All language subtitles for Dateline.Secrets.Uncovered.S11E03.720p.WEB.h264-BAE.[eng]

- I'm craig melvin,

And this is "dateline:
Secrets uncovered".

- I hear this
pop, pop, pop.

- It was one of
the most harrowing days

In our history.

The attempted assassination
of president reagan.

- The screaming, yelling,
it's chaos.

- Now, an unprecedented look
into the mind and new life

Of the gunman,
john hinckley jr.,

With the stories
you haven't heard.

The cop who questioned
hinckley speaks out

In his first nationally
televised interview.

- I just didn't think that
he realized the magnitude

Of what he had done.

- From behind
the hospital walls.

- He turned to her and said,
"will you marry me?"

- Secrets from his diaries
uncovered by "dateline".

His obsession with
actress jodie foster.

- The letters were assumed
to have been, you know,

Love type letters.

- And the most controversial
question of all:

Is hinckley really
fit to be free?

- He's a potentially
dangerous character.

He's proven that.

♪♪

- Hello and welcome to
"dateline: Secrets uncovered".

John hinckley jr.
Would go down in infamy

For attempting to assassinate
president ronald reagan.

And since the day
he pulled that trigger,

Hinckley has
remained an enigma.

Now we are about to reveal
an extraordinary trove

Of his most private thoughts
and feelings.

Here's special contributor,
troy roberts, with hinckley:

"diary of a dangerous mind."

- Charming, small town
williamsburg, virginia.

People visit from all over
the world for a taste

Of america's
colonial history.

This man came
for something more.

A new life, one that
would be quiet and normal.

- He volunteers at a church,
he plays a lot of music,

Goes on walks.

- But his journey to
get here was a long one

Filled with violence,

Mental illness,
and confinement.

- This is
a violently insane person,

So you need to put him somewhere
where he can't harm anybody.

- No one would guess it now,
but this senior citizen

Casually walking around town
is an infamous figure,

A man who once
tried to kill

The president
of the united states

Over a movie star.

John hinckley jr.

Today, after
being institutionalized

For more than three decades,
he is pretty much a free man.

It was a rainy spring Monday
in washington, d.C.,

Just a few months
after ronald reagan

Was elected present.

- March 30th, 1981
is seventy days

Into reagan's first term,
and it's a nothing day.

He's giving a speech
at the washington hilton.

- A nothing day that was
about to turn into a day

No one would ever forget.

"los angeles times"
reporter del wilber

Interviewed well over
100 people for his book,

"rawhide down".

Rawhide, the secret service
codename for president reagan.

- We're going to convince
this city that the power

Begins and ends
with the people.

- He gives a speech.

He's walking out,
it's 2:27 p.M.

- I was part of the press pool,
which is the small group

Of reporters who follow
along in the motorcade.

- "pbs newshour" anchor
and managing editor

Judy woodruff was
the white house correspondent

For nbc news.

- He came out the door
and was waving.

I remember he raised his arm
to wave to people there.

- Fifteen feet away
was a rope line,

Which separated
a small crowd of reporters

And bystanders
from the president.

In that crowd,
a sandy blond haired 25-year-old

Named john hinckley jr.

Moments later...

- It sounded
like firecrackers.

You knew in a-in an instant
it couldn't be firecrackers.

You then assumed
it was a gun.

- And he unleashes
six shots in 1.7 seconds.

- Everybody yelled,
"get down! Get down!"

And all I saw was a jumble
of people shoving the president,

And I couldn't tell
who else, into a car.

- Hinckley seemed
to shoot recklessly,

Almost randomly,
in reagan's direction.

All three networks had
camera crews at the event,

Which later
allowed reporters

To break down every
horrifying moment.

- First shot hits jim brady
in the head.

He falls to the ground.

He's the presidential
press secretary.

The second shot hits
tom delahanty,

A d.C. Police officer
in the back,

He falls to the ground.

The fourth shot hits
tim mccarthy,

Secret service agent who turned
and took a shot in the chest

Without a bulletproof vest.

- Oh, my god!

- I remember yelling
and the chaos.

I said,
"was the president hit?"

And they said,
"I don't think so".

- Did you see john hinckley
outside of the hotel?

