Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Man who killed Summit police officers wins release

By: Associated Press//April 28, 2013//

Man who killed Summit police officers wins release

By: Associated Press//April 28, 2013//

Listen to this article

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A man who killed two Summit police officers nearly 40 years ago has won release from a Wisconsin mental hospital.

Alan Randall, now 54, killed Robert “Rocky” Atkins and Wayne Olson in January 1975, when Randall was 16. He was later found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and was committed to a state mental hospital.

After a four-day trial in Waukesha on his petition for release, a six-person jury decided Thursday that Randall may safely be released from Mendota Mental Health Institute. The 54-year-old will remain there until a July 8 hearing, when the state Department of Health Services will set out a plan to be presented to a judge. Randall had tried numerous times over the years to win his release.

Mental health professionals testified that Randall hasn’t suffered from a mental illness since 1989 and has never been on medication, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

One of the social workers who worked with Randall called him “a normal person in an abnormal situation,” said Randall’s attorney, Craig Powell.

While living at Winnebago Mental Health Institute, he had a job for years at an art gallery. For the past seven years, he’s also worked during the day while living at the state psychiatric hospital.

Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel said the victims’ families attended trial.

“They’re upset,” Schimel said, though they knew Randall was going to be released someday. They’re somewhat relieved that Randall is not likely to return to Waukesha County but probably will remain near Madison or Neenah, where he has job offers.

Schimel said a judge in 1977 added a 10-year probation sentence, to be served if Randall was ever released from mental hospitals, for burglaries and other crimes committed around the time of the slayings. Theoretically, Randall could be sent to prison for that period if he violates conditions, but Schimel said there are questions about the legality of that sentence.

Powell said he’s not sure Randall knows exactly what he wants to do next.

“I think it’s still sinking in for him that it’s finally happened,” he said.

“He’s just hoping for some plan that will allow him to continue to succeed,” Powell said.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests