CLARK COUNTY, Wash. - Donald Wastler devoted his life to caring for his sick, aging mother. He cooked her meals, took her to doctor's appointments and managed her affairs.

He was a loyal citizen who volunteered on several community boards, including the Proebstel Neighborhood Association.

But court records and acquaintances reveal a darker side to the 58-year-old man. Court records and interviews with those who knew him suggest he was sometimes too devoted - to the point where his behavior became paranoid, intense and controlling.

"He was mentally ill," said Bud Van Cleve, who served alongside Wastler on the Neighborhood Association Council of Clark County, and has known him for 12 years. "There was something that wasn't right about him -- something that set him apart from the people you met on the street. He was hard to predict."

On Monday, Donald R. Wastler snapped. Clark County sheriff's investigators believe he shot and killed his 86-year-old mother, Evelyn D. Wastler, a pet cat and then himself.

The shootings came less than hour after he sent an e-mail to local media and court officials, venting about a guardianship case that restricted his duties as his mother's personal caretaker.

A Tuesday autopsy revealed Evelyn Wastler died from two gunshot wounds; Donald Wastler died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Clark County Sgt. Scott Schanaker.

Just before 5 a.m. Monday, dispatchers received an incomplete 911 call from the Wastlers' home, 8811 N.E. 212th Ave. When Clark County sheriff's deputies responded they found Donald Wastler's body in the home's entryway. His mother's body was in her bedroom. A handgun was recovered from the home, Schanaker said.

Donald Wastler served as his mother's full-time live-in caretaker. He didn't have outside work and wasn't married.
Evelyn Wastler suffered from dementia and was bedridden, according to a guardianship case filed in Clark County Superior Court.

Donald's sister, Patricia J. Lewis, who lives in The Dalles, Ore., filed a petition on July 7 asking for the appointment of a guardian ad litem to oversee the care of their mother. In it, she raised concern about the care being provided by her brother.

Among her concerns were sanitation problems and Donald Wastler's "dangerous medical condition," according to the petition.

Wastler was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed mental illness, according to Van Cleve, and became explosive when he didn't take his medication.

The petition also claimed that Donald Wastler had prevented other family members from communicating with Evelyn Wastler. In addition, the petition stated that he was living rent-free and using some of her money to take care of himself.

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