- I saw police on top of a man,
had wrestled him to the ground,

And I couldn't
really see anything.

- We looked at footage from
that day with del wilber.

- That's a secret service
agent with an uzi.

- Get out of the way!

- And that's hinckley.

So they're hustling him
over to this car.

- President reagan's son, ron,
was in lincoln, nebraska,

When he was told
about the shooting.

- I see across the room
a secret service man

Coming towards me.

And he very quietly told
my wife and I that that,

Uh, that shots
had been fired.

They didn't think
he was hit.

- We now have an announcement
from the white house.

Definitely the president
was not hit.

- But inside
the presidential limo,

A different story
was playing out.

- Reagan's increasingly
complaining of pain

In his chest, back, and inside,
right here, it really hurts.

And he pulls a napkin out
of his right coat pocket

That he had taken from
the hilton, paper napkin,

Dabs his lips,
looks at it,

And there's bright,
frothy blood.

- President reagan had been shot
and his life was in danger.

Wilbur explained exactly
how he was wounded.

- So we're watching
a slow motion replay

Of the shooting.

And right around here, boom.

Look how close he is.

Look at the gun.

And the way to
reagan's clear.

And right here,
the bullet hits right there

And gets through
that little gap.

- Through the tiny gap
created by the open door

Of the bulletproof car,
hitting the president.

An incredible fluke.

It was hinckley's sixth
and final shot.

Secret service agents
raced him

To george washington
university hospital,

Where doctors found
the bullet dangerously close

To president reagan's heart.

- Judy, I'm sorry
to interrupt...

- Nbc cut into woodruff's
report with the news.

- ...In front of me now
are two bulletins,

That both say president reagan
was shot in the chest.

- The president was
rushed into surgery.

Meanwhile, the fbi
was desperately trying

To find out what happened.

Retired fbi agent,
thomas baker.

- We didn't know, was this
part of a conspiracy?

Were they're gonna be
other people shot?

- The answers would be
much stranger

And more chilling than they
could possibly imagine.

And it turned out,
the clues were hiding

In plain sight.

- A stunned nation wonders who
wanted president reagan dead,

And why?

- Coming up,

The first nationally
televised interview

With a detective who
questioned hinckley

Minutes after the attack.

- He just seemed
matter of factly like

This wasn't really
a big deal.

- Did he ask any questions
about the condition

Of the president
or mr. Brady?

- No, he never did.
He never seemed concerned.

- No remorse?
- No remorse at all.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- The news was everywhere.

President ronald reagan had
been shot in washington, d.C.

- Still is absolute confusion
and a terrible sinking feeling

That america has lived through
so many times in the past.

- President reagan
and the three men shot near him

Were all taken
to nearby hospitals,

Some with
life threatening injuries.

Brady had a catastrophic
brain injury.

Mccarthy,
shot in the liver.

Delahanty, a bullet
lodged near his spine.

And the president with one
lodged only an inch

From his heart.

- How close did he
come to dying?

- Reagan came within a couple
of minutes of dying.

- Meanwhile, the man who
shot them was in the custody

Of the washington, d.C. Police.

Retired homicide detective
eddie myers was the first person

To question hinckley.

More than thirty-eight years
since that day,

This was his first national
television interview.

- He looked like
a college student.

He just didn't seem to fit
the profile of what I thought

A presidential assassin
would be like.

- What was
john hinckley's demeanor

When you were about
to begin your interview?

- He just seemed
matter of factly like

This wasn't
really a big deal.

- Myers said hinckley
told him his name,

His parents address,
and the room number

At the hotel where
he had been staying.

He also assured
the detective he acted alone.

- Did you ask him
that question directly?

- Yes, I did.

Something to the effect of,
are you by yourself?

And he responded,
"I'm with no one".

- Did he ask any questions
about the condition

Of the president
or mr. Brady?

- No, he never did.

He never seemed concerned.

- No remorse?
- No remorse at all.

- Desperate for any clue
or evidence that could explain

The motive for the shooting,
myers searched hinckley's wallet

And found photos.

- I noticed three or four
of them from magazines,

I think they were. But--

- Did you ask him
who this person was?

- Yeah.
- And what did he say?

