DuPage judge: Wisconsin man had intent to kill Amtrak conductor
An 80-year-old Wisconsin man faces confinement in a mental health facility after a DuPage County judge ruled Friday that Edward Klein knew he was doing wrong and intended to kill an Amtrak conductor he shot last May in Naperville.
Using a complicated legal term, Judge Jeffrey MacKay ruled Klein was "not not guilty" and "not acquitted" of the multiple charges against him, despite being found unfit to stand trial.
Doctors have diagnosed Klein with an impaired cognition disorder and dementia and said he suffers from a major neuro-cognitive disorder. Klein appeared to spend much of Friday's court appearance staring up at the lights and occasionally shaking his head as MacKay discussed his ruling.
Klein has been held on $1.5 million bail, charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
MacKay said prosecutors proved every charge beyond a reasonable doubt, including attempted first-degree murder.
The conductor, Michael Case of Homewood, testified earlier in the detention hearing that Klein was disoriented and frustrated during an Amtrak trip from Kansas City to Chicago and demanded to get off the train in Naperville.
Case, who was aware of a plan to escort Klein at Union Station and get him home safely to Wisconsin, closed and locked the train doors to keep the "enraged and belligerent" Klein on the train.
Case was assisting other customers with their baggage and preparing to continue on to Chicago when Klein reached out an open window and shot him with a .38 caliber revolver.
Case, who was struck in the abdomen, spent six weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Case previously said he hopes Klein is placed somewhere he can get help but is not allowed to leave.
The next phase of the detention process begins at 9 a.m. Thursday in courtroom 4014.