The Minds of Billy Milligan

Keyes lists the 24 different alters that Milligan displayed. Only the first 10 were known to the attorneys, medical professionals, and media at the time of Milligan’s trial. These 10 included the “original” core identity (also referred to as the “unfused Billy” or “Billy-U”) as well as a rational and intelligent Englishman named Arthur Smith; a strong, sometimes violent Yugoslavian named Ragen Vadascovinich; two young men named Allen and Tommy; several children, including David, Danny, Christene, and Christopher; and Adalana, a lonely girl who identified as lesbian. Arthur suppressed 13 other identities that he classified as “undesirables”; these alters revealed themselves for the first time to Dr. David Caul at the Athens facility. The final, 24th alter, was “The Teacher,” an amalgamation of the other 23 alters who asserted that he was “Billy all in one piece.”

In October 1977, three women were abducted, raped, and robbed within a two-week period on the Ohio State University campus. Based on fingerprint evidence, the police arrived at ex-convict William Stanley “Billy” Milligan’s latest known address and apprehended a young man who matched the description. He claimed that he wasn’t Milligan and had no idea what Milligan had done. Upon searching the apartment, the police found the victims’ credit cards as well as guns and beautiful paintings signed “Milligan,” but the man still denied that he was Milligan and was alarmed to hear that he had hurt three women. He was arrested and taken to Franklin County Jail.

The court assigned Gary Schweickart, from the public defender’s office, to Milligan’s case. When Schweickart met with the accused, however, the latter fearfully claimed that he didn’t remember anything and asked to plead not guilty, as he thought he may be “crazy.” Schweikart enlisted Judy Stevenson to work with him. After one of the victims identified Milligan from a lineup, he was indicted on multiple counts of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and rape.

In his cell, Milligan attempted death by suicide by smashing his head into the cell wall. Consequently, Schweikart and Stevenson decided to have a psychologist assess him. They noticed his strange, changeable demeanor and sensed that something was not quite right. After a visit from Stevenson, during which Milligan was despondent when he sensed that she believed he was guilty, he despaired at having harmed so many people despite not wanting to. He attempted death by suicide again, and Schweikart and Stevenson obtained a full psychological evaluation. The report diagnosed his condition as acute “schizophrenia,” and Milligan asserted that he heard voices telling him to do things. The examiner recommended hospitalization for further examination and treatment, asserting that Milligan was “not capable […] of counseling in his own behalf” (22).

When Schweikart and Stevenson presented the report to Judge Jay C. Flowers, he ordered Southwest Community Mental Health Center’s forensic psychiatry unit to examine Milligan. He was moved to a single cell and placed in a straitjacket to prevent further suicide attempts. The officers in charge were amazed to discover that he had slipped out of the straitjacket and was using it as a pillow.

Dorothy Turner from Southwest Community Mental Health Center conducted the first interview with Milligan on January 31, 1978. To her amazement, Milligan claimed that his name was “David,” not Billy, and that and he was eight years old. David asserted that Billy was asleep inside and that “Arthur” kept Billy asleep, because if he woke up, he’d kill himself. Terrified, David begged Turner not to tell anyone else the secret he let slip, or Arthur would not let David take the “spot” (hold consciousness) anymore. He said he’d emerged to talk to Turner only because someone got hurt in jail and he was required to take the spot and feel the pain because he was the “keeper of the pain” (26).

The next day, when Turner met with Milligan, she spoke to “Christopher,” a 13-year-old boy with a cockney accent, who claimed that the others were angry with David for revealing the secret. On her third visit, Turner encountered 16-year-old “Tommy,” who was arrogant and sullen and refused to talk to Turner because she was a stranger, as he didn’t remember meeting her before.

Wanting to keep her promise to David, Turner asked Stevenson simply to read the book Sybil. Once Stevenson did so, she recalled Milligan’s changeable temperament and demeanor and realized that Turner believed Milligan had DID, or “multiple personality disorder,” as it was known in the 1970s. On her next visit, Turner tried to convince David to let Stevenson in on the secret, but David slipped away to reveal the disdainful Arthur, who spoke British-accented English. Turner and Arthur argued for a while, as Turner insisted that Milligan’s attorneys must know the truth, until Arthur disappeared and “Allen” appeared.