- He says, "you'll find out
when you get to read

"the letter in my room".

- At that point, myers
said hinckley shut down

And refused to say more.

What struck him most was that
hinckley seemed arrogant,

Almost smug.

- I said,
"you're gonna be charged
with attempted assassination

"of the president
of the united states".

And as I'm writing this
in my notes,

I'm having a hard time
spelling "assassination".

And he says,
"I'll spell it for you".

- Soon after, hinckley
was turned over to the fbi.

And by evening, word
of hinckley's arrest was public.

- The man who fired the shots
today has been identified

As john warnock hinckley
of evergreen, colorado.

- I'm thinking to myself,
that is so weird that the guy

Who shot the president
has the same name

As my friend john hinckley.

- As kids, evan price,
kurt dooley, and will francis

Were friends with
hinckley growing up

In the same wealthy
texas suburb.

They didn't believe
the shooter was their john

Until they heard
where he went to school.

- I was in disbelief.

I thought to myself,
I know this guy.

Friendly person,
good natured person.

This can't be happening.

- It was hard for all of them
to square the would-be assassin

With the friend they had known
for more than a decade.

- Yeah, look how
happy he looks.

- He is handsome and happy
and looks great.

- Here's john.

- They met hinckley
in the sixties

And bonded over
sports and music.

- He was a very
well-liked guy.

We would go to record shops,
music stores,

Places to have a burger.

- At home, john hinckley
was the youngest of three.

His father, jack, the owner
of an oil and gas business.

His friends say
the family seemed perfect.

Straight out of the tv classic
"leave it to beaver".

- I would spend
the night over there,

And it was a great family.

And she was just
June cleaver.

You would-- and his dad
was more like ward.

- So what changed for the kid
who grew up with everything?

Back in washington,

The fbi was wondering
the same thing.

That night, agents were
at the park central hotel

Where hinckley
had been staying.

- We executed a search warrant
of his hotel room.

- Thomas baker was
the agent in charge

And oversaw the search.

- There on the desk,
we found the letter,

The statement of why
he was doing this.

- The letter revealed
that hinckley didn't try

To kill the president
for political reasons.

He did it because of
a dark and twisted obsession

With a woman.

- Hinckley's bombshell motive

Thrusts a young hollywood
actress into the spotlight

And shakes the first family
to its core.

- Coming up, raw pain
for the reagan family.

- Somebody shoots your father
and you're a 22-year-old guy.

Your, you know,
your first thought is,

Let me get my hands
on this-this son of a bitch.

- And hinckley's fixation
on actress jodie foster.

- The letters were assumed
to have been, you know,

Love type letters.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- As night fell
over the capital,

The nation could finally breathe
a sigh of relief.

- President reagan tonight
is reported in stable

And good condition.

Mccarthy, brady, and delahanty
also survived surgery,

Some miraculously.

- Brady's surgery
was very delicate

And very complicated.

And it took the doctor all day
to stop the bleeding

And hemorrhaging and get
the-the bullet fragments

Out of brady's brain.

- The public still had no idea
why john hinckley

Tried to kill
president reagan.

Even the president's family
hadn't been told anything.

His son, ron,
struggled with his anger.

- Somebody shoots your father
and you're a 22-year-old guy.

Your, you know,
your first thought is,

Let me get my hands
on this-this son of a bitch.

- Were you thinking what
would drive john hinckley

To wanna kill my father?

- Well, you figure it's either
some sort of political motive,

Or he's just crazy.

- But fbi agents
who had found that letter

In hinckley's hotel room
were learning his motives

Weren't at all political.

Hinckley was fueled
by an obsession

With actress
jodie foster.

The letter
was written to her.

- "dear jodie, there is
a definite possibility

"that I will be killed
in my attempt to get reagan.

"it is for this very reason

"that I am writing you
this letter now."

- Retired fbi agent
thomas baker.

- He explained he was doing
this great act of love

To impress her
and win her heart.

- "I've got to do something now
to make you understand,

"in no uncertain terms,

"that I am doing all of this
for your sake."

- The fbi needed
to talk to foster.

When agents arrived
at yale university,

Where she was a student,
the actress was visibly upset.

