Stranger than fiction: How one doctor solved a murder mystery that sent another doctor to life in prison

They share the same last name and the same rural practice, located in a small county in North Carolina. But that’s where the similarities end between Dr. Benjamin Gilmer and Dr. Vince Gilmer, the latter a family physician who had been convicted of first-degree murder in the killing and mutiliation of his father. Yet over a decade, the lives of the doctors—who are not blood relatives—intertwined in ways that neither could have imagined, eventually leading to a pardon for the incarcerated man, according to a Medscape feature. For the new doctor in town, the saga started when he moved to Cane Creek to take over the practice of Dr. Vince Gilmer. By then, four years had passed since Dr. Vince Gilmer admitted to strangling his frail, 60-year-old father with a rope, cutting off all his fingers and then dumping the body by the side of the road. His patients were left shaken—and in disbelief—by the gruesome murder. "Four years later, his patients were still shocked about what happened and couldn't reconcile the person they knew with the event that happened," said Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, in the Medscape piece. Read: Ohio doctor found not guilty in 14 hospital patient deaths He became puzzled by the disconnect between the gruesome murder and patients’ stories about a caring, generous doctor who made house calls and accepted bushels of corn in payment when a patient didn’t have enough to pay a medical bill. But he was also aware that Dr. Vince Gilmer had admitted to the killing and that evidence presented at his trial supported the argument that the murder was premeditated and that the doctor had tried to cover it up later. The rope used in the murder and the shears used to cut off the victim’s fingers had been found in the defendant’s truck. But Dr. Benjamin Gilmer felt something was amiss, so he decided to carry out his own investigation. Through conversations with Dr. Vince Gilmer’s friends, he learned that six months before the murder, the convicted doctor suffered a concussion from a car accident. He had even written to friends that “something is wrong with my brain" and "help me” and mentioned selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) discontinuation syndrome because he had stopped taking his medication the week of the murder. Read: Abrupt Stop: Discontinuation syndrome Dr. Benjamin Gilmer also found out that the murder victim had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was living in a residential psychiatric facility until the night he was killed, when he was released into his son’s custody. During the trial, Dr. Vince Gilmer—who represented himself—had testified that his father had sexually molested him for years and tried to molest him again the night of the murder, but the court dismissed this testimony. As he continued to look more deeply into what happened to his predecessor, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer got a message from Sarah Koenig, a journalist who wanted to interview him about the coincidence of taking over the practice of a doctor who shared the same last name. Dr. Benjamin Gilmer hesitated initially but subsequently agreed to let Koenig interview him for a radio episode. He wrote to Dr. Vince Gilmer in prison and asked for a meeting. Read: Former nurse guilty of homicide in medication error death "He looked like a caged animal, it was very hard for him to string together ideas and express himself, and he was twitching and shaking dramatically,” Dr. Benjamin Gilmer described their first meeting, which took place at the Wallens Ridge State Prison in West Virginia. “He looked 20 years older than his actual age of 50 and like someone you would imagine in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.” Convinced that "there was something clearly wrong" with the imprisoned man, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer invited a psychiatrist, Dr. Steve Buie to observe during a second meeting. Dr. Buie noticed Dr. Vince Gilmer’s shuffling gait and suspected he may have Huntington’s disease. This would account for the inmate’s delusions and why “his mind was unraveling," noted Dr. Benjamin Gilmer. There was no way to test Dr. Vince Gilmer while he was in prison. But after he tried to kill himself, he was moved to a psychiatric hospital in southern Virginia, where the chief psychiatrist ordered a genetic test. The results revealed that Dr. Vince Gilmer had a terminal degenerative brain disease. Read: Cannabis drugs helpful in MS, not in other neurological conditions When he found out, Dr. Vince Gilmer was grateful and relieved to finally know what was wrong with him. He was prescribed SSRI medication, which helped reduce his anxiety and made him more alert. "He expressed joy for the first time, despite the death sentence of a diagnosis,” said Dr. Benjamin Gilmer. Not wanting the doctor to spend his remaining years in prison, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer started working to get him out. After the radio interview aired, a number of lawyers reached out with offers of pro bono help. A legal team was assembled, with the goal of getting Dr. Vince Gilmer transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital dedicated to patients with Huntington’s disease or to a nursing home with a dementia unit. But there was a good chance Dr. Vince Gilmer would not survive a potentially lengthy court battle, so the legal team asked the governor of Virginia to grant a clemency pardon. That request was denied. Read: Can we die? The seriously ill need clarity When a new governor took over in 2017, the legal team tried again but was, once again, rejected. “I went to prison and could see the hopelessness and despair in (Dr. Vince Gilmer’s) reaction—I lost it emotionally," recalled Dr. Benjamin Gilmer. "I thought of him as a friend, as a patient, and someone who was really suffering, all those things helped our relationship evolve and kept me engaged with him all these years and continued to inspire me to fight for him. I also liked him because I knew what he was like before the murder from the stories I was hearing from his friends and patients." He wrote a book about his friendship and experience trying to get Dr. Vince Gilmer released from prison, and decided to send a copy to the new governor. The governor reversed his decision and, on Jan. 12, 2022 granted Dr. Vince Gilmer a pardon. As of publication, Dr. Vince Gilmer was still in prison awaiting a bed in a secure treatment facility. His friend and advocate said he is now looking forward to being in a place where he will be looked after, not punished. For Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, what had seemed like coincidence—taking over the practice of a doctor who just happened to share the same last name—now feels like fate. "After a while, it was hard not to believe that I was supposed to be in his path and this was just part of my destiny," he said. Read: Oversight committee rules out mysterious brain disease in New Brunswick

Stranger than fiction: How one doctor solved a murder mystery that sent another doctor to life in prison

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