By Wayne Gates
John Crum will spend at least the next six months in a locked down psychiatric facility for the killing of Marsha Thigpen in 2017.
Crum was found guilty of Thigpen’s murder by Brown County Common Pleas Judge Scott Gusweiler on Sept. 5 after a nearly week-long motion hearing in July, where attorneys for Crum and the State of Ohio presented their case.
Gusweiler ruled at that time that the court will maintain jurisdiction of Crum and that Crum is “a mentally ill person subject to court order.”
Following an agreement between Brown County Prosecuting Attorney Zac Corbin and Crum’s attorneys on Dec. 2, Guswieler ruled that Crum will remain in Summit Behavioral Healthcare in Cincinnati.
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 at that time that Crum “is not currently capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against him.”
Crum had periodically returned to the court since the issue of his competency was raised by his attorneys in March of 2018.
At a previous competency hearing for Crum in May of 2018, Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin explained the 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.
Gusweiler has ordered that Crum be evaluated in six months to determine whether he “remains a mentally ill person subject to court order.” Once a report is received, Gusweiler will hold another hearing on the matter within thirty days. If Crum is ruled to still be mentally ill, another evaluation and hearing would be held in two years and every two years thereafter.
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.
