Thursday, June 20, 2002
The next step for Ingram is his outright release from the court's control.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man who killed his aunt with scissors 10 years ago has been granted his conditional release from a psychiatric hospital.
Charles Ingram, 47, formerly of Dale Street, must move into the Burdman Group Home and continue with psychological counseling, says a ruling this week by Judge Robert Lisotto of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The requirement to live in a group home is so the court can still easily monitor his progress before eventually granting him an outright release from judicial control.
He also must submit to random drug and alcohol testing and get job training.
Said he's made progress
Ingram's lawyer, Mark Lavelle, said the conditional release is appropriate because Ingram has made significant progress in the past 10 years of treatment.
"He's no longer a threat to society," Lavelle said. "The doctors who've treated him recognized that, and now the judge has recognized it."
Doctors at the psychiatric hospital where Ingram is being held testified during a hearing in April that they think he is ready to be released.
Ingram was found innocent by reason of insanity in the April 1992 killing of 63-year-old Louise Simpson-Nolan, and has been in a psychiatric hospital since then.
Police said Ingram stabbed his aunt in the neck with scissors. A psychiatric evaluation in 2000 showed that he suffered from a type of schizophrenia involving "persecutory delusions and bizarre thinking" at the time.
bjackson@vindy.com