Courts likely to see more vets with PTSD
July 9, 2012
By Gina Passarella
The Legal Intelligencer
When the state Supreme Court denied earlier this year an Iraq War veteran's plea to allow an insanity defense in his Altoona murder trial, Justice Seamus P. McCaffery promised a dissenting statement would follow.
He delivered late last month, with a commentary on how the court should recognize a likely increase in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, coming through the courts, while acknowledging that it's unusual for the court to be asked to weigh in on the appropriateness and legality of a "particular defense to capital murder charges."
"There is ample reason to anticipate that when members of our armed forces return from combat duty and are charged with the commission of criminal offenses, there will be an increased incidence of an accused's seeking to present an insanity defense based upon mental infirmities related to his or her military service," Justice McCaffery said in his five-page dissent in Commonwealth v. Horner.
Justice McCaffery added that there is a growing number of people returning from military service who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses that are a direct result of their military service, and who commit crimes directly attributable to the "deleterious effects of combat service."
read more here
Showing posts with label Nicholas A. Horner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicholas A. Horner. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
For one attorney in Horner trial, PTSD is a personal experience
Horner attorney reflects on trial
DeFazio disagrees with Dickey making PTSD argument
March 31, 2012
By Phil Ray (pray@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror
Attorney David J. DeFazio of Pittsburgh, who represented Nicholas A. Horner in the death penalty phase of his murder case this week, has a unique perspective about the many issues raised during the trial. It is something nobody involved in the trial knew about, not Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva nor even DeFazio's co-counsel, Thomas M. Dickey of Altoona. Dickey, who was Horner's trial attorney, emphasized that the 31-year-old Army veteran suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his war experiences in Iraq.
Post-traumatic stress, Dickey said during the months leading up to the trial, was the "seed" that eventually led to Horner killing 19-year-old Scott Garlick and 64-year-old Raymond Williams on April 6, 2009.
DeFazio disagrees with Dickey making PTSD argument
March 31, 2012
By Phil Ray (pray@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror
Attorney David J. DeFazio of Pittsburgh, who represented Nicholas A. Horner in the death penalty phase of his murder case this week, has a unique perspective about the many issues raised during the trial. It is something nobody involved in the trial knew about, not Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva nor even DeFazio's co-counsel, Thomas M. Dickey of Altoona. Dickey, who was Horner's trial attorney, emphasized that the 31-year-old Army veteran suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his war experiences in Iraq.
Post-traumatic stress, Dickey said during the months leading up to the trial, was the "seed" that eventually led to Horner killing 19-year-old Scott Garlick and 64-year-old Raymond Williams on April 6, 2009.
DeFazio said his father, Pfc. Joseph DeFazio, was a World War II Army veteran, who, like Horner, was on full pension from the Army because of post-traumatic stress. DeFazio, 57, grew up with PTSD in his household. He said his father had many of the same symptoms as Horner: He didn't like crowds; he kept to himself; he never talked about the invasion of Normandy or his Bronze Star or his Purple Heart. read more here
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Nicholas Horner Trial:Victim's son says justice was served
Williams’ son: ‘We do feel justice was served’
March 29, 2012
By Kay Stephens and Amanda Gabeletto
The Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Family members whose loved ones were killed almost three years ago by Nicholas A. Horner left the Blair County Courthouse on Wednesday night with a sense of satisfaction.
"We felt the death penalty would have matched the crimes, but we do feel justice was served," said Matthew Williams as he stood on the courthouse patio, shortly after hearing that Horner, the man who killed his 64-year-old father almost three years ago, will never get out of prison.
"We don't think Mr. Horner got off easy by any means. He has a life sentence in prison, so we feel good about that. And we're also just happy to be done with this after three years."
Horner, 31, was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday night. After additional testimony Wednesday, the jury deliberated about 75 minutes, until almost 9 p.m., before announcing that it couldn't decide between life in prison or death, which leaves the court to impose two life sentences.
read more here
Nicholas Horner Convicted
March 29, 2012
By Kay Stephens and Amanda Gabeletto
The Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Family members whose loved ones were killed almost three years ago by Nicholas A. Horner left the Blair County Courthouse on Wednesday night with a sense of satisfaction.
"We felt the death penalty would have matched the crimes, but we do feel justice was served," said Matthew Williams as he stood on the courthouse patio, shortly after hearing that Horner, the man who killed his 64-year-old father almost three years ago, will never get out of prison.
"We don't think Mr. Horner got off easy by any means. He has a life sentence in prison, so we feel good about that. And we're also just happy to be done with this after three years."
Horner, 31, was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday night. After additional testimony Wednesday, the jury deliberated about 75 minutes, until almost 9 p.m., before announcing that it couldn't decide between life in prison or death, which leaves the court to impose two life sentences.
read more here
Nicholas Horner Convicted
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Nicholas Horner Pennsylvania Iraq war veteran convicted of first-degree murder
Pennsylvania Iraq war veteran convicted of first-degree murder
Published March 27, 2012
Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. – An Iraq war veteran has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two people during a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery nearly three years ago.
