that means nothing. A greater out of pocket cost may have left him with no choice but to stay in jail.

The victim-witness counselors met with Hill on Friday -- three days before she was killed -- to help her petition the court for a preliminary protection order.

Janet S. Jenness, an attorney who practiced law at Hunton & Williams before moving to New York, said in an e-mail sent yesterday to The Times-Dispatch that protective orders are in many cases useless.

On the evening she was killed, a male bartender from Hill's part-time job at TGIFriday's escorted her to her apartment after she left work, Kizer said. But Casuccio approached Hill anyway, and shot her in the face, back and lower body with the co-worker at her side.

Sounds like she had lots of people who were willing to help. The problem was that everything they did was useless. Even having a male escort was of no value. Casuccio just walked up and shot her.

These stalking situations need to be treated as the threats of bodily harm that they are. Issuing pieces of paper make for good legal protocol, they are poor protection. Individuals need to take an active roll in protecting themselves. We have a concealed carry law in Virginia. We need a "Make my day" law so citizens can proactively ward off a possible attack with a weapon if need be without fear of arrest for having done so.


Women need to be less inhibited when it comes to filling charges. The authorities should step in and take a person of the streets when a series of evens occur that indicate any destructive behavior. The police can only be there after a crime has been committed.

Now for the truly sad part

The related issue of dealing with bipolar individuals. Just recently another man was shot at a Miami airport who was off his medication. I can relate personal accounts of people I've known who did not manage their psychiatric problems well and had family members covering up for them rather than getting them help.

His family knew he had suffered for years from bipolar disorder -- they tried helping by having him committed to psychiatric hospitals -- but they were blindsided by Casuccio's sudden and inexplicable act of violence.

"He was never violent, never shot a gun in his life," Jason said. "We never saw that, never."

But last Friday, two days after Casuccio was charged with stalking, trespassing and vandalism, he was suspended from his job without pay. His arrest "was kind of the last straw for his job," Jason said.

"The cops knew something was wrong with him, and the mental-health people knew something was wrong with him, but they told me there was nothing they could do unless he was a threat to himself or somebody else," Jason said.

Neither Hill nor her mother, with whom she lived, called the Casuccios to tell them what was happening, Jason Casuccio said. Hill "was talking to her co-workers but wouldn't talk to us."

"I think the reason why she didn't call me or my mother is that if she told us, she knew we were going to have him institutionalized again," Jason said. "And she loved him so much she really didn't want to hurt him."

For his final hospital stay this past summer, Casuccio committed himself. But Hill "signed the papers to get him out," Jason said.

Just as the need for self defense and active intervention of crime by individuals needs to be stressed, so the issue of responsibility of family and friends of bipolar individuals needs to be addressed. Time and time again clues were evident that Mr. Casuccio was loosing control. Each clue was ignored or covered up by all the people around him including government authorities who should have intervened. .

There is no compassion in covering for people who have problems, whether it's substance abuse, morbid obesity, or mental illness, yet it is done frequently. It should be easier for authorities to place a person into proper care when there are extenuating circumstances such as with Mr. Casuccio. It is not discriminatory or intolerant to do so. It is necessary for the protection of everyone involved

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