An Oakwood Hills man charged Thursday with the murder of his mother failed to keep up with required mental health and substance abuse counseling while on probation in Lake County, according to court records.
Counselors said Charles Platcher, who had been convicted of battery, needed help coping with his anger and would not acknowledge a drug problem, according to a report by Robin Parfitt, Lake County senior probation officer.
The report was prepared in June because Platcher violated probation by being charged with driving under the influence and resisting a police officer. Platcher’s probation was revoked and he was sentenced to 30 days in jail, placed on one year’s supervision and work release, according to county records.
Two months later he was arrested in Cook County on another DUI charge.
Platcher was formally charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and violent action in connection with the slaying Wednesday of his mother, Patricia Platcher, 55, and the attack on James Maze, her 55-year-old boyfriend and business associate. Platcher is accused of the early Wednesday morning attack in the house they shared on Fawn Ridge Drive.
Platcher was arrested in Crystal Lake shortly after the attack when he reportedly rammed a car at the intersection of Walkup Road and Illinois Highway 176, then stabbed himself repeatedly with a knife he grabbed from his truck.
Platcher, 28, was charged while in a hospital bed at Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry, where he was in fair condition Thursday. No arraignment date has been set.
Maze was listed in critical condition at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. It will be several days before county investigators will be able to speak with Maze, who is breathing with the help of a ventilator, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said.
“He made it through the surgery, but it is very touch and go,” Nygren said. “It looks like, barring any complications, he is going to make it.”
It is Maze, police say, who made the 911 call.
It was also Maze who posted Platcher’s $4,000 bail on battery charges.
According to Lake County records, Platcher was placed on 18 months’ probation in September 1999 after being convicted of three counts of battery and trespass. Platcher went to a house in Wauconda Township where he got into a fight with two men. A month earlier, a judge ordered that he stay away from the house, according to court records.
The probation officer’s report chronicles a host of failed attempts to get Platcher to cooperate with counselors. Parfitt would not comment on the report.
Platcher underwent outpatient treatment in November 1999. Upon completion, according to the report, “the defendant was in denial of chemical dependency issues and was controlling.”
It was then recommended that he undergo treatment at a local Family Services program and attend self-help programs four times a week. He was also directed to seek treatment for his violence through a therapy group, David L. Gates and Associates. However, Family Services turned down Platcher when he refused to take a drug test. The private therapist refused to treat him after he became belligerent and uncooperative during a Jan. 28 meeting, according to the report.
The report also said Platcher failed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as directed.
Not long before the June report, Platcher indicated he was ready to undergo more counseling and had been recommended “for individual therapy to work on mental health issues including anger issues.” But the conclusion of the report was that his probation should be revoked and a judge should decide on a sentence.
An Elk Grove Village police officer stopped Platcher at the intersection of Busse Road and Touhy Avenue on Aug. 22 for disobeying a traffic light. That citation, as well as one for driving with a suspended license, was dropped in exchange for a plea on drug charges.
A Cook County judge sentenced Platcher to seven days in jail Sept. 13 after he pleaded guilty to possession of between 10 and 30 grams of marijuana.
On Thursday, an employee of Patricia Platcher’s Italian-style restaurant, Muncione’s in Island Lake, talked about her boss’ kindness.
“There were teenagers who would be having problems with their families and she would take them through and set them on the right path,” said Theresa Friedwald, 41, who has worked as a driver and bookkeeper for Muncione’s for 10 years. “She helped out many people and helped them with their lives.”
Nearby, mourners dropped off flowers at the closed restaurant.
