Barrington man accused in wife's death allowed to attend PTSD treatment
A Barrington man accused of shooting his wife after an argument over a coffee maker is allowed to leave home confinement to be admitted into an in-house treatment facility for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Larry Lotz, 66, will leave his house Feb. 27 in order to be admitted into the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago for a seven-week inpatient program to treat the disorder, his attorney, Robert Hauser, said Friday. Hauser has said several times in court that Lotz suffers from PTSD, and plans to use the condition as a defense at trial.
"They have both an inpatient and outpatient program at Lovell," Hauser said after Friday's hearing. "They interviewed him (Lotz) and felt he would benefit more from the inpatient program."
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Kalcheim-Rothenberg did not object in court to the request Lotz enter the program.
Lotz is free from jail on $3 million bail, but has been on a GPS home monitoring device since May 2016. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Karen, at their home on Jan. 15, 2016.
Authorities said Lotz confessed to Barrington Police on video that he shot his 59-year-old wife after she "began to nag him" for leaving the coffee maker on, authorities have said.
Lotz retreated to an area above his garage to be alone after the argument, but Karen Lotz used a key to enter the office where Larry Lotz was sitting, authorities said. Larry Lotz fired four rounds from a .45-caliber pistol and struck his wife three times, including once in the head, prosecutors have said.
Karen Lotz was rushed to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Barrington, where she was pronounced dead.
A trial date has not been set. The two sides are due back in court March 9.