Pod Insights Serial Killers & Murderous Minds MURDEROUS MINDS: The College Crush Murder Pt. 2 About this episode After months of stalking and obsession, Prosenjit Poddar finally snapped. In Part 2, we trace the tragic murder of Tanya Tarasoff—and the groundbreaking legal ruling that followed, forcing therapists to ask: when does doctor-patient confidentiality end, and protection begin?
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:01 Vanessa Richardson? Hi, everyone. Before today's episode, there's another show I want to tell you about. It's called What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Plus, Connor's infectious energy that'll make you realize history is the most fascinating thing on earth. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.
0:37 Speaker 01 This is Crime House.
0:41 Vanessa Richardson? When we're young, everybody tells us to never give up on our dreams, that no matter how unrealistic they might seem, they're always worth holding on to. Becoming an astronaut, a movie star, even president of the United States. And while most of us never achieve those goals, that's okay. Most of the time, we find something else we'd love to do instead. But in Prashenjit Potter's case, he was on the verge of accomplishing his dreams. Growing up, it was almost unheard of for someone in his social class to travel abroad and make a better life for themselves. Against all odds, Prashenjit transcended his circumstances and was accepted at one
1:24 Vanessa Richardson? of the top schools in America. But after arriving in California, Prashenjit got a new dream: to make Tanya Tarasoff his wife. And just like before, he wasn't going to stop until it came true, no matter what.
1:57 Vanessa Richardson? The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love, and hate. But sometimes it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is Killer Minds, a Crime House original. I'm Vanessa Richardson.
2:13 Tristin Engels? And I'm Dr. Tristin Engels. Every Monday and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer.
2:21 Vanessa Richardson? Crime House is made possible by you. Please rate, review, and follow Killer Minds. To enhance your listening experience with ad-free, early access to each two-part series and bonus content, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. Before we get started, be advised, this episode contains descriptions of violence, murder, and stalking. Today, we conclude our deep dive on Prashenjit Potter. In 1967, he left his village in India for the University of California, Berkeley, hoping to rise above his humble circumstances and make a better life for himself. And when he met Tanya Tarasov,
3:04 Vanessa Richardson? Prashenjit thought he'd found his soulmate. However, Tanya didn't feel the same way. And eventually, Prashenjit's obsession with her led to a violent and tragic murder.
3:18 Tristin Engels? As Vanessa goes through the story, I'll be talking about things like Prashenjit's ability to mask his true intentions from authorities, his inability to let go of his obsession, and how this case led to a landmark shift in how we approach doctor-patient confidentiality.
3:34 Vanessa Richardson? And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer?
3:45 Vanessa Richardson? After arriving in Berkeley, California in the fall of 1967, 22-year-old Prashenjit Potter felt lost. He was a world away from his small village in India, with barely any friends and no real connections to speak of. For the next year, Prashenjit spent his waking moments going between his engineering classes, his job as a naval architect, and his tiny dorm room at the university's International House. But that all changed when he met Tanya Tarasov. The moment he laid eyes on 19-year-old Tanya at an eye house dance in November 1968, Prashenjit's life seemed to suddenly have meaning. By the end of that year,
4:29 Vanessa Richardson? he was already planning on marrying her. There was just one problem. Tanya didn't feel the same way. Sure, she liked Prashenjit, but she only saw him as a friend. And no matter how much she tried to tell him that, Prashenjit wouldn't listen. Things got so bad that after the school year ended in May 1969, Tanya went to stay with her aunt in Brazil just so she could get away from Prashenjit. For his part, Prashenjit did try to move on. He went to therapy and promised to cut himself off from Tanya, but his efforts didn't last very long. By the end of the summer, Prashenjit was worse than ever.
5:12 Vanessa Richardson? He'd gotten close to Tanya's younger brother, Alex, all in an effort to ingratiate himself with the Tarasov family. And that was just the beginning of it. Prashenjit had also hatched a plan to put Tanya into some kind of dangerous situation that he could then rescue her from. He wanted to prove he was worthy of her love. And to make it feel real, he was going to buy a gun.
