Jeanette Wick left her job as chief pharmacist at St. Elizabeths Hospital in December, attracting little attention. Her departure, however, may have left a lasting impression on the mental hospital’s most famous resident: would-be presidential assassin and longtime St. Elizabeths inhabitant John Hinckley Jr. In 1997, Wick testified that, after she had lent him a book, Hinckley had started making impromptu visits to her office and giving her audiotapes of music that he had recorded, including a “love song.” Psychiatrist Raymond F. Patterson testified that Hinckley’s behavior toward the petite, blond Wick bore “striking similarities to the ‘relationship’…

that he had with Ms. [Jodie] Foster.” Hinckley attorney Barry Levine challenged Wick’s account of her interactions with Hinckley. But Wick’s and Patterson’s testimony helped quash Hinckley’s petition for conditional release. Wick didn’t return calls seeking comment. When asked whether Hinckley has noticed Wick’s absence, Levine replied, “I won’t comment on what John Hinckley has noticed. But John is a very astute fellow.” —Annys Shin