Court: No release for Arlington Heights man who killed mother in 2004

An Arlington Heights man found not guilty by reason of insanity in the slaying of his mother during a psychotic episode nearly 15 years ago is not yet ready for a conditional release, a state appeals court has ruled.

The unanimous decision means John DeWyze, who was 43 years old when he fatally stabbed his mother, Eileen, will remain in the Elgin Mental Health Center indefinitely.

DeWyze stabbed his 80-year-old mother Oct. 27, 2004, in the Arlington Heights house they shared along with the younger DeWyze's wife and children.

According to court documents, DeWyze was acting erratically and having suicidal thoughts that day, leading his mother to call police. When police arrived, DeWyze attempted to stab an officer, slashing the officer's protective vest, documents state. After his mother then grabbed his arm, DeWyze turned and stabbed her, authorities say.

After a 2006 trial, a judge ruled DeWyze not guilty of first-degree murder by reason of insanity - a verdict family members said his mother would have wanted - and later ordered him to live in the Elgin Mental Health Center.

In February 2017, officials in Elgin recommended DeWyze be moved from the secure facility to a transitional living program in Arlington Heights. The recommendation said DeWyze no longer needed inpatient treatment and would benefit from redeveloping daily living skills and social skills, and continue learning to live with his mental illness.

Witnesses for DeWyze testified that he never harmed anyone or himself while in Elgin, and once acted to prevent a staff member from being seriously hurt by a fellow patient.

But in a decision upheld last week by the appellate court, Cook County Judge Marc W. Martin said he wasn't convinced DeWyze was ready for outpatient care. Martin cited three concerns: DeWyze's past refusal to take his medication; the potential threat he could pose to others if released; and his history of difficulty coping with the kind of life changes a move to a transitional care program would present.

"There simply was no program in place to help defendant gradually acclimate to the stressors of everyday life, which as (Martin) aptly observed was akin to taking someone who is learning to swim and throwing him in the deep-end," Justice Eileen O'Neill Burke wrote in the unanimous decision.