5:40 Vanessa Richardson? The second Prashenjit told his friend Farook Mistry about his idea, Farook told Prashenjit's therapist, Dr. Lawrence Moore. After spending the summer in sessions with Prashenjit, Dr. Moore knew this was a dangerous situation. Prashenjit hadn't been following his advice, and when Dr. Moore confronted him about his unhinged plan on August 18, 1969, Prashenjit stormed out of his office. It was the last appointment they'd ever have.
6:12 Tristin Engels? Working with someone who's resistant to treatment or mental health providers in general is a challenging situation for any clinician. It's something I've encountered in my own work as a forensic psychologist. And in fairness, most of the individuals I work with in a forensic setting are often court-ordered, so they're even more likely to be treatment-resistant because they're not there voluntarily. So when you have a patient like Prashenjit, you're not just dealing with standard denial or defensiveness. As I outlined in episode one, Prashenjit exhibits rigid thinking, obsessive fixation, features of erotomania, paranoia, and emotional dysregulation. This leaves very little room for insight or compromise. While it's true he's showing up for his sessions,
6:56 Tristin Engels? it seems he's using these to justify his thinking, not to genuinely reflect or change, because when challenged, he reacted angrily and prematurely canceled the session. This is highly suggestive of delusional thinking. In cases like this, when you challenge the fantasy or delusion like Dr. Moore did, it's common to see anger and defensiveness as a reaction, and it's even more common to see resistance to treatment moving forward. Providers have to be very strategic when working with individuals with delusions or obsessions to avoid that premature termination or avoid becoming part of their delusion, especially when there's paranoia. Generally, before we challenge any delusion, we need to establish a strong therapeutic rapport first,
7:40 Tristin Engels? not by colluding with the delusional beliefs, but with providing coping skills for them, because their beliefs are distressing, regardless of whether or not they're rooted in reality. But when we are dealing with individuals who are highly obsessive or delusional and endorsing violent threats, It's even more concerning because it does require challenging because of the imminent concern, and that will most certainly provoke or escalate the individual. Fortunately for me, the times in which I've encountered this exact scenario, the individual was already in custody and therefore the risk of harm to others was already managed by virtue of their environment and 24-hour surveillance.
8:17 Vanessa Richardson? Well, Dr. Moore was definitely concerned about Proshenjit's reaction. He seriously thought about calling the police, but that would be a major escalation because it would require violating doctor-patient confidentiality. However, in some circumstances, it is allowed. At that time, a doctor could only violate a patient's confidentiality if he is required to do so by law or unless it becomes necessary in order to protect the welfare of the individual or of the community. And Dr. Moore wasn't sure if Proshenjit's threat rose to that level. He didn't have a history of violence, which made it unlikely that he'd hurt anyone in the future. But something about this case just didn't feel right.
9:02 Vanessa Richardson? Dr. Moore was convinced that Proshenjit was capable of hurting Tanya. He knew he had to act before she came back from Brazil, so he called the Berkeley campus police. That afternoon, Officers Johnny Teal and Everett Atkinson arrived at Dr. Moore's office. They understood his concerns, but they couldn't detain Proshenjit just yet. In order to take him in for observation, they needed a medical doctor to sign off on it. And although Dr. Moore did have a doctoral degree, he wasn't an M.D., which meant the responsibility fell to Proshenjit's original psychiatrist, Dr. Stuart Gold. He was happy to help, but by the time Dr. Moore had everything he needed, two days had passed.
9:47 Vanessa Richardson? And then it took another two days for Officers Teal and Atkinson to respond. But when they visited Proshenjit at work on August 22nd, they didn't understand what all the fuss was about. He was kind and respectful, nothing like the manic psychopath Dr. Moore had described. Proshenjit said it was all a big misunderstanding. Of course, he would never hurt Tanya. When he'd made those threats in Dr. Moore's office, he was just blowing off some steam. If anything, Tanya was the problem. Proshenjit said she liked to play with his feelings and throw her other relationships in his face. By the end of the interview, the officers seemed to be on Prashenjit's side. They left him alone and even gave him a card
10:32 Vanessa Richardson? in case he ever needed their help.
