GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Death-row inmate Marvin Gabrion may have been born into poverty, abuse and neglect. But in his early years, he showed promise, having a strong intellect and tender side for others.

He routinely helped elderly family, and cared for a cousin with mild mental disabilities while others shied away.

Described by a classmate as "very smart - near genius," he had an IQ of 121, which is at the lower end of the "very superior intelligence" category.

These descriptions and more are outlined in an incredibly detailed report, now filed with the court, that examines Gabrion's life and family stretching back four generations. It includes sobering vignettes about mental illness, mental and physical abuse, poverty, substance abuse and violence.

It's being used by his attorneys in Gabrion's quest to set aside his death penalty and conviction stemming from the murder of Rachel Timmerman, 19, of Cedar Springs, who was bound and drowned in 1997 before she could testify against Gabrion at a rape trial.

Despite his smarts, Gabrion didn't want to act like he was better than anyone else, the report said. Mostly, he was a loner, though he did stand up for other kids getting picked on. He stayed out of trouble. His presence in the school lunchroom could easily go unnoticed.

He was a miler on the track team. He wasn't the fastest - his best time was 5 minutes, 16 seconds - but he worked hard and helped the team. He had a young niece and nephew who adored him.

After he graduated from high school, he began a downward slide. He suffered an incredible number of head injuries, and struggled with mental illness and substance abuse.

His behavior became increasingly bizarre.

Now 63, Gabrion, is awaiting execution for the slaying of Timmerman, a teenage mom who'd accused him of rape the year before.

While Michigan law does not allow capital punishment, he was convicted under federal law - which allows executions - after prosecutors showed the young woman was slain on federal land in Newaygo County.

With his direct appeals exhausted, Gabrion has filed a civil procedure, or "collateral attack," seeking a new trial or sentence.

As part of that, his attorneys filed the 152-page document that examines Gabrion's life.

One of his three attorneys, Scott Graham of Portage, asked that the investigative report on Gabrion's family - extending from his parents to grandchildren of his cousins - be filed under seal because it contains highly sensitive personal information.

However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey, who tried the case in 2002, said court records are presumed to be open. Filing the documents under seal would prevent public access to the Gabrion's arguments seeking to set aside his conviction and death sentence.

U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell agreed. He said Gabrion's case has drawn significant public interest.

"Gabrion's collateral attack on his conviction and sentence raises numerous issues, including whether he received a fair trial, whether he received effective assistance of counsel, whether the death penalty is fairly administered, and whether his execution would violate the Eight Amendment (as cruel and unusual) in light of his mental illness and organic brain impairments," the judge said.

He said Gabrion's attorneys could redact names, which was not done.

"Marvin did not escape this family tree unscathed."

Gabrion, the fifth of six children, was born into a "family plagued by poverty" near Newaygo County's Round Lake.

A photo of Marvin Gabrion as a child pictured from a scrapbook. (Courtesy | Marvin C. Gabrion Social History report submitted to the United States District Court)

Their father, who had a rocky relationship with their mother, questioned whether he was the biological father of all of the kids, the report said.

"To understand what catapulted him off his life's trajectory, it is important to know the many risk factors that were at play in his genetic and environmental make-up," the report said. "Several of Marvin's relatives suffer from mental illness, substance abuse and chaotic environments. Marvin did not escape this family tree unscathed."

The report said Gabrion's father gave his children "lickings," and once beat Marvin Gabrion's head into a wall until a brother rescued him.

When he was 4, Marvin Gabrion had to box an older brother as the rest of the family cheered them on, the report said.

Marvin Gabrion said that as a child, he did not get the same quality of clothes as his siblings, so he would steal them. "My mother would beat me up in stores when I asked for clothes," he said.

When he was about 12, two brothers held him down and "tried to smash his head with a large rock. Around that time, a brother fired a gun at him, the report said.

"When the family was short of money, Marvin Sr. complained they should have sold Marvin."

The family lived in a small cabin built by the father. The six children shared a bedroom partitioned by curtains.

They later moved to White Cloud. That house was described as "disgusting," with chickens and turkeys wandering inside and out.

A classmate recalled that Marvin Gabrion's shoes were two or three sizes too big, and split down the back. He had holes in his socks.

"Marvin was dirty and kids made fun of him," the report said. "The classmate felt bad for Marvin (and a brother), and tried to stop kids from teasing them. Marvin's whole family was dirty."

An "astonishing number" of brain injuries

The report said Gabrion's mother, Elaine, encouraged drug use by her children, and was busted trying to smuggle marijuana into jail for a son in 1980. She also taught her grandchildren to steal, the report said.

Meanwhile, Gabrion was being treated for bipolar disorder.

After he graduated from high school, Gabrion suffered an "astonishing number" of brain injuries in up to 14 car or motorcycle crashes. He went through the windshield more than once. Once, during a carjacking, he was hit in the head with an object.

A family friend hit Gabrion in the head with a baseball bat during a fight.

The head injuries took a toll, the report said.

He had trouble with everyday tasks. Tests showed he was in the "border-line range for a possible organic mental disorder ...," the report said.

Elaine Gabrion holds a photograph of her son, Marvin Gabrion Jr. She is the only person who has visited him on death row in Terre Haute, Ind. This picture was taken in her home in White Cloud. (MLive file photo)

Gabrion had lived in Arizona for a time in the 1970s. When he returned in 1979, his family noticed that he had "changed." He was "suspicious" and "acting paranoid."

He also drank excessively.

He frequented a bar where an in-law worked. Invariably, he would end up in a confrontation.

"Marvin would ... one by one ... piss off everyone in the bar ... it happened all the time," she said.

An evaluation in 1993 found "dramatic cognitive and behavioral impairments," the report said.

He was homeless, sometimes living on a roof on South Division Avenue, or in a shed in Comstock Park. His aggressive behavior got him thrown out of a shelter.

In 1996, he attended a high-school reunion where he was "completely nuts," a classmate told investigators.

He had a pencil mustache and had changed the pronunciation of his name.

By that time, he had racked up nine arrests for drunken driving. He got "even crazier" while drinking, the report said.

After he was arrested for Timmerman's killing, he wrote odd letters, in what sometimes appeared to be "indecipherable code."

He wrote the judge, prosecutors, the victim's family, penned letters to executed Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, despite pleas by his attorneys to stop.

He tried to kill himself and heard voices, the report said. He attacked his attorney, in front of the jury, during the sentencing phase of his trial.

"During more than 15 years of incarceration and for about 40 years in total, Marvin Gabrion has behaved like a man suffering from severe mental illness," the report said.