Allen revealed that he was the one who had largely been interacting with the lawyers, though sometimes Tommy appeared too. Allen explained that Tommy was the one who could escape out of straitjackets, but Allen did most of the talking because he was more pleasant and charming. However, Schweikart had also met “Danny,” whom the police arrested when they came to Milligan’s house; Danny was only 14 and was scared and confused.

Arthur reappeared and, after persistent effort by Turner, finally gave his permission to let Stevenson in on the secret if the others agreed. Turner spent hours arguing with the different alters, eventually convincing them all. When Stevenson next met Milligan, she interacted with Danny and Allen, whose vastly different demeanors surprised her. Allen explained again that Billy was “asleep” and didn’t know that the others existed; all he knew was that he had “los[t] time”: He experienced amnesia about periods in his life, of which he had no idea how he arrived in a certain place and what had elapsed between his last memory and the present.

When Schweikart was let in on the secret, he was initially skeptical but as amazed as the others when he interacted with Milligan and saw the dramatic differences in demeanor among David, Danny, Tommy, and Arthur. When Schweikart questioned Arthur about Milligan’s parole violation (possessing a gun), Arthur explained that only “Ragen” was permitted to do so, as he was the “keeper of rage” (38). However, Arthur explained that while Ragen committed the robberies, it was only because he was worried about unpaid bills; Arthur categorically and emphatically denied that Ragen raped any of the women.

Ragen finally appeared, and Milligan’s attorneys and Turner were all shocked at his thick Slavic accent. Ragen explained that his role was the protector. He was the one who took over Billy’s consciousness when he first tried to die by suicide by jumping from the school’s roof at age 16; Billy has been asleep for seven years. Depending on the circumstances, Ragen and Arthur controlled the dominant personality: Ragen took over in dangerous situations, such as prison, and Arthur took over when logic was required.

Professionals from Southwest managed to get Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, who had treated Sybil, a woman with 16 alters, to examine Milligan. The attorneys again wrangled permission from Arthur and the others to let another person in on the secret. Then, they arranged for a small group, including a prosecutor, to observe the session between Dr. Wilbur and Milligan. In addition, Schweikart and Stevenson interviewed Milligan’s mother, siblings, and teachers. None of them could confirm Milligan’s claims that his stepfather, Chalmer Milligan, had abused him, but Milligan’s mother, Dorothy, had herself been abused by Chalmer. Furthermore, everyone attested to Milligan’s strange behavior and trancelike states even as a child.

Schweikart and Stevenson discussed the case and marveled at how they believed Ragen about not committing the rapes, especially because he admitted to the robberies. They remembered one of the victims stating that Milligan stopped the sex after a couple of minutes, muttering to himself to get it together. None of the alters remembered what happened between arriving at the university campus and regaining consciousness in downtown Columbus with money in their pockets, indicating that someone else was stealing time.

The lawyers debated the efficacy of using an insanity defense for “multiple personality disorder” given that the illness was classified as neurosis, not psychosis. In addition, they looked for an alternative to Lima State Hospital (where Milligan would be sent for treatment before trial if found mentally ill), as Lima had a horrific reputation. Schweikart remembered that Harding Hospital, an expensive private facility, also fell within the court’s jurisdiction and that even prosecutors held Dr. George Harding Jr.’s opinion in high regard. Schweikart contacted Dr. Harding and convinced him to attend the session with Dr. Wilbur, though Dr. Harding expressed apprehension about the validity of “multiple personality” syndrome.

During the session, Dr. Wilbur interacted with Danny, Allen, Arthur, and Ragen. Even prosecutor Bernard Yavitch was astonished by the differences among the alters. Dr. Wilbur convinced Ragen to wake Billy up, and when Billy finally appeared, he was panicked to see where he was and began sobbing. Billy explained that he thought he was dead; the last thing he remembered was going up to his school’s roof to jump. Dr. Wilbur reassured him and told him he could rest, and Billy disappeared as Tommy reappeared. Following the session, even Yavitch admitted that Milligan didn’t look like he was faking. Dr. Harding penned his opinion to Judge Flowers that Milligan was not competent to stand trial and agreed to arrange treatment for him.

Schweikart and Stevenson broke the news to Tommy about going to Harding instead of Lima; they made him promise that neither he nor the other alters would attempt to break out of Harding. A few days before he was to be transferred, Turner called Stevenson with news of another alter: “Adalana,” a 19-year-old lesbian, who tearfully admitted to committing the rapes because she was “was desperate to be held and caressed and loved” (60).