10:35 Tristin Engels? So what we're seeing here is actually a really classic pattern in some individuals with obsessive fixations. And it's a big reason why these cases are so difficult for law enforcement, clinicians, and even friends and family to navigate. By the time the police got to Prashenjit, he knew what they wanted to hear because he was already challenged by Dr. Moore. So he used impression management to convince the police he was not the problem. But how was he so convincing? So first, Prashenjit wasn't irrational across the board. Outside of his fixation with Tanya, he seemed to present as intelligent, polite, and articulate, and he was studying to become an engineer. These factors make it difficult for others, especially those who aren't clinically trained, to believe that he could be dangerous.
11:19 Tristin Engels? He's not ranting or disorganized, which is often what people mistakenly expect when they picture someone who might commit violence. Second, there's an element of manipulation, though often not conscious in the way we think of sociopathic manipulation. In Prashenjit's mind, he may have genuinely believed that he was the victim and that Tanya's rejection, or quote, "mixed signals," justified his behavior. So when he spoke to police, he wasn't necessarily lying in the traditional sense, at least to him. He was spinning the narrative that he'd built to protect that fantasy. And of course, there is an element of law enforcement bias occurring here as well. It's very common for officers, especially at that time,
12:02 Tristin Engels? to feel reassured by a cooperative, non-threatening demeanor. They walked into the interview expecting a dangerous and unstable person, and instead, they met a pleasant young man who, quote, "just got a little carried away." That contrast can cause even experienced officers into minimizing risk.
12:22 Vanessa Richardson? Well, the campus police officers weren't the only ones who bought Proshenjit's act. About a week after the officers interviewed him at work, Dr. Moore was summoned to his boss's office. He'd been on vacation when Dr. Moore asked for Proshenjit to be forcibly committed, and he wasn't happy that Dr. Moore had acted without him. Dr. Moore argued that he was trying to act in Proshenjit's best interest, but his boss wasn't buying it. He put Dr. Moore on probation and told him to destroy all correspondence with the campus police so there wouldn't be a record of it. He didn't want it getting out that Dr. Moore had broken confidentiality with his patient. Dr. Moore did as he was told, mostly.
13:05 Vanessa Richardson? He was still worried about the situation and decided to keep a copy of his original note asking for the police's help. He hoped the situation wouldn't escalate, but if Proshenjit did ever try to hurt Tanya, at least Dr. Moore would be able to prove he'd done the right thing. And Dr. Moore was right to be concerned, because Tanya was about to return to Berkeley, and Proshenjit was ready to put his plan into action.
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14:10 Vanessa Richardson? Tanya Tarasoff arrived in Berkeley in the early fall of 1969. It was a bittersweet return. During her last week in Brazil, she'd met someone, an American guy named Patrick. He was everything Proshenjit wasn't: adventurous, confident, and a bit of a bad boy. The two of them had spent Tanya's final weekend in Brazil cozying up in a hotel. Tanya was sad to leave him, but Patrick promised to visit her over Christmas. Besides, there was something important waiting for her back home. Before leaving for Brazil, she'd applied to transfer from her community college to UC Berkeley. It was against her father's wishes, but Tanya had done it anyway.
14:54 Vanessa Richardson? The decision letter was there when she arrived, and Tanya got in. But it wasn't all good news. Tanya also found out that her younger brother Alex had moved into an apartment with Prashenjit. She couldn't believe it. Alex knew all about Tanya's problems with him. She'd wanted to completely cut ties with Prashenjit, but that would be nearly impossible if he was living with her brother. Alex told Prashenjit that Tanya wasn't interested in seeing him. He agreed to respect her wishes. There was just one problem, though. The two of them were throwing a housewarming party that weekend, and Tanya was invited. Prashenjit was going to skip the party. He really was.
