By Wayne Gates

John Crum has been ruled incompetent to stand trial for the murder of Marsha Thigpen in August of 2017.

The next step in his case is a hearing next July where the state will be asking to retain jurisdiction in the matter.

Crum was charged with charged Thigpen’s murder in September of 2017.

Her body was found Aug. 9 on Ripley Day Hill Road in Ripley. Her cause of death is listed as a gunshot wound to the head. Crum was later arrested in Adams County and charged with her murder.

Common Pleas Judge Scott Gusweiler ruled on April 5 that Crum has no history of mental illness, but has been diagnosed with a major neurocognitive disorder.

Gusweiler further ruled that Crum “is not currently capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against him.”

Crum has periodically returned to the court since the issue of his competency was raised by his attorneys in March of 2018.

At that time, Gusweiler ordered “continuing evaluation and treatment of the Defendant to determine whether there is a substantial probability that the Defendant will become competent to stand trial within one year if the Defendant is provided with a course of treatment.”

Both Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin and attorneys for Crum agreed that the one year period to restore Crum to competency began on June 4, 2018.

This means that the hearing in July is necessary to determine whether Crum will remain in the custody of the state. He is currently at Summit Behavioral Healthcare in Cincinnati and is not allowed to leave.

At a previous competency hearing for Crum in May of 2018, Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin said that there is a difference between pleading insanity and being incompetent to stand trial.

“An insanity plea means that a defendant didn’t know right from wrong at the time of the offense. If someone is incompetent, that means that they cannot assist in their own defense at the present time,” Corbin said.

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