From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Slaying suspect was off his meds:
The man police say stabbed a 70-year-old woman to death in Richmond on Saturday morning suffered from a schizophrenic condition and had not been taking his court-ordered medication, according to a law-enforcement source.
The source also said suspect Johnny F. Hughes, 52, was charged with attempted murder in the mid-1990s but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Court records indicate that Hughes was convicted in June of carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to seven months in jail, with six months suspended.
The court ordered Hughes to take anti-psychotic medicine, the source said, and he was to be monitored by the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority. Attempts to reach the authority yesterday were unsuccessful.
Less than five months after his conviction, Hughes encountered Susanne L. Thompson on Saturday shortly before 9 a.m. as she walked her dog on West Broad Street near the Department of Motor Vehicles’ main offices. Moments later, she was dead, stabbed multiple times with a large pocketknife.
We need to get rid of Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity as a defense in Virginia.