[UPDATED with Elkus Asks for Lawyer:] Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert Shot Dead; 75 y.o. Urology Patient Stanwood Fred Elkus Held

By Matt Coker Wed., Jan. 30 2013 at 5:31 PM

See Update Nos. 2-3 on page 2 with the DA's murder charges, more on the suspect's health, the doctor's treatment of him and the defendant's postponed arraignment this afternoon.

See Update No. 1 after the jump with the suspect's mugshot, health woes and more on the physician.

Dr. Gilbert, R.I.P.

ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 29, 9:01 A.M.: An apparently disgruntled patient shot and killed his urologist in his Hoag Health Center office Monday afternoon, according to Newport Beach Police.

Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, of Lake Elsinore, was arrested there on suspicion of homicide.

Police received a call around 2:45 p.m. Monday of multiple shots fired at the medical office at 250 Superior Ave., according to department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe, who added officers who entered the building immediately found Gilbert and Elkus in a second-floor office. The suspect was taken into custody without incident.

The doctor sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper torso, but while the multi-tenant medical office complex was filled with workers, patients and others at the time of the shooting, no one else was reported injured, Lowe said.

Television news broadcasts have identified Elkus as a former patient of Gilbert's at the Hoag-affiliated Orange Coast Urology.

According to Gilbert's online bio, the married father of two graduated from UCI College of Medicine in 1987 and has been a practicing physician and surgeon for 23 years. The state medical board indicates no disciplinary actions, malpractice judgments or settlements have been rendered against him.

One satisfied patient has already posted condolences on an online patients-rating-doctors website, where reviews are split about 50-50 between positive and negative. Critics complain of rudeness by the doctor and his staff.

Police believe they have the lone suspect and victim, but the investigation continues. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Newport Beach Police Department at 800.550.NBPD or Detective Brad Miller at 949.644.3762. Tips can be left anonymously.

Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff's Dept.

Starwood Fred Elkus, suspected killer

UPDATE NO. 1, JAN. 29, 4:49 P.M.: Suspected murderer Stanwood Fred Elkus is currently being held in lieu of $1 million bail in the shooting death of urologist Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, who was to turn 53 on Wednesday.

Police detectives reportedly searched the 75-year-old barber's Lake Elsinore mobile home last night and took out items in bags.

Nearby, an Orange County Register reporter talked with neighbor James Lord, 54, who said Elkus frequently complained of health issues related to prostate problems. After Lord helped Elkus work on his motor home Sunday night, the elderly neighbor handed over $10 and a pair of wire cutters, reportedly explaining, "I might not be alive much longer." Lord is said to have taken that as Elkus being his usual pessimistic self, telling the paper, "I wish I could have seen the signs of it."

Richard Afable, president and CEO of Hoag Memorial Hospital, where the murdered physician worked for 20 years and had previously been chief of the urology department, issued a statement saying, "Dr. Gilbert dedicated his career to serving others."

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AnnBlake-Tracy

1 Like

Tamra Lucas is on the right track in encouraging you to look at medications but as nasty a drug as Levquin is you need to look closer at your Zoloft and Cymbalta for the side effect of "homicidal ideation". My guess was Cymbalta since it is prescribed for urinary incontinence. Doctors prescribing drugs to their patients that nearly every school shooter was taking and known to produce violence better wake up and realize that patient may include them in that adverse homicidal compulsion reaction they are having to the medication! We have documented thousands of these homicidal reactions over the past two decades.

lcqover

Part 2

I am certainly NOT condoning the crime that was committed by Mr Elkus, but I can certainly understand the desperation that a 75 year old man, a barber who lived in a trailer, who felt betrayed by a doctor that instead of helping him, had left him in worse condition than before. Unfortunately some physicians tend to treat working class persons differently than they do middle class folks, and this includes not taking the time to provide information to the patient about prognosis with and without various treatments, and even the option of further waiting before anything is done.

Read the reviews of this doctor from several different webpages. It is very sad that Mr. Elkus felt so frustrated that he resorted to this crime.

Moonbandito, I agree with you completely. The "gun culture" that we have evolved into was what made this possible. "Guns are the solution" is utterly false.

lcqover

Unfortunately ther are many urologists who do not explain to their patients that very few prostrate operations result in totally positive outcomes; the vast majority result in permanent impotence, and most also result in at least some urinary incontinence. Dr. Gilbert was described by many of his patients as rude, and revreis websites show that he was evaluated by patients as below average .. in one webpage with 17 pateint evaluations, only 47% would recomment him to anyone. The chief complaint seemed to be poor communication skills, and he apparently "washed his hands of patients" after he had performed surgeries, referring patients with continuing problems to other doctors. There are some doctors that do not want to waste their valuable time explaining things to patients.

(I once ran across one like this in an emergency room. The fact that I was alive and conscious, and actually asked him a question resulted in a dirty look and his walking away. )

end of part 1

tamralucas

1 Like

My story...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.209188879106159.55462.209182505773463&type=3

tamralucas

1 Like

Not a surprise at all it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Urologist hand out fluoroquinolones like candy as do many doctors. Check to see what meds he was on and get the whole story before it is swept under the rug.

The Fluoroquinolone Wall of Pain

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fluoroquinolone-Wall-of-Pain/209182505773463?ref=hl

Bob Waldren

1 Like

"Really pissed off"? The man was murdered and you're making jokes like a 10 year old? That is incredibly cruel and insensitive, and you owe Dr. Gilbert's family and friends an apology.

Leigh-Anne Masek

This is sad, but if the dr was one of those a-holes, then he's also a tad responsible.

Cesar Jaime

Ohhhh the sad music is playing in the backround....

Lori Marquardt

1 Like

I think your headline OC Weekly is insensitive to say the least. This doctor was a husband, a father and someone who went into medicine to help others. It is sad and unfortunate his life was taken by some deranged individual.

Bev Orbegoso Guibert

SLIGHLTY..

Kelley Arslanian

...ba dum CH.

moonbandito

1 Like

Guns are quick and final. That's the problem.

949girl topcommenter

I wonder if the suspect was terminally ill or if he thought he had poor care or what caused him to do this. It's crazy with all of the shootings happening lately how all of the crazy pro-gun people will be posting on Facebook why guns should be legal. Whenever a shooting happens all of the pro assault weapon people come out of the woodwork.

MatthewTCoker topcommenter

@949girl Yes, you can already hear the argument that if we let doctors hold guns on patients while treating them, this would never happen.

paullucas714 topcommenter

@MatthewTCoker @949girl That argument and or derivations of it are all over the comments in the OC register blog post about this tragic event. Its really surreal to see how myopic those readers are.