SHALIMAR - A key defense witness for Jeffrey Hutchinson has left town in a huff, and probably won't be back before the accused killer's trial is over.

Psychiatrist Dr. William Baumzweiger blames Judge G. Robert Barron for prompting him to hop a plane for California Wednesday. Barron, he said, refused to award him the hefty fee he is entitled to as an expert witness.

"The judge has decided he does not want to hear what I want to say," Baumzweiger said.

Baumzweiger, a Los Angeles-area resident, claims Hutchinson suffers from a mental disorder caused by his exposure to chemicals during the Gulf War. He said the former Army Ranger did not know what he was doing on the night of Sept. 11, 1998, when he allegedly gunned down his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty, and her three children.

He called his testimony "critical."

Baumzweiger is also miffed that he flew across the country to answer a subpoena only to learn Hutchinson's defense team might not need him for "two to three weeks."

"Sitting in a hotel room is not doing me any good," he said. "I need to be in California taking care of my patients."

Baumzweiger's accusations baffled Barron, the Okaloosa Circuit Court judge presiding over Hutchinson's trial. Testimony in the case began Monday.

Barron said everyone involved with the trial was surprised when the psychiatrist showed up for the beginning of the proceedings.

His testimony is not considered as crucial as it was when Stephen and Kimberly Cobb, Hutchinson's attorneys, were considering an insanity defense, Barron said. As it stands now, Baumzwieger wouldn't likely be needed before a sentencing phase of the trial.

But Baumzweiger said he was bound by the subpoena to present himself at court in Shalimar. He said he only learned he wouldn't be needed immediately after he'd paid for airline passage and a motel room.

Cobb, he said, informed him upon his arrival that he wouldn't be receiving an expert witness fee.

Bound by a "gentleman's agreement" between himself and prosecutor Bobby Elmore not to speak with the media during Hutchinson's trial, Stephen Cobb declined comment on the Baumzweiger ruckus.

Barron said he typically sets aside a sum of money, usually $5,000, for attorneys in a case to use for expert witnesses. But a witness only becomes eligible for the additional amount paid experts after their credentials have been established in the courtroom.

"He hasn't appeared and testified. I haven't been involved in it at this point," the judge said.

Now that he's back in California, Baumzweiger said he's thrown himself back into his work there, and probably wouldn't be able to get back into town any time soon.

But he also said he believes Hutchinson is entitled to the defense he can offer, one "the powers that be" don't want a jury to hear.

He said he could be convinced to return to Shalimar and testify for no charge, but "certainly if they paid me the air fare, hotel and witness fee that would motivate me more to come back."

Baumzweiger said he usually makes $1,500 for a half day of testimony.