She told them that
hinckley started writing her

Soon after she arrived
on campus the previous fall

And hadn't stopped.

- Was he threatening?
What was he like?

- I'm not allowed to say.

- Foster held
a press conference

A few days later.

- The letters were
assumed to have been,

You know,
love type letters.

- Have you ever seen
hinckley, that you know of?

- No, I've never--
not to my knowledge.

I've never met him.

- The fbi learned hinckley
had told his parents

He was attending
a yale writers' program,

But that was a lie.

- He wasn't in
any writers' program.

He was there living in a hotel
and stalking jodie foster

And was slipping
notes under her door,

Love notes.

- This note
was left for her

Just weeks
before the shooting.

- "jodie, goodbye.

"I love you
six trillion times.

"don't you maybe like me
just a little bit?

"you must admit
I am different.

"it would make
all of this worthwhile."

- When did his obsession
with jodie foster begin?

- 1976.
He was in l.A.

Trying to be a songwriter,
failing at it,

And he saw the movie
"taxi driver".

He saw it more than
a dozen times.

Remember, she plays,
like, a prostitute,

Like an adolescent prostitute
in the movie.

And he became obsessed
with her.

- Robert de niro
played the main character,

Travis bickle,

A socially awkward
taxi driver

Who plans to kill
a presidential candidate.

- He completely identified
with bickle.

He thought that he was
gonna shoot reagan

And die in a hail
of secret service bullets,

Just as bickle
thought he would.

- But investigators
quickly discovered

Hinckley considered
other options first,

Like hijacking a plane
and even killing the woman

He claimed to love.

- His plan was
to kill jodie foster,

Shoot her, shoot himself,

Or kill himself
in front of her.

- Hinckley's lawyers
thought all of this

Could be the basis
of an insanity defense.

- Dr. Carpenter
was excused...

- And they hired psychiatrist
william carpenter

In the hopes
he'd provide testimony

That would
convince a jury.

Carpenter met with
hinckley for months

And charted
his unraveling.

- What was his relationship
like with his parents?

- There wasn't anything
that seemed like

Childhood neglect
or trauma.

- But carpenter learned

Hinckley started to withdraw
from friends in high school,

And then completely isolated
himself in college.

His parents were worried

And took him
to see a psychiatrist

Who told them hinckley
was simply immature

And needed tough love.

- More than once,
they'd kind of cut him off.

- The strategy backfired.

Hinckley's hopelessness
showed in his poems,

Songs, and journals.

- They're kind of dark,
anticipatory things in it.

And it is
certainly compatible

With an unhappy
and lonely life.

- In hinckley's poem,
"guns are fun!",

The foreshadowing
of the shooting is clear.

- "if I wish,
the president will fall

"and the world will
look at me in disbelief."

- By the end
of his evaluation,

Carpenter concluded
hinckley was legally insane.

- His official diagnosis?

- In the diagnostic codes
that we use,

The most suitable one
would be schizophrenia.

- But could the defense
convince a jury?

The prosecution
had their own experts

And planned to argue
hinckley was perfectly sane.

- He was legally sane

Because he knew
it was wrong,

Because he knew
he was shooting at humans

In a way
that could harm them.

- The trial would be
a seven week battle

Of the experts

Over whether hinckley
was sane or not.

Potential answers
to that question

Were buried in a remarkable
diary that hinckley wrote

And that "dateline"
uncovered.

- We recovered
news footage of carter

At different rallies
in the fall

During the election

Where hinckley's
in the crowd.

- Evidence that
ronald reagan

Wasn't hinckley's
only target.

- John hinckley
had plans to kill

President jimmy carter?
- Yes.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- Welcome back to
"dateline: Secrets uncovered".

I'm craig melvin.

Was john hinckley jr.
Legally insane

When he shot
president reagan?

A jury would have to
answer that question,

But we now have insight
those jurors did not.

An astonishing document

Written in hinckley's
own hand

That is finally seeing
the light of day.

Back to troy roberts with:

"hinckley:
Diary of a dangerous mind".

- On the night
he was arrested,

Hours after trying
to kill the president,

John hinckley
began to keep a diary.

- "March 30th, 1981,

"rushed to
dc police headquarters,

"spent three hours
handcuffed to desk."

