Actress in Deep Despair on Day She Was Slain, Psychologist Says

On the day she was slain, actress Susan Cabot said she would kill herself were it not for her son--the man accused of her murder, Cabot’s psychologist testified Wednesday.

“She said her reason for living was her son,” said Carl Faber, a psychologist who said he counseled Cabot regularly for seven years until her death Dec. 10, 1986. Her son, Timothy Roman, is accused of bludgeoning her to death in their Encino home.

“I heard a tone in her voice that I’d never heard before,” Faber testified. “She told me, ‘Carl, I’m tired, I want to go and if it wasn’t for Timothy, I would.’ ”

Faber was the first defense witness in Roman’s non-jury murder trial before Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Darlene E. Schempp. Roman, a 25-year-old former art student, has pleaded not guilty.

Under questioning from Roman’s attorney, Richard P. Lasting, Faber testified that Cabot was emotionally and sexually abused as a child and lived in 14 foster homes.

As a result, Cabot suffered recurring bouts of “tremendous despair” and “extreme, irrational terror.” Although she and Roman lived in a large home, Cabot feared that she and her son would wind up penniless and homeless, Faber testified.

At such times, the normally bright former B-movie actress could not “hold on to reality . . . it would be like she had an IQ of 60,” Faber said. He said he believed her capable of irrational action.

Faber also testified that he found his 50-minute sessions with Cabot extremely draining and sympathized with her son because he surmised that Cabot “brought those fears to Tim for hundreds of hours.”

Roman’s new lawyers are not disputing that he killed his mother, but contend that he did so while under the effects of numerous medications and after being provoked by aggressive, irrational behavior by his mother.

Glandular Treatment

In other testimony Wednesday, Dr. Barbara Lippe, chief of the UCLA Medical Center’s division of endocrinology, said she had treated Roman since he was about 5 years old for malfunctioning pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands that stunted his growth and required constant medication and hormone treatments.

A blood test on Roman about a month before the killing revealed dangerously high levels of thyroid, which she said could cause confusion and agitation. Lippe said she called Cabot and told her to get new medication but does not know if Cabot followed the recommendation.

Roman’s first trial ended in a mistrial three months ago after his former attorney, Chester Leo Smith, bowed out with health problems. At the time, Roman’s family was unhappy with Smith and said they planned to fire him.

Among other things, Smith revealed to jurors during examination of a witness that Roman had confessed to killing his mother after an argument. The information would not otherwise have been heard by the jury.

Roman faces a possible life term in prison if convicted.