Navy Knew Ensign Unstable, Suit Says

When a young Navy officer killed two other junior officers - his former fiancee and a friend - and then turned the gun on himself, the news shocked friends at their San Diego base and at the U.S. Naval Academy, where all three had graduated.

But the family of one victim now says officials should not have been surprised by Ensign George Smith's outburst in December 1993.

The parents of Ensign Kerryn O'Neill are suing the U.S. government, alleging Navy psychologists ignored signs of Smith's instability.

Their suit, filed this month in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, seeks $14 million in damages. The suit says Smith displayed symptoms of a "serious personality disorder" in a psychological screening two months before the killings but was approved for high-stress submarine duty anyway.

The case could present a challenge to the so-called Feres doctrine, which grew out of a 1950 Supreme Court ruling that active-duty military personnel are barred from suing for injuries caused by government action.

But Daniel Joseph, the O'Neills' attorney, argues that the court should accept the suit because Kerryn O'Neill's Navy duties played no role in her death.

Smith, 24, apparently distraught over his breakup with O'Neill two days earlier, shot and killed the 21-year-old woman and a friend, Lt. Alton Grizzard, 24. Smith then killed himself.

O'Neill and Grizzard were star athletes at the Naval Academy.

In October 1993, Smith took the Navy's screening test to gauge his psychological fitness for nuclear-submarine duty. According to the suit, Smith scored above the recommended limits for such traits as aggressive or destructive behavior, impulsiveness and uncertainty about submarine service.

Smith also described himself as a "competitive," "intense" and "high-strung" person who required physical exercise to "vent frustrations."

The O'Neills allege that a Navy civilian psychologist assigned to evaluate submarine candidates did not review Smith's test results before clearing him for duty.

After the killings, according to the suit, another Navy psychologist examined the test results and determined that Smith should have been brought in for clinical evaluation and probably treated for a "serious personality disorder."

In addition, O'Neill's parents are suing for negligence, alleging that the government's inaction enabled Smith to stalk and intimidate O'Neill before her death.