- He would continue writing
in it for fourteen months,

Up to
and through his trial.

Uncovered by "dateline",

The diary
is a remarkable insight

Into hinckley's
troubled mind.

- "I have such an empty,
sad feeling.

"where are you, jodie?"

- Hinckley titled it:

"the diary of a person
we all know".

At times
it's a chronicle of despair.

- "why go on?
I'm immortally infamous.

"equal to
john wilkes booth.

"but I've had enough."

- Days after that entry,

Hinckley tried
to take his own life,

His second attempt.
After he recovered,

He seemed to have
a moment of clarity

About the shooting.

- "there are many times
when I thoroughly regret

"the incident,
and then many times

"when I think about
what I have accomplished

"and feel satisfied."

- But by the spring of 1982,
hinckley seemed ready,

Almost giddy, for the nation
to hear his story.

- "everyone is excited now.
I'm a little excited.

"let's get it on.

"it will be a miracle
and nothing short of a miracle

"if I'm found not guilty."

- A year had passed
since the shooting,

But the damage
hinckley caused

Was still fresh
in people's minds.

- He could have changed
the course of history.

- Absolutely.

This foolish,
unstable young man

Could have changed
the course of history.

- President reagan and
secret service agent mccarthy

Took weeks to fully recover
from their injuries,

While officer delahanty
suffered permanent

Nerve damage that
forced him to retire early.

But it was james brady
who suffered the most.

His brain injuries
caused permanent paralysis

And severe challenges

For the remainder
of his life.

As testimony began,
both sides knew the defense

Had the advantage.

The law stated they didn't
have to prove a thing.

Nbc news legal analyst
danny cevallos.

- At the time of
the hinckley trial,

The prosecution
had the burden

To prove each and every
element of the crime,

Including
the defendant's sanity.

- The prosecution began
by showing jurors

Footage of the shooting.

They argued hinckley
was not mentally ill

When he pulled the trigger.

Just a sad,
narcissistic loner

Fixated on achieving
worldwide fame.

Lead psychiatrist
dr. Park dietz.

- He told me that his goal
was to be on the cover

Of "time" magazine.

- And hinckley's fixation
on the film "taxi driver"?

Prosecutors argued
it didn't mean he was insane.

The movie's plot
was merely inspirational.

- He was already interested

In committing
some high-profile crime.

He fell upon "taxi driver",

And he did try to imitate
aspects of it.

- And his diary revealed
hinckley thought the trial

Was the perfect stage
for his story.

- "jodie, jodie,

"everyone in
the whole wide world

"knows about us.

"I think what I did
was worth it."

- In the courtroom,
prosecutors argued

Hinckley knew exactly
what he was doing

When he shot the president,

That it was
a premeditated plan

Months in the making.

And originally
with a different target.

- He actually
had been stalking

The previous president,
jimmy carter.

- In the fall of 1980,
hinckley bought guns,

Went target shooting,
and followed carter

On the campaign trail.

- We recovered news footage
of carter at different rallies

In the fall
during the election

Where hinckley
is in the crowd.

- John hinckley
had plans to kill

President jimmy carter?
- Yes.

And it just never
worked out for him,

So then he switched
his attention

To president reagan
after he became president.

- When it was
the defense team's turn,

They told jurors
hinckley did not understand

These violent actions
were wrong

Because his judgment
was impaired

By schizophrenic
delusions.

- The only meaningful thing
in his life

Is his delusional attachment
with jodie foster.

- Dr. Carpenter testified
hinckley created

An entire fantasy world

Where that attachment
could exist.

- He developed
this grandiose view

Of jodie and him
as a couple.

He thought
this is something

That everybody
should know about,

Killing carter,
killing reagan.

He needed something that
would call attention to this.

- And his attempts
to connect with foster

Were his way of
trying to convince her

They were meant to be.

The defense had jurors
listen to a phone call

Hinckley recorded between
himself and the actress.

- Jodie foster
did not appear at trial,

But her testimony
was videotaped weeks earlier.

Hinckley was present for it
and for the first time

Came face to face with
the object of his obsession.

Only a transcript
was released to the media.

- Her words
infuriated him.

