St. Charles Township man not guilty by insanity in father's 2017 stabbing death
A 24-year-old man with bipolar disorder and autism accused of killing his father - by stabbing him more than 100 times outside their St. Charles Township house in 2017 - was found not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday.
In a stipulated bench trial, Kane County Judge John Barsanti ruled John W. Shenko "lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct" when he killed his 60-year-old father, Kevin, Aug. 13, 2017, on the front steps of their home on the 7N200 block of Longview Drive.
In the brief trial, prosecutors and Shenko's defense attorney stipulated, or agreed to, numerous facts from the case, including that John Shenko killed his father, and that when deputies pulled up and saw the younger Shenko on top of his dad, he claimed his name was "God" and he had just "killed Satan."
Attorneys from both sides also agreed with the 33-page report from Dr. Michael Oliverio of the Kane County Diagnostic Center that John Shenko was "legally insane" and did not understand that what he was doing was a crime.
Assistant Public Defender Brenda Willett noted Oliverio evaluated Shenko two days after his arrest and had follow-up appointments over a seven-month span.
Willet said Oliverio looked at all aspects of Shenko's condition and behavior, including interviewing Shenko's mother and reviewing jail reports of Shenko being incoherent and suicidal when he was initially arrested, before concluding Shenko suffered from untreated bipolar disorder with psychotic features.
"There's no evidence my client, John Shenko, planned the murder of his father," Willett said. "He was suffering from a mental illness."
Barsanti also had the option of finding Shenko guilty but mentally ill. Under that ruling, Shenko would have been sentenced to prison and while incarcerated with greater access to mental health services.
Instead, under the not guilty by reason of insanity, Shenko will be held by the state's Department of Human Services until he is no longer deemed a danger to others.
"Insanity is really geared toward what happened on the day of the offense," Barsanti said, noting Oliverio's report was very helpful and "clearly demonstrated (Shenko's) mental state at the time."
A March 7 hearing will decide Shenko's sentence and treatment.
"It's a tragedy for everybody," Assistant State's Attorney Joe Cullen said afterward. "(John Shenko) killed his father. He was also, without a doubt, severely mentally ill and has been all his life."