Elk Grove murder defendant agrees to sanity evaluation

Psychiatrists have examined Jonathan Wood several times to determine his fitness to stand trial on charges that he murdered his mother Marilyn Wood in her Elk Grove Village home.

On Friday, Wood, 42, agreed for the first time to allow a psychiatrist to evaluate him for sanity at the time of the October 2008 slaying of Marilyn Wood.

Wood does not trust the doctors at Forensic Clinical Services, the agency that performs psychiatric evaluations ordered by Cook County courts, said his attorney, Cook County Assistant Public Defender Jim Mullenix.

“It’s not unusual for people with mental health issues to be guarded about revealing their thoughts and feelings to others,” said Mullenix, who has arranged for an expert from Northwestern University to evaluate Wood.

Wood had lived with his mother until about a month before her death when records show she took out an order of protection against him.

Police responding to a well-being check found Marilyn Wood’s bound and beaten body in the basement of her home on Oct. 31, 2008. Later that evening, police encountered Jonathan Wood driving his mother’s car near the home and tried to stop him. He fled, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended in Glencoe.

A court-appointed Forensic Clinical Services psychiatrist initially found Wood unfit to stand trial. Following treatment and additional evaluations, the psychiatrist found Wood fit to stand trial with prescribed medication.

A fitness evaluation determines whether a defendant understands the criminal proceeding and its various participants. It also determines whether the defendant can assist in his or her own defense. An evaluation for sanity determines whether a defendant was legally insane at the time of the alleged crime.

Wood remains in custody at Cook County jail on a $3 million bail. He next appears in court on June 3.