15:39 Vanessa Richardson? But then he started to think, maybe Tanya wouldn't even show. And if she did, he could still keep his distance from her. Or maybe, just maybe, this could be the night where everything changed. Meanwhile, Tanya was trying to decide if she would actually go to the party or not. She didn't want to be around Prashenjit. And yet, something was drawing her to that party. She didn't want Prashenjit controlling her life.
16:08 Tristin Engels? Tanya's thinking here is actually very understandable and very human. What we're seeing is someone who's trying to reclaim a sense of power and control. Up until this point, so much of her dynamic with Prashenjit had been defined by his feelings and his obsessions and his needs. She was the target of his fixation, and that can leave a person feeling trapped, helpless, and even objectified. By choosing to go to the party, part of Tanya was likely trying to say, "I am not going to let you control me," especially if he is living with her brother, and she can't avoid him anyway. She is trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation. And then there's the piece about him wanting to see her doing well, not because she wanted to reconnect,
16:51 Tristin Engels? but because she may have hoped this would help him move on in some way. And this was effective at one point earlier on. So that's not manipulative. That's often part of the healing process for someone trying to move past unhealthy or controlling relationships. To be clear, this isn't a case of Tanya playing games or taunting Proshenjit. Though sadly, victims are sometimes unfairly framed that way. What I believe she's trying to do here is assert her independence after feeling emotionally suffocated for so long. She didn't want to hide or live in fear, and honestly, no one should have to. The tragedy, of course, is that in cases where someone is dealing with an obsessive
17:32 Tristin Engels? individual like Proshenjit, even healthy acts of autonomy can be misinterpreted as provocative or rejection, which can further escalate risk. But Tanya's desire to reclaim control here makes perfect psychological sense. And she was not fully aware of the extent of Proshenjit's mental state and fixation on her either.
17:54 Vanessa Richardson? While at the party, Tanya didn't speak to Proshenjit directly, but she made a point to speak extra loudly when she told some friends about her summer in Brazil, especially when she told them all about the guy she'd met, Patrick. But if Tanya thought it would make Proshenjit back off, she was wrong. If anything, it only intensified his feelings for her. And now, there was no getting away from him. Because a couple weeks later, Tanya finally started classes at UC Berkeley. Everywhere Tanya went, Proshenjit seemed to be there, lurking in a doorway or watching her in the distance. No matter how many times she or her friends told him to leave her alone, Proshenjit wouldn't listen.
18:38 Tristin Engels? Proshenjit is engaging in different types of stalking behavior, and I think they're escalating because he's misinterpreting her enrollment in Berkeley as having some kind of special meaning with him. First, he's engaging in a stalking behavior known as life invasion, because he's now living with her brother and engaging in repeated unwanted contact. And the second stalking behavior is surveillance. He's following and watching her from a distance. And the typology that he falls under is the incompetent stooter. That's the type of stalker. It stems from loneliness or lust, and the motivation is to establish a friendship or relationship. They are not perceptive to disinterest and persist even when they know their advances
19:20 Tristin Engels? are unwelcome, though I don't think these behaviors and typologies were identified and classified as they are now back in this time.
19:30 Vanessa Richardson? So Tanya took radical action at this point. On October 8th, she called Prashenjit at work. Earlier that year, remember, he'd gifted her a traditional Indian dress called a sari. In Prashenjit's culture, this type of sari was a betrothal gift. At the time, Tanya didn't know that, but since then, she'd learned what it meant. And now, she told Prashenjit she was going to burn it. After Tanya hung up, Prashenjit was devastated. The reality of his situation finally began to sink in. But that didn't mean he was giving up. Instead, he decided it was time to put his twisted plan into action.