In his diary that night,

He wrote that he threw
a pen at her

And shouted, "jodie,
I'm still gonna kill you".

He went on to write...

- "oh my god,
what have I done?

"I'm insane, aren't I?

"I went too far
this morning.

"everyone is angry
with me.

"jodie hates me.

"oh, I'm so famous,
but I'm so damn miserable."

- Would the jury
find hinckley

A calculating
would-be killer?

Or a mad man who couldn't tell
right from wrong?

- Why didn't you render
the decision...

- Their verdict would leave
the nation outraged.

- You were confident
the jurors

Were gonna see things
your way?

- Yes. I didn't for a moment
think it could be otherwise.

- The jury speaks.

- To say america was shocked
by the hinckley verdict

Is an understatement.

- And then,
hinckley makes a connection

With a serial killer.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- The jury
in the john hinckley jr. Case

Was sequestered,

Deliberating for days
with no sign of a verdict.

Despite the wait,

The prosecution's lead
psychiatrist wasn't worried.

- You were confident

The jurors were gonna
see things your way?

- Yes. I didn't for a moment
think it could be otherwise.

- By the fourth day,
the verdict was in.

- The verdict on
john hinckley,

Not guilty
by reason of insanity,

Turned the country
upside down today,

Unleashing anger,
outrage, disbelief,

But very little praise.

- I was shocked.

We could not
wrap our heads around

How a jury
could get it so wrong.

- To say america was shocked
by the hinckley verdict

Is an understatement.
They were furious!

- I think the outcome
so far was outrageous.

- But not everyone
was up in arms.

Surprisingly,
president reagan

Had found peace
with hinckley.

- My father had forgiven him
already, long before.

Within a day or so
of being shot,

He had forgiven.

- Within a day or so?
- Yes.

- My mother,
on the other hand,

She'd have killed him
if she could have

Gotten her hands on him.

But my father
had forgiven him already.

He just said
that he knew he had to.

Hinckley celebrated
the verdict

In the final entry
of his diary.

- "no one can believe it.

"it's all over.

"I'm not responsible
for shooting the president

"and three others.

"what must jodie foster
be thinking right now?

- But the verdict
didn't mean hinckley

Was completely
off the hook.

- You're going to
a treatment facility.

And only when you are better
will you be released.

- Hinckley was sent to
saint elizabeth's hospital

In washington, d.C.,

One of the oldest
psychiatric institutions

In the country,

And put on an intense regimen
of counseling and medication,

Including
antipsychotic drugs.

Over time,
he seemed to change.

And part of the reason
for that was a woman.

- John and leslie met
at a Halloween party.

Leslie devoe was her name,

And she was a fellow patient
at saint elizabeth's.

Writer elsa walsh
interviewed devoe

Years later for
"the new yorker" magazine

About her romantic
relationship with hinckley.

- Leslie devoe was described
by neighbors

And families and friends,
even her ex-husband,

As a wonderful,
perfect mother.

And she had killed
her child.

- Devoe was also found
not guilty

By reason of insanity
for her horrifying crime,

And sent to
the psychiatric hospital.

Today, the old grounds
are closed.

Buildings abandoned.

- What was it like when you
came here the first time?

- You know, it was clearly
very different from it is now.

You didn't have a lot
of broken windows.

But leslie and john used
to communicate from a window,

Not this building,
but a very similar one,

Three floors up
where he was.

- Devoe was more than a decade
older than hinckley,

And like him, came from
an upper middle class background

And was educated.

When they met, devoe didn't
know who hinckley was.

And when he told her,
she didn't care.

- She said to me,
"what I did was so much worse

"than what john did.

I killed my child."

- They found young erin dead
in an upstairs bedroom

Of the family home.

- One morning, devoe had
taken her husband's shotgun,

Shot and killed her
10-year-old daughter, erin,

As she slept,
then shot herself.

Devoe's injuries
were so severe,

Doctors had to amputate
her left arm.

She told walsh she never
understood people's shock

Over her love
for hinckley.

- So when people
sort of wonder, like,

Why would I have
a relationship with him?

You know, why would he have
a relationship with me?

- In the beginning,
they left secret notes

For each other
in the cafeteria,

Talked at chaperone events
or by the window.

