Army vet found not guilty of murder

Patrick Kraus was so haunted by his military action in Iraq and Afghanistan that he couldn't comprehend why shooting and killing a man in December in a Colerain Township parking lot was wrong.

After two doctors testified to that Monday, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. declared Kraus not guilty by reason of insanity before his Monday murder trial.

Instead, Kraus, 38, of Colerain Township, will be sent to Summit Behavioral Healthcare, the Roselawn mental health facility, for treatment.

"He has severe post traumatic stress disorder," one of his attorneys, Norm Aubin, said after Monday's ruling.

Kraus, Aubin said, was in the U.S. Marines and then joined the U.S. Army to serve as a Ranger. His job in Afghanistan and Iraq was to be the first soldier through the door when hunting for terrorists. "He got help at the VA (Veterans Administration) but never got any better," Aubin said,

That was unfortunate for William Wolf, the man Kraus beat and then shot and killed Dec. 13 in the parking lot of Trio Lounge in the 5700 block of Springdale Road. Court documents note Kraus approached Wolf in the early morning hours in the parking lot. Kraus punched Wolf and knocked him to the ground and then jumped on Wolf and pummeled him with punches.

Kraus then pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shot and killed Wolf before driving away.

"He had a flashback to Iraq" that caused the event, Aubin said.

While Kraus will be in Summit for some time, he will be under the court's jurisdiction even after he is released, as are those who are found not guilty by reason of insanity in murder cases, Aubin said.