PeoplesMind
07-20-2003, 07:46 PM
The trial of an Elgin man accused of stabbing two people in 2000 will begin Sept. 22.
Edward Edwardsen Jr., 20, is charged with attempted murder and animal cruelty.
The trial is expected to last two weeks because at least four psychiatrists are expected to testify.
Police said Edwardsen approached a couple on Sept. 1, 2000, at the Tyler Creek Forest Preserve and stabbed a Carpentersville man in the head several times.
Three days later, police say he struck a woman in an Elgin park with an ax.
Both victims survived.
Police were questioning him about the mutilation of two cats during an Elgin burglary Sept. 9, 2000, when he made incriminating statements about the two attacks.
Circuit Judge Donald Hudson ruled in July 2002 that Edwardsen's statements were voluntary, and he was not in custody when he spoke to police Sept. 13, 2000, at Jacobs High School.
Edwardsen takes psychotropic medication and has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic who suffers from hallucinations and delusions, defense attorney David Camic said.
The defendant spent 10 months at the Elgin Mental Health Center after Hudson ruled in March 2001 that he was not fit to stand trial.
Camic has said Edwardsen was temporarily insane when he committed the acts and involuntarily intoxicated on DXM, an active ingredient in cough syrup, when he made statements to police.
READ ARTICLE : http://www.nwherald.com/spider/...498522952.shtml (http://www.nwherald.com/spider/NWH/news/283771498522952.shtml)
Edward Edwardsen Jr., 20, is charged with attempted murder and animal cruelty.
The trial is expected to last two weeks because at least four psychiatrists are expected to testify.
Police said Edwardsen approached a couple on Sept. 1, 2000, at the Tyler Creek Forest Preserve and stabbed a Carpentersville man in the head several times.
Three days later, police say he struck a woman in an Elgin park with an ax.
Both victims survived.
Police were questioning him about the mutilation of two cats during an Elgin burglary Sept. 9, 2000, when he made incriminating statements about the two attacks.
Circuit Judge Donald Hudson ruled in July 2002 that Edwardsen's statements were voluntary, and he was not in custody when he spoke to police Sept. 13, 2000, at Jacobs High School.
Edwardsen takes psychotropic medication and has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic who suffers from hallucinations and delusions, defense attorney David Camic said.
The defendant spent 10 months at the Elgin Mental Health Center after Hudson ruled in March 2001 that he was not fit to stand trial.
Camic has said Edwardsen was temporarily insane when he committed the acts and involuntarily intoxicated on DXM, an active ingredient in cough syrup, when he made statements to police.
READ ARTICLE : http://www.nwherald.com/spider/...498522952.shtml (http://www.nwherald.com/spider/NWH/news/283771498522952.shtml)