Maust's Mom Speaks Of Troubled Past

CHICAGO -- The mother of a man accused of killing a 16-year-old boy said Monday her son had a history of violent behavior from the time he was a boy.

NBC5's Dave Savini reported on Monday that Eva Reyes, who is the mother of David Maust, was forced to put her son in a mental institution when he was 9 years old because he was so destructive and aggressive.

"It just went from bad to worse," Reyes (pictured, right) said.

Savini further reported that court transcripts and medical reports described Maust's periods of psychosis and acts of violence toward himself and others. Testimony from doctors who treated Maust said he began stealing from the time he was 4 years old and began fighting at school, Savini further reported. Maust also reportedly swallowed razorblades, mutilated himself and even stabbed himself in the abdomen with a pencil.

Reyes, who raised her son on Chicago's northwest side, said she thought her son was in prison when she heard police had found three bodies buried in a Hammond, Ind. home.

"They were talking about Mr. Maust and three bodies and I knew it was him," said Reyes, who now lives in Macon, Ga.

Maust is charged with one count of murder for the death of James Raganyi. Maust has reportedly confessed to strangling Raganyi.

Doctors also described Maust's rationale for reportedly taking a man to a wooded area, where he tied him to a tree and beat him to death in the 70s in Germany, while Maust was serving in the Army. The victim reportedly told others Maust was "queer", Savini reported.

In 1979, court records indicated that Maust stabbed a man a Chicago apartment where he was living, Savini reported. Maust said it was an accident and was found not guilty. In August of 1981, he killed 15-year-old Donald Jones and dumped his body in a quarry pond near Elgin. Four months later, he stabbed a boy in Texas.

While awaiting trial for the Jones murder, Savini further reported, one psychologist described him as being "one of the unhappiest human beings I've ever run into." Maust served time in an Illinois prison for Jones' murder.