But by the following year,
hinckley was in love

And did something no one
ever expected, he proposed.

And devoe accepted.

Walsh says they became
each other's confidants,

Hinckley trusting her
with his darkest moments.

- And she said he went
through this terrible period

Of feeling enormous
shame and guilt.

- How's it going, mr. Brady?
Doing well today?

- Particularly
when he would see brady,

The press secretary
he had shot.

- After three years
of treatment,

Devoe was released
from saint elizabeth's,

But got a job
at the hospital

So hinckley still
saw her regularly.

- The staff
at the mental hospital

Condoned this relationship,
even supported it?

- Initially yes,
they did,

Because they saw it
as a healthy growth.

- But the staff learned
hinckley was also in

An astonishing relationship
with someone else.

A relationship that raised
serious questions

About his progress.

It was the notorious
serial killer and rapist,

Ted bundy, who was on
death row in florida.

Bundy sent this letter
to hinckley.

- Dear john, I think we've
got something going here, john.

It's always a pleasure
to find someone

I feel comfortable
writing.

- The secret service
discovered

Hinckley started
the correspondence,

And the two men had been
writing each other for months.

Hinckley wrote this one
to bundy.

- Dear ted, I read about
your new death order.

It really upsets me,

Because I'm against
the death penalty

And I value you
as a friend.

- Hinckley wrote
a letter...

- Doctors became more concerned
after learning

Hinckley still seemed to be
obsessed with jodie foster

And had some 20 photos of her
in his room.

He'd also considered
writing

To convicted killer
charles manson

And did receive a letter
from manson disciple

Lynette "squeaky" fromme,

Who tried to assassinate
president gerald ford in 1975.

Despite the letters,
after four years,

The hospital trusted
hinckley enough

To let him leave
his building

And roam the grounds
freely.

He and devoe
were still engaged,

And could walk outside together
and have privacy.

- She said they went up to
this little spot on a hill.

They didn't have sex
the first time there,

But said soon after that
they did.

And she said--
- on the ground?

- On the ground.

- Just a few years later,
hinckley went to court

To make a bid
for more freedom.

But would a judge allow a man
who stalked two presidents

And tried to kill
one of them,

Back into society?

- He shouldn't be allowed
to just roam around

All on his lonesome
out there.

He's a potentially
dangerous character.

He's proven that.

- The eye popping
gated community

Where hinckley
proposed to live.

- Who's played on that tee
is people like

President barack obama,
former president clinton,

And this fellow's
only 50 feet away.

- When "dateline: Secrets
uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- In 1997, john hinckley jr.
Was back in court,

This time fighting
for a bit of freedom.

He spent 15 years
at a psychiatric hospital

And believed
he was a changed man.

His parents
believed it, too.

- John's whole demeanor
has changed,

And he's a more open,
um, loving person.

- To them, hinckley
was no criminal.

He was being treated
for mental illness

And deserved compassion.

- He wasn't a sniper
on a rooftop

Or a religious fanatic.

He was just
a pathetic figure

Trying to impress
a movie star he never met.

- After so many years
of treatment,

He wanted permission
to visit his family

Off hospital grounds.

Hinckley's doctors
told the court

His psychosis and depression
were in remission

And had been for years.

- I think what they observed
is that he was less preoccupied

With the psychotic
delusions.

- But federal prosecutors
didn't buy it.

They believed hinckley was
still a threat to society

And had evidence
to prove it.

A hospital pharmacist
complained

That hinckley
was stalking her.

- He would go over
to her office

And they'd chat
and talk.

And then he started
bugging her.

He'd come every day
or he'd call.

- The judge denied
hinckley's request,

And he lost any chance of
leaving the hospital grounds

For a long time.

But by 2003, he had stayed
out of trouble for years,

And his doctors felt
he was ready

To inch back into society.

- They began gradually,
just one day out in the city.

- By 2006, hinckley's
treatment team

Had recommended he be allowed
to stay with his parents

For days at a time,
and the court agreed.

- The goal of
saint elizabeth's hospital

Is to rehabilitate,
right?

So they have no justification
of really holding him.

- But not everyone
was happy

About hinckley's
increasing freedom.

