Crystal Lake man charged in elderly mother's murder not fit to stand trial
A Crystal Lake area man accused of brutally beating and stabbing his elderly mother to death in March is not mentally fit to stand trial, a judge ruled Monday.
The decision will move James E. Trzcinski, 50, from the McHenry County jail, where's he's been held since the March 5 slaying, to a state mental health facility. Once there, doctors will begin the process of attempting to make him fit to stand trial on three counts of first-degree murder.
The charges allege Trzcinski repeatedly bludgeoned and stabbed his 80-year-old mother, Dorothy Trzcinski, in the family's home on the 3400 block of Crystal Lake Avenue. After the killing, authorities said, Trzcinski waited inside the home for police to come and arrest him.
Judge Joseph Condon issued the unfit finding after Trzcinski's defense attorney and a county prosecutors stipulated to a psychological report stating that the murder suspect currently could not stand trial, but may be fit within a year.
Trzcinski was in court for the decision, appearing disheveled and confused, and surrounded by several correctional officers.
Trzcinski's attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Christopher Harmon, and the case's prosecutor, Assistant State's Attorney David Johnston, both declined to comment on the report's contents. Under state law, a person is unfit if he or she cannot understand the legal proceedings or assist in preparing a defense.
Court records indicate that Trzcinski had a long, documented history of mental illness dating to his teenage years. In 2007, Dorothy Trzcinski obtained an order of protection against her son after an incident in which, she said, he called her "the devil" and pushed her down against a brick fireplace. She later had the protective order rescinded and was living with her son at the time of her murder.
Trzcinski's case will be back in court June 11, at which time the Illinois Department of Human Services is expected to have a report complete detailing his mental condition and their plan to restore him to fitness.