20:12 Vanessa Richardson? Prashenjit went to see one of his buddies from IHouse, a guy named Gorian Nuaz. He wanted Gorian to pay Tanya for sex, but just before they did it, Prashenjit would burst into the room with a gun and save her. Gorian thought it sounded insane, but he didn't want to turn Prashenjit down then and there. Gorian told him he'd think about it and let him know in a couple of days. Thinking the plan was on, Prashenjit moved on to the next step: buying the gun. Since he wasn't a US citizen, he could only buy a pellet gun. But that was just fine for his purposes. It just had to look the part. And in any case, pellet guns are still pretty dangerous if you're close enough.
20:54 Tristin Engels? So I know we talked about his plans on episode one, but we're seeing a real shift here, and it's a critical one in terms of risk escalation. Earlier in the case, Prashenjit's plan to "rescue" Tanya was still largely confined to fantasy. There was magical thinking, obsessive rehearsal, and imagining how those things would play out. That kind of thinking is dangerous on its own, but here's where things take a much more serious turn. He went from verbalizing it to putting his plan in motion. He's recruiting another person. He's strategizing. He's identifying obstacles like his inability to buy a real gun, and then problem solving around them. So essentially, he's adapting his plan to the circumstances. That's not just obsessive fantasy anymore.
21:38 Tristin Engels? That's pre-offense behavior. And so are the stalking behaviors I outlined. It's showcasing just how rigid and delusional his thinking has become. He not only thinks this plan will work, but he is not even giving thought to the trauma that this would cause Tanya, whom he claims to love. And let's not overlook his recruiting of Gorian. It tells us something else. Prashenji no longer feels conflicted or guilty about manipulating others to pull this off. That shows increasing emotional detachment from the real-world consequences, which is something we often see as obsession escalates toward violence.
22:15 Vanessa Richardson? Is there a connection between love, desire, obsession, and violence? What is it that's fueling Prashenji's mindset here?
22:24 Tristin Engels? So yes, absolutely. Especially when there's evidence of entitlement and there are stalking behaviors like this. What's happening is it's entering the mindset of, if I can't have you, no one will. And that is highly dangerous. Obsession can feel like love on the surface to people, especially someone like Prashenji, but it's fundamentally about control. Because when the fantasy breaks down, the person may lash out, not because they hate the object of their obsession, but because they cannot tolerate losing the thing that they've built their entire identity around. And that's what's fueling Prashenji's mindset here.
23:02 Vanessa Richardson? Eventually, Gorian told Prashenji he wasn't going to help him. But rumors about Prashenji's plan had already started to spread around. At some point in mid-October, Tanya learned about it. She realized she would never be able to deal with Prashenji herself. So she called the I-House and told them about her problems with him. They connected Tanya with the international student advisor, but her soonest appointment wasn't until the following week, on October 28. In the meantime, Prashenjit was spiraling. On October 26th, he asked Alex to invite Tanya over. When he said no, Prashenjit kept pushing. Eventually, Alex pushed back, physically.
23:45 Vanessa Richardson? Then he stormed out of the apartment. But at this point, nothing was going to stop Prashenjit. After Alex left, he decided, if he couldn't get Tanya to come to him, he would go to her.
24:00 Vanessa Richardson? Later that day, Prashenjit knocked on the Tarasov's front door. Tanya's mom, Lydia, answered. She told Prashenjit that her daughter wasn't home, and even if she was, Tanya didn't want to see him. As she shooed Prashenjit away, Lydia said that if her husband Vitali ever saw him, he'd beat Prashenjit up. As he slunk away, Lydia probably thought that was enough to scare him off for good. But she didn't know Prashenjit very well, and that encounter had only made him more dangerous. That evening, Prashenjit came back when he knew Tanya would be home. This time, he had his air gun and a knife. He likely told himself it was for protection,
24:45 Vanessa Richardson? in case Vitali spotted him. Prashenjit tiptoed up the front walk and rang the doorbell. Tanya cracked open the door and said she didn't want to talk to him. But when she went to close it, Prashenjit jammed his foot inside. He shoved his weight against the door and burst in. At that point, all Tanya could do was scream. Prashenjit fired his air gun at her, emptying the clip. When she still didn't stop screaming, he chased Tanya onto the front lawn and stabbed her to death.
