Turnpike plaza murder suspect found not guilty by reason of insanity
FREMONT — A Wisconsin man has been found not guilty by reason of insanity in the October stabbings that left one man dead and another seriously injured at an Ohio Turnpike plaza in Sandusky County.
Thomas Conner, 51, of Beloit, Wisconsin, had been charged with aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault in the Oct. 19 attack at the Erie Islands Service Plaza on the turnpike near Clyde.
Judge Jon Ickes of Sandusky County Common Pleas Court issued his ruling after considering two different medical evaluations on Conner's mental state.
In a judgment entry on the Sandusky County Clerk of Courts site, Ickes wrote that the court found Conner not guilty by reason of insanity on all five counts.
'Subject to institutionalization by court order'
"The court does find probable cause to believe that the defendant is a mentally ill person subject to a court order or person with an intellectual disability subject to institutionalization by court order," the entry read.
The stabbing victim who died at the scene was identified as David Diederich, 66, of La Porte, Indiana.
The second stabbing victim, Alan L. Austin, 53, of Delaware, Wisconsin, was taken by life flight helicopter to an area hospital and later released.
Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton said it was believed to have been a random attack, despite the fact that the suspect and the surviving victim reside about 25 minutes from each other in Wisconsin.
Hilton said Austin was in his van when Conner allegedly stabbed him in the chest.
Austin told authorities he thought he had been punched until he saw the knife coming out of his chest.
After the stabbing, Austin was able to escape his van and run to safety and to EMS workers who happened to be at the plaza at the time of the incident.
Witness: 'The guy was kind of wild'
Eyewitness Wayne Howell, of Syracuse, Indiana, who had stopped at the turnpike plaza, said the suspect was incoherent and agitated in the plaza parking lot. He said he saw one person get stabbed in the chest around 5:17 p.m.
"The guy was kind of wild," Howell said. "He was starting to bother people. Half the stuff he said didn't make any sense."
Conner initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, then changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity in November.
He was shot at the scene by Sandusky County Sheriff's Deputy Evan Ely after he refused to comply with orders after the stabbings and charged the officer in the plaza parking lot.
Sandusky County Prosecutor Beth Tischler said she felt that two medical professionals determined Conner was not sane based on their evaluation and the investigation.
"My understanding is that the manner of his mental state would be someone who is subject to hospitalization for a very long time," Tischler said.
Ickes had ordered a second mental health evaluation of Conner in January.
According to the Ohio Office of the Public Defender, a person is not guilty by reason of insanity relative to a charge of an offense only if the person proves, in the manner specified in Ohio Revised Code section 2901.05, that at the time of the commission of the offense, the person did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of the person's acts.
Sheriff proud of law-enforcement's response
Hilton said Conner would remain incarcerated locally until a hearing is held to determine where to place the inmate.
Hilton said he would like to have seen Conner punished for what he did, but the sheriff added that he deferred to the legal system as to the insanity ruling and how the case was resolved.
The sheriff said he was proud of how the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Highway Patrol handled the police response to the stabbing incident in October.
Ely arrived at the scene and made contact with the suspect, who was openly wielding a knife.
The deputy initially used non-lethal force in an attempt to subdue Conner but that was unsuccessful, after which he shot the suspect with his firearm.
Ely was found to have used reasonable force by the county prosecutor's office following an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The clerk of courts site notes that Conner is to be transported from the Erie County Jail to the Sandusky County Common Pleas Court June 27 for a 2 p.m. dispositional hearing.
dacarson@gannett.com
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Twitter: @DanielCarson7
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Murder suspect's insanity plea accepted in turnpike plaza murder case
