Was Westmont man insane when he vandalized Lombard synagogue?
Prosecutors aren't disputing that John White has mental health issues. But they point to his “fixation” on Jews and the stockpile of weapons found at his Westmont home after he was accused of vandalizing a Lombard synagogue.
As testimony concluded Monday, a DuPage County judge said he will rule next Tuesday, Feb. 9, on the mental state of the Westmont man accused of smashing windows and vandalizing the Etz Chaim Synagogue in 2014.
Attorneys for White, 41, are asking Judge George Bakalis to find White not guilty by reason of insanity for the Oct. 21, 2014, episode.
White has been off his medication “for a long time,” his attorney Jeff Kendall said. “When he goes off his meds he becomes psychotic. The doctors' reports support the fact that he was insane and unable to appreciate the criminality of his conduct,” he said.
White is charged with a hate crime, possession of a firearm without a FOID card, and two counts of institutional vandalism of a place of worship. He has been held on $5 million full cash bond since his Oct. 21, 2014, arrest.
Lombard police officer Joseph Statkus testified Monday that he was called to the synagogue, 1710 South Highland Ave., at about 4:30 p.m. to find White driving a black SUV across the front lawn and “doing doughnuts” before crashing into the synagogue.
Statkus said he then pulled White from the SUV, and called for medical assistance because White seemed confused and appeared to be bleeding from his hands.
Later, investigators found seven broken windows and the word “death” carved into the synagogue's doorway. Prosecutors allege White also had placed a hatchet, a long sheathed knife and another sharp object near the door.
Detective Michael Chudzinski testified that he interviewed White during the four days he was evaluated at the hospital.
White told him he brought the tools for an art project he was working on at the worship center, but later told Chudzinski he went there because “the Jews did not expect John.”
Chudzinski also testified a search of the home White shared with his mother revealed 200 boxes of ammunition, guns of varying types, springloaded knives, hatchets, brass knuckles, armor-piercing ammunition and a laser sight kit for the firearms.
His mother told Chudzinski that before White left the house that day he told her, “I'm going to shoot some Jews today” but then said he was just kidding and laughed.
Assistant State's Attorney Louisa Nuckolls told Bakalis that prosecutors were not objecting to the reports by two doctors that stated White was insane at the time. But, she said, White “has a clear fixation on the Jewish community, culture and religion.”
“That fixation manifest when he targeted the synagogue,” she said. “And then there's the issue of the disturbing stockpile of weapons and ammunition.”
Bakalis will rule at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 9. If he finds White not guilty by reason of insanity, White would be committed to a mental health institution for an evaluation. If Bakalis declares White sane, he faces between two and seven years in prison.