25:18 Tristin Engels? What we see here is a tragic combination of both a slow, dangerous buildup over months, and then a very specific trigger moment that tips everything over the edge. Prashenjit didn't just snap out of nowhere. And in his buildup, we can see the pathway to violence, the progressive series of steps where fantasy turns into planning, then preparation, and finally, action. And these situations often end with a trigger moment. In Prashenjit's case, that moment happened at the door. Tanya firmly told him she didn't want to see him. She tried to physically shut him out. In that instant, it wasn't just about being rejected.
25:59 Tristin Engels? He was being actively excluded, which likely felt like total humiliation and abandonment, at least to him. In this moment, all of the control he'd been trying to maintain over the situation unraveled. And when people with obsessive fixations lose that perceived control, it often triggers rage reactions like this. The fact that Tanya screamed likely overwhelmed him further. Remember, Prashenjit is already emotionally dysregulated. And in that state, individuals can't tolerate heightened arousal like fear, noise, or panic, which is what led to this level of disorganized violence.
26:37 Vanessa Richardson? How do people lie to themselves in situations like this? Do you think it's really possible that Prashenjit actually thought he'd only brought those weapons in case he had to defend himself?
26:47 Tristin Engels? Yes and no. Prashenjit may have sincerely believed parts of his own justification, but that belief was built on a foundation of denial, entitlement, and emotional distortion. And that's how obsessions escalate. By allowing the person to commit acts they would otherwise see as unthinkable, all while convincing themselves it's still somehow justified.
27:07 Vanessa Richardson? Well, after it was over, Prashenjit didn't try to run. Once he realized what he'd done, he went back into the house and dialed 911. He told the dispatcher, "I just stabbed my girlfriend."
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29:12 Speaker 01 Can't switch off at night? Give your curious mind somewhere peaceful to wander. I'm Simon Mettix, host of Sleepy History. Join me for lost cities and ancient mysteries, told slowly and calmly to help you drift off. And if you miss the ending, oh, that's rather the idea. Find Sleepy History in your podcast app and try an episode tonight.
29:44 Vanessa Richardson? On October 26, 1969, 24-year-old Proshenjit Potter stabbed 20-year-old Tanya Tarasov to death. After killing her, Proshenjit calmly called the police and told them what happened. When they arrived a few moments later, he put his hands over his head and asked them to arrest him.
30:06 Tristin Engels? So let's talk about this reaction. For someone like Prashenjit, this moment likely represented both the fulfillment and the destruction of the fantasy he had been clinging to. Tanya was never going to love him, and now, she never could. The emotional struggle that had consumed him for so long, the longing that this relationship would eventually be possible, all of that was suddenly over in the most tragic and permanent way possible. That's why his behavior after the murder feels so oddly calm, even relieved. Once the obsessive tension has been discharged through violence, some individuals experience a kind of emotional flattening or resignation. In some cases, it may even feel like a kind of twisted relief.
30:50 Tristin Engels? Not joy, of course, but the relief of no longer having to carry the unbearable weight of their obsession. Which I think is especially true here for Prashenjit, because remember, he agreed to go to a therapist because the weight of this became too much. He could no longer cope with the feelings and the emotions that his obsession was creating.
31:11 Vanessa Richardson? Well, while the police dealt with Prashenjit, Tanya's body was transported to the hospital, where she was officially pronounced dead upon arrival. Unsurprisingly, her cause of death was the stab wounds she'd suffered. But the coroner also discovered something else that made this crime even more tragic. Tanya had been six weeks pregnant. Once Prashenjit was taken into custody, he was charged with first-degree murder. But just because he'd been cooperative during his arrest, that didn't mean Prashenjit was going to make it easy on the prosecutors. During his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
31:53 Vanessa Richardson? In the lead-up to the trial, Prashenjit was examined by at least three psychiatrists and a psychologist. When the proceedings began in August 1970, they testified that Prashenjit did suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, the same condition Dr. Gold had diagnosed him with in the months before Tanya's murder. However, there was a disagreement over whether Prashenjit was capable of the premeditated malice required for first-degree murder. After the 17-day trial concluded, 25-year-old Prashenjit was found guilty of second-degree murder, meaning the jury didn't think he came to Tanya's house with the intention of killing her.
