In 1974, two months after having a portion of his brain removed due to an accident at the sawmill where worked, Cecil Clayton checked himself into a mental hospital, frightened by his suddenly uncontrollable temper.
Previously, Clayton had been an intelligent, guitar-playing family man, relatives said. He abstained from alcohol, worked part time as a pastor and paid weekly visits to a local nursing home.
But after the accident, which necessitated the removal of 20 percent of his frontal lobe, everything changed.
“He broke up with his wife, began drinking alcohol and became impatient, unable to work and more prone to violent outbursts,” Clayton’s brother Marvin testified at trial.
[For more of this story, written by Sarah Kaplan, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/...he-biology-of-blame/]
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