Boston Herald, MA
Feb 8 2008
She died trying to help teen
`Fabulous’ woman called in to assist troubled family
By Mike Underwood and Laurel J. Sweet
Friday, February 8, 2008 –
A psychotherapist who believed there’s no place like home to treat
the mentally ill was fatally stabbed in the back during a house call
to a troubled North Andover teen after she allegedly failed to
persuade him to give up a knife, police said.
Thomas Belanger, 19, allegedly slit his own throat in his basement –
and in front of his 16-year-old sister – after the grisly Wednesday
night slaying of social worker Diruhi Mattian, authorities said.
Mattian, 53, of Wilmington, was a recently divorced Armenian
immigrant with two grown daughters of her own. A family friend
interviewed at Mattian’s Wilmington home declined to give her name
but said the social worker was such an `absolutely fabulous human
being’ that she probably `forgave (Thomas) before she died.’
Yesterday, Thomas Belanger was committed to Bridgewater State
Hospital for a 20-day psychological evaluation. Essex prosecutor John
Dawley said Belanger has not yet been arraigned on a charge of
murder. He will be held without bail until it’s determined whether
he’s competent to stand trial.
The Belanger family appeared to have been under a great deal of
stress, the Herald has learned. Thomas Belanger’s single mother
Elaine, 47, a cosmetologist, filed a plea last June in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court to be forgiven $76,500 in student loans after she
was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her financial crisis and her
illness, she claimed in court documents, `adversely affected the
lives and health of’ her two children.
According to a North Andover police report, Elaine Belanger was in
the hospital Wednesday night when Mattian made her house call. Thomas
Belanger and his sister Cassandra were quarreling, so the social
worker called their aunt Jean Putnam to come and stay with them.
Putnam showed up hours later, only to tell Mattian she was going to
leave with Cassandra because she `did not feel safe staying in the
apartment’ with Thomas, police said.
In September 2002, a law enforcement source told the Herald, Thomas
Belanger, then 14, was involved in an episode that led to multiple
charges of assault with a knife and a fire extinguisher, as well as
assault on a public official. The charges, part of a sealed juvenile
record, were later dismissed, the source said.
Ed King, 51, a stunned neighbor, said he watched football games with
Thomas Belanger, whom he described as a `lonely, gentle kid.’
`I was pretty shocked when I heard the news,’ King said. `I didn’t
think he was capable of it.’
Since 2001, Mattian had been program director of Family Continuity’s
Department of Mental Health-funded Lawrence FLEX, a program designed
to keep children with chronic mental illness at home and out of
hospitals and group programs.
Family Continuity’s executive director Earl Stuck said his staff was
`devastated.’
`Anyone who knew (Mattian) knew what a strong and dedicated person
she was,’ Stuck said.
In a statement, DMH called the tragedy `a very rare occurrence’
adding, `Research shows that individuals with mental illnesses are
more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators.’