The house his parents
had retired to

Was in an upscale
gated community

In williamsburg, virginia,
overlooking the 13th hole

Of the kingsmill
championship golf course.

When we sat down with
retired fbi agent thomas baker,

He told us that concerned
the secret service.

- In the past few years,
who's played on that tee

Is people like
president barack obama,

Former president clinton.

I mean, these are the people
who play golf in williamsburg,

And this fellow's only
50 feet away.

- Despite federal prosecutors'
continued protests,

The judge followed

Saint elizabeth's
recommendations,

And granted hinckley
more and more time

With his parents.

Time that no longer
included

His fiancée,
leslie devoe.

After 22 years,
the relationship was over.

- Do you know why
the relationship ended?

- Being identified publicly
as his girlfriend

Was very hard for her.

The secret service was
always coming to her door.

It became
just too much.

- Hinckley's focus was now
solely on being

Permanently released
from saint elizabeth's,

And in 2016, a judge
granted his request.

- The man who attempted
to assassinate

President ronald reagan

Is now free from
a mental hospital after decades.

- Hinckley's father had died,
so he would live with

His 90-year-old mother,
at least for a year.

Not all of hinckley's
new neighbors

Were convinced
that was a good idea.

- Bring him here
and put him in--

Under the care
of his 90-year-old mother.

Seems to me to be
a pretty foolish decision.

- Timothy mccarthy,
the secret service agent

Who took a bullet
shielding president reagan,

Was also skeptical.

- We know medicine
is not an exact science.

Uh, few things are.

So, you know,
I just hope they're right.

- I'm a layperson, I'm not
a psychologist or psychiatrist,

But it doesn't seem
to me like

People with these kind of
severe, uh, mental problems

Are ever really,
truly cured.

- Still, hinckley
wasn't completely free.

The secret service would
keep an eye on him.

And there was a long list
of court-mandated rules

He had to follow.

Among them, therapy,
medication, limited travel,

No media interviews
or contact

With his victims' relatives
or jodie foster.

But ron reagan was
still concerned.

- My worry is that

His narcissistic
personality disorder

Will be affronted
by somebody,

He will not get
the respect or attention

That he feels
that he's owed,

And he will act out again
in some violent way.

- Today, there is greater
awareness and empathy

For those who suffer
from mental illness.

But insanity defense laws
have become much stricter.

- States were in a rush
to change

Their insanity defenses
after the hinckley trial.

Some got rid of the defense
altogether.

Some states instituted guilty,
but mentally ill.

- In federal court,
the burden of proof

Now has shifted
to the defense team

Who must prove
the defendant is insane.

If hinckley were tried
under the new law,

Many believe
he would be convicted.

- Do you know what
he's doing with himself?

- Yeah. You know,
he volunteers at a church,

Goes on walks.

He's established a bunch
of friends over time.

- He also got
a job of sorts,

Buying and selling antiques
at a local mall.

And, it appears,
found romance again.

- I trust the doctors

And the people
who have been treating him.

I trust their decision.

- Hinckley's childhood
friends believe

He's earned a second chance
and wish him well.

- I don't expect we'll see him
at our high school reunion,

But if we did,
I'd welcome him.

- But president reagan's son
believes a man who tried

To assassinate the president,
even if found insane,

Should never go free.

- I don't dispute
that he was insane

When he did
what he did,

But the crime
that he committed

Was not just a crime
against another person,

It was also a crime
against the state.

The penalty
has to be drastic,

And I would say
permanent.

- In 2020, the court
relaxed the conditions

Of hinckley's release
even further.

Among his new freedoms,

He was now able to publicly
display his artwork

And publish music
using his own name.

As he eased into
a more normal life,

Hinckley seemed content.

During one of his
mental health evaluations

He told doctors,
"this is the happiest

"I've been in my life.

"I'm happy as a clam,
to be honest.

"I really am."

In 2022,
a federal judge concluded

That hinckley's mental illness
was in full remission,

And granted
his unconditional release.

It was a new chapter
in the life

Of john w. Hinckley jr.,

Who four decades after shooting
an american president,

Appeared at peace
with his past.

- That's all
for this edition

Of "dateline:
Secrets uncovered".

I'm craig melvin.
Thank you for watching.