Killer of 3 free to shop, visit graves of victims

• Timothy Sturgel was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the 2009 killings of three family members. Now, he's going to their graves.

Timothy Sturgel killed three family members in 2009 but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Now, he's going to visit their graves.

In a hearing last week, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Beth Myers granted Sturgel additional privileges to go shopping, dining, to the library – and to the cemetery to mourn the loss of the three he killed.

"Individuals like Mr. Sturgel who were incarcerated and hospitalized after the loss of loved ones were deprived the opportunity of the ceremonies that society uses to help people move past and grieve and accept the loss," psychologist Michael Borack, who worked with Sturgel in therapy, told the judge.

"Although it was at his own hand, this was definitely a personal loss for him as well."

Sturgel, who had a history of mental illness, shot and killed his father, Jerry, 51; his stepmother, Mary, 40; and stepsister, Emily Hurst, 13, in the Jan. 24, 2009, incident. He then set on fire the Colerain Township home he shared with them. Other family members said at the time Sturgel suffered from bipolar disorder and hadn't been taking his medication.

Myers determined Sturgel, 26 at the time of the killings, was so mentally ill that he could not be held legally responsible for the killings. Instead, Sturgel was sent to mental health facilities for treatment.

With that ruling, the judge was obligated under Ohio law to place Sturgel in the "least restrictive" environment while hospitalized. For more than a year, he has been at Summit Behavioral Healthcare, the Roselawn mental health facility.

Sturgel has been so receptive to treatment, so cooperative that three experts involved in his case recommended to the judge that Sturgel be given additional privileges in public. He will be allowed to go nowhere without supervision. The difference is now he's allowed to go to public places for several hours at a time.

Today, Sturgel is only allowed out of Summit to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and therapy sessions.

"We think that it would increase some of Mr. Sturgel's self-esteem and socialization, developing more contacts," Indre Rukseniene, a psychiatrist, told the judge.

During the hearing, the judge repeatedly asked if the three professionals believed the community would be endangered if Sturgel were granted the additional visits. Each time, the experts told the judge they believed Sturgel was no danger to the public.

"He's very low risk for any sort of violence," Borack said.

When police arrived at the scene of the killings, Sturgel had a 9mm handgun and was in the front yard holding an assault rifle. Officers ordered him to drop the gun but Sturgel replied, "Everyone is dead," and ran inside.

It's not unusual, even for someone who killed three family members, to recover, University of Cincinnati psychiatry professor Douglas Mossman said, although he wouldn't speak specifically about Sturgel's case.

Because of the sensational nature of the case, Mossman said, the public is likely unaware of the progress mental health officials say Sturgel has made.

"In general, many people with severe mental disorders with treatment express complete or substantial remission in their symptoms," Mossman said.

"All members of humanity are affected by certain kinds of information that is particularly vivid and scary," Mossman said. That could serve to magnify the perceived risks or danger when Sturgel is in public, Mossman added, but the data on such events show it's rare.

"Effective mental health care greatly reduces the small but detectable risk," Mossman said. "Every one of us has some risk of danger of some kind of violence, including you and me."

You're more likely to be struck by a car or injured in a plane crash than harmed by those like Sturgel while in public, Mossman said data suggest. "There are likely far more serious risks than this" including doing harm "to ourselves through bad habits like smoking or overeating," Mossman said.

Sturgel's case is reviewed every two years by the judge to determine whether changes are needed. If Sturgel recovers enough from his mental illness, he could be released.