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Jeffrey Yao, the man who admitted he fatally stabbed a medical student 20 times with a hunting knife in 2018, was found not guilty Wednesday by lack of criminal responsibility because of his mental illness.
According to a press release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan s office, Yao, 27, of Winchester, was found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility of the murder of Deanne Stryker and of the attack on the man who tried to stop his rampage at the Winchester Library. .
Judge Kathe Tuttman ordered Yao to be civilly committed to Bridgewater State Hospital. The ruling came during a bench trial after the defendant waived his right to a jury trial.
The judge is expected to find Yao not guilty based on his lack of criminal responsibility due to his severe mental illness and send Yao to Bridgewater State Hospital, the defense said. He will remain at this hospital potentially for the rest of his life, unless he is found to be rid of his mental illness and he no longer presents a danger to anyone in the community, Carney said.
A Middlesex County Grand Jury indicted Yao on Sept. 21, 2018. He faces charges of murder, armed assault with intent to murder a person over 60 and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60.
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Jeffery Yao, Massachusetts man who killed Deane Stryker while she was studying at Winchester Public Library, found not guilty due to mental illness
Updated 8:05 AM;
A Massachusetts man charged with fatally stabbing a woman studying to become a doctor at a public library and injuring a man who came to her aid was found not guilty Wednesday because of his mental illness.
Jeffery Yao, 27, of Winchester, was sent to a state mental health facility by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman after a one-day, jury-waived trial.
Yao was evaluated by three experts two for the defense who each found that he lacked criminal responsibility because “he did not have either substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or the ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of law,” according to a statement from the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.