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Mental health evaluation ordered in vacuum attack case

By Laura McVicker
Published: September 17, 2010, 12:00am

A Hazel Dell woman accused of beating her boyfriend with a vacuum cleaner will go to a state hospital to determine whether she is fit to stand trial.

Psychologists at Western State Hospital also will evaluate Michelle D. Hawn to see if she’s legally sane.

Clark County Superior Court Judge Diane Woolard signed an order Sept. 7, sending Hawn, 37, to the hospital near Tacoma for 15 days. A review hearing on Hawn’s status is set for Oct. 8.

Currently, her trial is scheduled for Oct. 11, but Hawn’s trip to the hospital put a hold on proceedings.

Deputies responded Aug. 3 to Callaham’s Mobile Manor, 10804 N.E. Highway 99, where the couple lived, and found the plastic, upright Dirt Devil with blood on it, along with blood splatter on an orange bucket nearby. Todd Proetel, 41, was unconscious.

The responding deputy’s report said that Hawn ran to a neighbor’s house after the attack, crying and saying, “Todd beat me up.” However, he wrote that after her arrest, “there were no outwardly visible signs of recent abuse” on Hawn’s face and body.

Deputies described the ordeal as erupting from an argument.

Reports indicate Hawn was intoxicated at the time and that she has a history of bipolar disorder, alcoholism and domestic violence. She has been unemployed for five years.

Proetel suffered several blows to the head with the vacuum, which fractured his skull and the bones around his eyes, according to court documents. Proetel was taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for several days. At one point, he was in critical condition.

In the weeks after, deputies said Proetel was slowly recovering.

Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.

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