As reported by the Pioneer Press, a man that killed his three daughters has claimed that his mental state led to an uncontrollable anger toward his ex-wife, and makes him not responsible for his actions.
Defendant A.S., 35, is charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of attempted arson.
A.S.'s lead attorney, John Kucinski, appeared to be entering his client's guilty plea in the first phase of the triple-homicide case on March 27. However, when Kucinski addressed the court, he requested a large amount of evidence be excluded.
The evidence was meant to address whether or not A.S.'s mental state was a factor in the crime.
J.S., the mother of the three deceased siblings, was also present at the March 27 hearing, at St. Croix County Circuit Court, with Judge Howard Cameron presiding.
The hearing began three hours late as both sides of the case discussed the issue outside of the courtroom.
Following the hearing, as to the question of how his client would plea, Kucinski told reporters, "We have to look up a bunch of law and how (Cameron) is ruling."
Gary Freyberg, the Assistant Wisconsin Attorney General, told reporters that he could not give out any details as to what the two sides discussed as it was off the record.
In January, after his arrest, A.S. pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Prior to the March 27 hearing, Freyberg filed a letter with the court that stated he had been notified by the defense that A.S. would be changing his plea to guilty to all four charges.
Freyberg now states that "whatever has induced the defendant to change his plea, it is not due to concessions by the state" and there is no plea agreement in place at this time. Freyberg also said that he could not guess as to whether A.S. would enter a plea of guilty.
Jury selection for the trial is set to begin in April.
Testimony and evidence that would have been used in the first phase may be used later in the second phase. However, Kucinski wants to suppress much of the evidence in the second phase as well.
Some of the evidence is testimony of A.S.'s alleged threats of violence against his three daughters and their mother. Other evidence Kucinski wants omitted includes the data that was collected from the crime scene, autopsy and medical examiner.
Kucinski argued that excluding some of the evidence is necessary because "the sole issues are, at the time of the crimes, was (A.S.) suffering from a mental illness and because of that mental illness he lacked substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law."
A.S. allegedly killed his 11 year-old daughter A., his 8 year-old daughter S., and his five-year-old daughter C., on July 10 when he visited them in their home in River Falls.
According to the criminal complaint, A.S. phoned J.S. to tell her that he had killed their children and then he turned himself in.
Prosecutors have alleged that A.S.'s motive for the murders was to hurt his former wife.
A.S. had been living in North Dakota at the time as his wife had divorced him six months before.
Whether the criminal charges you face are misdemeanors or felonies, contact a criminal defense attorney to best represent you in court.
