A man suspected of murder during a traffic stop pleads not guilty due to insanity

On October 23, 2024By Yukito

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) – An Ohio man has pleaded not guilty to murder in a June fatal stabbing on Interstate 80 near Grand Island.

JamesThompsonJr. plans to use the insanity defense at trial. He pleaded innocent in Hall County District Court on Tuesday.

This is despite a judge’s ruling on October 1 that he is competent to stand trial.

Court records show a 22-year-old man from Elyria, Ohio, faces 11 felony charges in connection with a double stabbing at the westbound South Locust stop. These charges include murder, attempted murder, assault, operating a motor vehicle to elude arrest, two counts of attempted robbery and five counts of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime.

Gary Weaver, 72, of Eureka, Missouri, was stabbed to death while he and his wife stopped at a rest area.

Hall County Judge Art Wetzel found Thompson competent after an evaluation conducted last summer at the Lincoln Regional Center.

Nebraska law allows a suspect to claim that he or she was insane at the time of the crime. The accused has the burden of proof of insanity. Under the common law definition, the defendant must prove that he suffered from a mental disease or defect at the time he committed the crime and that he did not understand the consequences of the crime.

Nebraska law also provides that the trial judge may order a reexamination. As of Monday, October 21, there was no information that the presiding judge had ordered such an examination.

Thompson’s next court date is December 17 and a status hearing will be held.

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