DARLINGTON - A hearing in January is expected to conclude the triple homicide case against Jaren M. Kuester by determining whether the Waukesha 31-year-old will spend the rest of his life in prison or in a mental institution.
Kuester pleaded guilty to the three first-degree intentional homicide charges in Lafayette County Circuit Court Wednesday, Dec. 4, after spending much of the fall at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison on a regimen of medications and treatment intended to bring him to competency.
Kuester has a long history of mental health issues, including delusions and other symptoms requiring hospitalization. He's charged with bludgeoning to death three rural Wiota residents in April in a random act of violence possibly fueled by his delusions. In the days before the killings, his parents reportedly tried without success to get their son hospitalized because they feared he would hurt himself or others.
He faces a homicide charge each for the murders of Gary Thoreson, 70, his wife Chloe Thoreson, 66, and Gary's brother Dean Thoreson, 76, all retired farmers.
Police say Kuester broke into Gary and Chloe Thoreson's unoccupied home on Philippine Road in rural Wiota late April 26, seeking a warm place to sleep after abandoning his SUV in western Green County earlier in the evening, stripping off his clothing and hiking alone several miles because he feared he was being followed. The next day, he allegedly killed each of the Thoresons as they entered the house, starting with Dean as he stopped by to check on the house and later Gary and Chloe as they returned from a vacation to visit their children in California.
The case against Kuester came to a standstill in late September when he clammed up in court and refused to answer procedural questions. Judge William Foust ordered a competency evaluation as a result, the second since Kuester's arrest.
Kuester's main public defender, Guy Taylor, maintains his client wasn't getting the medications he needed in jail from Lafayette County Human Services.
After a month of treatment at Mendota, however, a recent evaluation by psychologist Adrea McGlynn found Kuester competent to stand trial.
"He's doing much better," Taylor said, adding that his client clearly understands what's happening and is communicating well. "He's not delusional at present."
Kuester looks better, too. At the September hearing, he walked into court barefoot, dazed and wearing a suicide smock. He tucked his head down and kept his gaze on his hands or lap, his forehead furrowed with worry lines.
At Wednesday's hearing, he wore a gray sweatsuit and black boots. The lines on his forehead had smoothed and he held his head up, made eye contact through a new pair of glasses and answered the judge's questions politely ("No, sir").
The case is moving forward in a two-phase process that the judge and attorneys referred to as an NGI, or not guilty by reason of insanity, case. In such cases, two pleas are entered: the substantive plea (guilty or not guilty) and the special plea (insanity). A defendant's competency is based on whether he or she understands court proceedings, while a plea of insanity or mental defect takes only into account the defendant's mental state during the time of the crime.
Three doctors have found Kuester not guilty by reason of mental defect, the judge said.
Foust explained the case process to Kuester, asking frequently if he understood or had anything to add.
The information was dense and complicated, and Kuester jiggled his leg nervously. He replied at one point, "To be honest, my head's been hurting. I'm just not thinking correctly." But, in the end, with some additional explaining from Taylor, he entered his guilty pleas and gave his OK for the case to move forward as planned.
A hearing to consider insanity pleas for Kuester is scheduled Friday, Jan. 31. Taylor balked at waiting two months, but District Attorney Kate Findley successfully argued that the law requires the court to accommodate victims in its scheduling. Gary and Chloe Thoreson's children live in California with their young children and are unable to be in Wisconsin until Jan. 31, she said.
"They have work and childcare issues," she said.
Taylor asked if his client could have permission from the court to wear dress clothes at the hearing. The judge gave permission.
"I have no problem with him being in his own clothes for what will likely be his last hearing," Foust said.
Kuester pleaded guilty to the three first-degree intentional homicide charges in Lafayette County Circuit Court Wednesday, Dec. 4, after spending much of the fall at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison on a regimen of medications and treatment intended to bring him to competency.
Kuester has a long history of mental health issues, including delusions and other symptoms requiring hospitalization. He's charged with bludgeoning to death three rural Wiota residents in April in a random act of violence possibly fueled by his delusions. In the days before the killings, his parents reportedly tried without success to get their son hospitalized because they feared he would hurt himself or others.
He faces a homicide charge each for the murders of Gary Thoreson, 70, his wife Chloe Thoreson, 66, and Gary's brother Dean Thoreson, 76, all retired farmers.
Police say Kuester broke into Gary and Chloe Thoreson's unoccupied home on Philippine Road in rural Wiota late April 26, seeking a warm place to sleep after abandoning his SUV in western Green County earlier in the evening, stripping off his clothing and hiking alone several miles because he feared he was being followed. The next day, he allegedly killed each of the Thoresons as they entered the house, starting with Dean as he stopped by to check on the house and later Gary and Chloe as they returned from a vacation to visit their children in California.
The case against Kuester came to a standstill in late September when he clammed up in court and refused to answer procedural questions. Judge William Foust ordered a competency evaluation as a result, the second since Kuester's arrest.
Kuester's main public defender, Guy Taylor, maintains his client wasn't getting the medications he needed in jail from Lafayette County Human Services.
After a month of treatment at Mendota, however, a recent evaluation by psychologist Adrea McGlynn found Kuester competent to stand trial.
"He's doing much better," Taylor said, adding that his client clearly understands what's happening and is communicating well. "He's not delusional at present."
Kuester looks better, too. At the September hearing, he walked into court barefoot, dazed and wearing a suicide smock. He tucked his head down and kept his gaze on his hands or lap, his forehead furrowed with worry lines.
At Wednesday's hearing, he wore a gray sweatsuit and black boots. The lines on his forehead had smoothed and he held his head up, made eye contact through a new pair of glasses and answered the judge's questions politely ("No, sir").
The case is moving forward in a two-phase process that the judge and attorneys referred to as an NGI, or not guilty by reason of insanity, case. In such cases, two pleas are entered: the substantive plea (guilty or not guilty) and the special plea (insanity). A defendant's competency is based on whether he or she understands court proceedings, while a plea of insanity or mental defect takes only into account the defendant's mental state during the time of the crime.
Three doctors have found Kuester not guilty by reason of mental defect, the judge said.
Foust explained the case process to Kuester, asking frequently if he understood or had anything to add.
The information was dense and complicated, and Kuester jiggled his leg nervously. He replied at one point, "To be honest, my head's been hurting. I'm just not thinking correctly." But, in the end, with some additional explaining from Taylor, he entered his guilty pleas and gave his OK for the case to move forward as planned.
A hearing to consider insanity pleas for Kuester is scheduled Friday, Jan. 31. Taylor balked at waiting two months, but District Attorney Kate Findley successfully argued that the law requires the court to accommodate victims in its scheduling. Gary and Chloe Thoreson's children live in California with their young children and are unable to be in Wisconsin until Jan. 31, she said.
"They have work and childcare issues," she said.
Taylor asked if his client could have permission from the court to wear dress clothes at the hearing. The judge gave permission.
"I have no problem with him being in his own clothes for what will likely be his last hearing," Foust said.