Killer ordered back to mental health facility

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LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — A man convicted of killing three people at a Wisconsin church nearly 30 years ago has been ordered back to a state mental health facility after an appeals court confirmed that he violated conditions of his release.

A La Crosse County judge ruled last year that Bryan Stanley, 57, violated the conditions of his release. Judge Ramona Gonzalez said Stanley should have reported that he’d been experiencing violent thoughts for more than a year, sometimes up to 10 times a day.

Stanley appealed, arguing that his conduct didn’t constitute a violation. But an appeals court upheld the ruling Friday, according to a La Crosse Tribune report.

“Given that Stanley had a history of violent behavior associated with his schizophrenia, it was reasonable for the court to infer that his failure to report his recurring thoughts about committing violent acts … was not in the best interest of public welfare or his rehabilitation,” the court wrote.

The specific conditions of Stanley’s release have been kept under seal, despite repeated requests by the Tribune to provide them.

Stanley had been found not guilty by reason of mental disease after shooting custodian William Hammes, the Rev. John Rossiter and lay minister Ferdinand Roth Sr. in 1985.

Hammes’s daughter, Rose, said she was relieved by Friday’s ruling.

Stanley’s attorney, Thomas Hayes, said he expected his client would be disappointed by the decision. He said the next steps were uncertain.

“I think he was doing everything he was expected to do on conditional release,” Hayes said. “I feel bad for him. When he was having difficulty managing his thoughts, he reached out for help and when he reached out for help, his conditional release was revoked.”

Information from: La Crosse Tribune, http://www.lacrossetribune.com