32:37 Vanessa Richardson? In the end, Prashenjit was sentenced to five years to life in prison. But the story wasn't over yet. After his conviction, Prashenjit hired a new attorney and filed an appeal. Prashenjit's lawyer argued that the judge had failed to properly instruct the jury on the meaning of "diminished capacity." The appeals court agreed. They felt that if the jury had gotten better instructions, there was a good chance that Prashenjit wouldn't have been convicted at all. Prashenjit was released in 1974, and a new trial was ordered. But it seems like nobody had the appetite to go through another, long-drawn-out proceeding.
33:20 Vanessa Richardson? Instead, Prashenjit was deported back to India. It was like his crime had never happened. Upon his return, Prashenjit's father arranged for him to marry a lawyer. He continued his studies in naval architecture and went on to have a daughter. But even though Prashenjit managed to escape his crimes without facing much consequence, Tanya received justice in other ways. Following the initial trial, Tanya's parents, Lydia and Vitali, filed a wrongful death suit against the Regents of the University of California in September 1970. The case worked its way through the legal system for a few years, until it reached
34:04 Vanessa Richardson? the California State Supreme Court in 1974, the same year Prashenjit was released. In a landmark ruling, now known by the shorthand "Terasov," the court dramatically altered the rules around doctor-patient confidentiality. Their decision established that if a psychologist's patient is making threats, they have a duty to warn the potential victim. If this had been in place, Tanya might have been able to protect herself from Prashenjit. There was some pushback from doctors who were worried about doctor-patient relationships, but the decision was upheld in 1976. It was even broadened to establish a psychologist's duty to protect, not just warn,
34:49 Vanessa Richardson? meaning a therapist may need to do more than just warn a potential victim. They may need to civilly commit the patient or take other action in order to protect the greater good. Before long, this decision became precedent throughout the country. The ruling states, "Protective privilege ends where public peril begins."
35:11 Tristin Engels? I recall learning about this case very thoroughly in graduate school as a result. In California, because I can only speak to their law and ethics, the duty to protect has been expanded even more since then and beyond just the patient's disclosure. If we receive serious threats of violence that are disclosed to us by a patient's family member, and the threat is credible, we can breach confidentiality to ensure the protection of the intended victim. When we find ourselves in a terror-soft situation, we are required to notify law enforcement or the potential victim directly. However, we often need to rely on law enforcement to notify the victim because we don't have their number or address, and the patient won't often disclose it to us.
35:56 Tristin Engels? Law enforcement has the means to get that when we can't. I have had many occasions where I needed to initiate terror-soft, but the majority of them occurred when I worked in corrections. As you can imagine, incarcerated individuals threaten serious violence against one another quite often, and although most of the time it's for secondary gain, like, for example, they threaten their cellie to get single-cell status, but sometimes it is very serious. Thankfully, they are already incarcerated, and law enforcement is right there to inform, and they take measures to ensure safety and security immediately. But the same is not always true in the community. The unfortunate experience I have had when having to initiate TERRIS OFF in the
36:39 Tristin Engels? community is the pushback I would get from law enforcement. It even happened when I worked in corrections. It pains me to say this, but I would say 80% of the time, the law enforcement official I report to expresses frustration. The common reaction is, "Well, aren't you the mental health doctor? Why don't you do something about it?" And they seem to think that we are trying to pass the responsibility on to them entirely, but in reality, we need to be working together as a team. It's been my experience that many officers believe that if the patient is a threat, then we should simply hospitalize them to solve the problem. But it's not that simple. Firstly, although they are verbalizing homicidal ideation, they might not meet criteria for involuntary hospitalization. Because involuntary hospitalization is taking away someone's civil rights, and the law is
37:24 Tristin Engels? very clear about what qualifies someone for this. Like I said, there have been a lot of incidents where someone was verbalizing homicidal ideation to us, but it was for secondary gain. It wasn't an actual threat. Secondly, they can only be hospitalized temporarily. There are maximum commitment laws, and it's not a long-term solution. But let's say they do appear to meet criteria for an involuntary hold, and we are in the community. In California, we typically still have to call emergency services to write the hold, because most mental health providers aren't certified to write holds, which I know is surprising, but it's true. And all police officers are certified. We also need them to help safely transport them to a designated hospital, whether they
38:09 Tristin Engels? use their cruiser, or they call for medical transport. So their involvement is necessary in more ways than one. The initial 5150 hold lasts up to 72 hours, but upon arrival to the designated hospital, the hospital staff does an evaluation of their own, and ultimately makes a determination as to whether or not they need that full amount, or if they need to have it extended beyond the initial 72 hours. The point in all of this is that when it comes to initiating TERRIS OFF, or an involuntary hospitalization, we need law enforcement, and we need to work together to ensure the safety for all.
38:45 Vanessa Richardson? If this decision had been in place prior to Tanya's death, do you think things might have played out differently?
38:52 Tristin Engels? That's an excellent question. And the difficult part about this is that Dr. Moore did recognize that Proshenji was dangerous. He listened to the threats. He reported his concerns to campus authorities, who then contacted campus police. And despite getting criticized and admonished professionally for that, at least that part of the system worked to that point. But here's where it failed. Law enforcement didn't believe that he was a threat. There was not a clear legal obligation to warn Tanya herself. The threat information stayed within the university, and the university erroneously believed that because Proshenji presented his calm to both police and the university, that his true threat risk was low.
39:38 Tristin Engels? If Tarasov versus Regents of the University of California was law at this time, Tanya would have been notified. Individuals would be legally obligated to work with law enforcement to develop a more active protection plan, perhaps initiating a restraining order or monitoring him closely. Providers would be less apprehensive about reporting their patient because they have legal protections now for doing so, and they won't fear being professionally admonished as a result. But if the law was in place then, would that have stopped Proshenji in the end? And there's no way to tell. At the very least, though, Tanya would have been notified and could have been prepared and could have created safety plans, even when everything else failed her.
40:20 Tristin Engels? Her family and her friends could have been a part of those plans. It's all so unfortunate, but Tarasov forced the legal and clinical world to finally acknowledge what so many stalking, obsession, and violence cases show us. And that's the greatest danger is often when the victims never even know they're at risk. And now people have a chance to know when they're in danger.
40:44 Vanessa Richardson? There's no doubt that this case had a far-reaching impact. And at the center of it were two young people trying to find their way in the world. Both Prashenjit and Tanya had dreams of a meaningful life in Berkeley, full of love and freedom. But that's where their similarities ended. Prashenjit tried to force that dream into reality at the expense of everything else. His obsession with Tanya led him down a dark path of pain and misery. At the end of it, an innocent young woman paid the ultimate price, exposing the true dangers of what happens when our desires go unchecked, and nobody is there to stop them.
41:43 Vanessa Richardson? Thanks so much for listening. Come back next time for a deep dive into the mind of another murderer.
41:50 Tristin Engels? Killer Minds is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at @CrimeHouse. And don't forget to rate, review, and follow Killer Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.
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42:26 Vanessa Richardson? Killer Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and Dr. Tristin Engels, and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Killer Minds team: Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Laurie Marinelli, Natalie Pritzowski, Sarah Kamp, Sarah Corey, Sarah Tardif, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.
42:56 Vanessa Richardson? If you're looking for your next podcast, check out What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen, or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.
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