Idaho Department of Health and Welfare officials determined that the 41-year-old suspected of killing a young man on the Boise River Greenbelt isn’t competent to stand trial. Despite the findings of that evaluation, however, the decision to commit Ross Wardlaw for behavioral health treatment in an attempt to restore his competency for his murder trial hasn’t been decided.
Health and Welfare was ordered to evaluate Wardlaw’s mental condition after his public defender raised concerns of “a competency issue” last month. Not only did the evaluation, which is sealed from the public, find that he’s unable to make informed decisions about his treatment and case, but it determined that he’s “dangerously mentally ill,” 4th Judicial District Magistrate Judge Theodore Tollefson said in court Tuesday. Someone designated as such presents “a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by evidence of homicidal or other violent behavior” and is “dangerous to such a degree that a maximum security treatment setting is required,” according to state law. When asked whether the prosecution objected to the report’s findings, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Bleazard asked the judge for additional time to review other documentation regarding Wardlaw’s mental health history in order to allow his office to do its “due diligence.”
This guy has a long history of mental illness-related crimes. So much damage done to satisfy the fantasy that mental illness does not exist.
Sadly, not unique. 8/19/26 WJON:
LK RIVER (WJON News) -- A man accused of killing his mother in a brutal 2020 attack in their Big Lake home has been found not guilty by reason of mental illness.
A Sherburne County judge has ruled that 26-year-old Eric Jordahl was laboring under such a defect of reason that he didn't know the nature of his acts or the wrongfulness of his behavior. He was previously found guilty of 1st-degree premeditated murder and two counts of 2nd-degree murder in the killing of Rosalie Johnson....
In the judge's findings of fact from the first phase of the trial, Jordahl beat his mother, stabbed her several times, then began to dismember and cannibalize Johnson while she was still alive. Court records show Jordahl perceived his mother to be a non-human entity that a higher power commanded him to kill.
Yes. The defense attorney does not even need to argue this case. Those facts alone are sufficient.
"Our investigation found that Samantha Bruno shot her father, Anthony Bruno, twice in the head, causing his death. We further determined that she killed her father's dog before turning the firearm on herself and dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators found no evidence that any other person was involved. No additional suspects are being sought, and there is no threat or danger to the Jessup community," said D.A. Brian Gallagher, Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office....
Both Boettcher and Gallagher confirmed that Samantha Bruno had been suffering from addiction and mental health issues for some time.
Gallagher asks the public to be aware of the warning signs and to seek help as soon as possible. "We have to be more willing to speak openly about addiction and mental illness and crises occurring inside our own homes. Asking for help is not a weakness. Reaching out is not betraying a loved one. Early intervention will, can protect that person, can protect that family, and prevent an incident such as this."
1/14/26 WRAL:
A legislative committee plans to comb through the details of a Raleigh murder case as part of its review of the state’s procedures for treating people with mental health problems.
Legislators last week asked the House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety to look into how judicial officials handled Ryan Camacho, who is charged with murder in the Jan. 3 death of Ravenscroft teacher Zoe Welsh at her Raleigh home.
Camacho has a documented history of mental illness. When he faced breaking-and-entering charges in a separate incident last year, prosecutors asked during that hearing to have Camacho committed to a mental hospital — a request that was denied by Wake County Judge Louis Meyer.
“How could a person who was found to not be competent to proceed to trial … be released not involuntarily committed, even at the request of the district attorney?” Republican state Reps. Erin Paré and Mike Schietzelt of Wake County wrote in a letter to committee members.
1/15/26 WRAL:
Four felony charges from April 2025 reduced to single misdemeanor
Public records reveal Camacho avoided a multi-year prison sentence in 2025 due to a plea agreement that reduced four felony charges to a single misdemeanor.
A conviction for any one of the four Class H felony charges he faced would have resulted in a sentence between eight and 10 months. Had Camacho been convicted of all four charges, he would have faced a prison sentence between three and four years.
A felony conviction could have seen Camacho behind bars on Jan. 3. Instead, he is suspected of killing Welsh.
In July 2025, Camacho pleaded guilty to a Class I misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering and was sentenced to a maximum of 120 days. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office said Camacho was behind bars from July 6, 2025, until Aug. 4, 2025.
We have made great progress reducing violent crime, especially murder, these last few years. How much more can we make by treating mental illness early on?
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The suspect in an Osceola County triple murder, 29-year-old Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, is behind held without bond and is accused of killing three people visiting from out of town over the weekend. Currently, he’s facing three counts of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Data from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reveals the agency received 41 calls for service to Bojeh’s home from 2006 to 2022. Sixteen of those calls were about “aggressive” behavior, Bojeh not wanting to go to school, and potential drug use directly involving Bojeh.
State Attorney Monique Worrell from the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida is weighing in on a previous case involving Bojeh, where he was acquitted in 2022 of an attempted murder charge from a 2021 case by reason on insanity. As part of that court ruling, Worrell said Bojeh was supposed to receive proper mental health treatment.
“My understanding is that that treatment was originally costing $7 a month and that after a period of time, that $7 a month bill went up to $150+ a month,” Worrell said during a press briefing on Thursday. “That the individual was no longer in compliance with his treatment because of inability to pay for that treatment.”
Worrell said the stop of services for Bojeh was a “failure” in the system, addressing an overall need for improvement in mental health services for people in need.
“The criminal legal system is not adequately equipped to deal with mental illness, nor should it be. That is a role of community partners. That is a role of mental illness hospitals, but not the Department of Corrections or the state attorney's office,” Worrell said. “However, studies have shown that our jails and our departments of corrections are the largest mental health providers in our communities. That's a problem. It's a problem because when things go wrong, people are looking for someone to blame.”
Worrell said that Bojeh went through the legal system and at the time of the offense, the court found he was “legally insane.” However, she stated that during the time of his sentencing in 2022, it was found that he was not a danger to himself or others.
8/18/26 Fox News. Even when hospitalized, our system often seems to need clown noses:
An accused illegal immigrant murderer who fled the United States last month after being granted a 48-hour pass from a Virginia mental health facility was previously allowed to leave the institution on unsupervised visits, staying at a taxpayer-funded apartment while on leave.
Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda left the U.S. on July 6 while on a weekend pass, boarding a one-way flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to his native Tajikistan via Istanbul. The Turkish Airlines ticket was purchased under Toshpulodzoda's name using an American Express card, according to court records.
Despite the murder accusation, Toshpulodzoda was permitted to leave the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) for up to 48 hours to stay at an Alexandria apartment made available through the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program, court records state....
In 2019, Toshpulodzoda fatally stabbed Mohammad Hemmatian inside his Vienna, Virginia, home before responding police found him covered in blood.
He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity of second-degree murder and committed to a state psychiatric facility in 2022. To be found legally insane, a defense expert, and then a separate, independent expert for the prosecution evaluated the defendant, Laura Birnbaum, chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano, told Fox News Digital.
There are more tragedies like this than I have time to summarize.
