DROWNING OF TWINS Giancola to return under watch

It's unlikely that the former Canfield Township woman will ever live on her own.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Annette Giancola is coming back to live in Mahoning County for the first time since she drowned her children seven years ago.
But she won't be allowed to live on her own. Instead, she'll be in a group home with round-the-clock supervision.
Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon approved Giancola's conditional release from psychiatric-hospital care during a hearing Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Giancola, 44, formerly of Canfield Township, has been in a psychiatric hospital since March 1997, when she drowned her 3-year-old twins, Jonathan and Rebecca, in the bathtub of their home. A court later found her innocent by reason of insanity in their murders.
She has progressively moved upward through the state's various levels of security for psychiatric patients.
Two years ago, she was allowed to leave the Cleveland-area hospital for unsupervised visits with family. She was not, however, allowed to return to Mahoning County without court permission.
With Friday's ruling by Judge Bannon, Giancola now can leave the hospital and move back to the county. She is not permitted to live on her own or with family, though.
She will move into a group home where medical staff can monitor her condition and ensure that she takes medication required to control her mental condition.
What doctors said
Scott Cochran, Giancola's attorney, said it's unlikely that she will ever be released to live on her own without medical supervision.
"For that to happen, doctors would have to testify that she does not have a mental illness," Cochran said. "That's not likely, given the testimony here today."
Three psychiatrists from the Northcoast Behavioral Health System testified that Giancola has bipolar disorder with manic episodes, but that her condition has been in full remission for four years. They said that as long as she continues taking her medication, it's likely that she will stay that way.
They said Giancola does not pose a threat of harm to herself or others.
Under cross-examination by Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews, Dr. Jagdish Mude of Northcoast said Giancola will become more manic if she stops taking her medication.
"And if she becomes more manic, anything can happen," he said.
Other discussion
But Cochran said that won't happen because her court-ordered release plan requires her to take medication within view of group home staff.
Giancola will be tested monthly to ensure that she's ingesting the medicine, Cochran said.
Mude said Giancola has accepted responsibility for what happened to her children, even though she does not remember killing them.
Andrews also suggested that Giancola, who has an associate degree in psychology, manipulated the system by telling doctors what they wanted to hear in order for her to be released.
The doctors, however, said that's highly unlikely.
bjackson@vindy.com