Last Wednesday on this blog I wrote: "In the vast majority of cases where an untreated mental patient commits a violent crime ... the victim is a family member."
Today I noticed a story out of Wisconsin where a son tried to kill his mother. The son, of course, has untreated mental illness:
FOREST CITY — A Lake Mills man was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison Friday after being convicted of attacking his mother with a hammer.
A Winnebago County Court judge also ordered that Timothy P. Winter, 37, serve a mandatory minimum of at least five years for attacking Cynthia Winter, 63, in April 2009.
Winter’s attorney, Susan Flander, asked the judge to consider that her client has mental health issues. She said Winter is on medication to control his condition and has demonstrated his competency.
Philip Garland, Winnebago assistant county attorney, agreed that Winter “has had mental health issues,” and his criminal record does not include felony assault, but he said the attack on Winter’s mother was brutal.
Judge Colleen Weiland said she considered Winter’s mental health, but his prior criminal history including combative behavior justified the five-year minimum.
Notice that he is on medication now that he is in the criminal justice system. If we had a sane system for dealing with the seriously mentally ill, this crime never would have taken place. Timothy Winter would have been on medication before any crazy ideas like attacking his mother with a hammer took over him.
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