The Altoona Mirror says Blair County jurors deliberated for about five hours Tuesday night before convicting 31-year-old Nicholas Horner of Altoona in the shooting deaths of a 19-year-old clerk and a bystander during the April 2009 robbery.
read more here
Published March 27, 2012
Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. – An Iraq war veteran has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two people during a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery nearly three years ago.
The Altoona Mirror says Blair County jurors deliberated for about five hours Tuesday night before convicting 31-year-old Nicholas Horner of Altoona in the shooting deaths of a 19-year-old clerk and a bystander during the April 2009 robbery.
read more here
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wife says Iraq War changed Nicholas Horner
Wife: Iraq changed Horner
March 24, 2012
By Phil Ray
The Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG - When Army Sgt. Nicholas A. Horner returned from his third tour in Iraq in the summer of 2008, he was no longer the "happy-go-lucky goofball" that his wife, Windy, had fallen in love with just a few years before.
Windy Horner testified Friday in a Blair County courtroom that Horner, 31, was "more antsy" and subject to mood changes. He was suicidal at times. He carried a handgun and avoided crowds. He, for instance, would not go to local stores.
Windy Horner was one of the opening witnesses for the defense in her husband's double-homicide trial. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Nicholas Horner for the shooting deaths of Scott Garlick, 19, and Raymond Williams, 64, during a 2009 robbery and getaway at the 58th Street Subway.
She filed for divorce in 2010. The petition is pending, Windy Horner said under cross-examination.
She said her husband would disappear for hours, citing two instances when the couple lived in Dixon, Mo., just 20 miles from his station at Fort Leonard Wood, in which he left home and later appeared at the house of a friend, Staff Sgt. Kevin Hall, a trainer at Fort Leonard Wood.
She remembered him leaving a barbeque with another family one night.
He said he was going for a cigarette but when she went outside to look for him, he was "taking off for the treeline."
Windy Horner said she let him go, knowing she couldn't catch him.
read more here
March 24, 2012
By Phil Ray
The Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG - When Army Sgt. Nicholas A. Horner returned from his third tour in Iraq in the summer of 2008, he was no longer the "happy-go-lucky goofball" that his wife, Windy, had fallen in love with just a few years before.
Windy Horner testified Friday in a Blair County courtroom that Horner, 31, was "more antsy" and subject to mood changes. He was suicidal at times. He carried a handgun and avoided crowds. He, for instance, would not go to local stores.
Windy Horner was one of the opening witnesses for the defense in her husband's double-homicide trial. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Nicholas Horner for the shooting deaths of Scott Garlick, 19, and Raymond Williams, 64, during a 2009 robbery and getaway at the 58th Street Subway.
She filed for divorce in 2010. The petition is pending, Windy Horner said under cross-examination.
She said her husband would disappear for hours, citing two instances when the couple lived in Dixon, Mo., just 20 miles from his station at Fort Leonard Wood, in which he left home and later appeared at the house of a friend, Staff Sgt. Kevin Hall, a trainer at Fort Leonard Wood.
She remembered him leaving a barbeque with another family one night.
He said he was going for a cigarette but when she went outside to look for him, he was "taking off for the treeline."
Windy Horner said she let him go, knowing she couldn't catch him.
read more here
Thursday, March 22, 2012
CNN on hand at Nicholas Horner PTSD murder trial
CNN on hand at Nicholas Horner murder trial
Kathy Mellott
The Tribune-Democrat
March 21, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A crew from CNN put in an appearance at the Blair County Courthouse this morning as the double-homicide trial of Nicholas Adam Horner entered its third day. A reporter, producer and a videographer were on hand as testimony continued in the prosecution’s case against the former Johnstown man.
While unable to have a camera in the courtroom, as per Pennsylvania law, the CNN crew was taking outside shots of the courtyard and public entrance area of the courthouse.
Their primary interest in the case stems from Horner’s claim that he suffers from PTSD as the result of three tours of duty in the Middle East.
It was the PTSD, his defense attorney maintains, along with drug and alcohol use, that led to his allegedly shooting and killing two men and wounding a woman on April 6, 2009, in Altoona.
read more here
Kathy Mellott
The Tribune-Democrat
March 21, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A crew from CNN put in an appearance at the Blair County Courthouse this morning as the double-homicide trial of Nicholas Adam Horner entered its third day. A reporter, producer and a videographer were on hand as testimony continued in the prosecution’s case against the former Johnstown man.
While unable to have a camera in the courtroom, as per Pennsylvania law, the CNN crew was taking outside shots of the courtyard and public entrance area of the courthouse.
Their primary interest in the case stems from Horner’s claim that he suffers from PTSD as the result of three tours of duty in the Middle East.
It was the PTSD, his defense attorney maintains, along with drug and alcohol use, that led to his allegedly shooting and killing two men and wounding a woman on April 6, 2009, in Altoona.
read more here
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
PTSD on Trial:Victim tells jury Nicholas Horner apologized at scene
Store clerk describes being shot by Iraq war vet in Pa. robbery case centered on PTSD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: March 21, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — A woman shot by a Pennsylvania Iraq war veteran in a sandwich shop robbery says the man apologized to the co-worker he killed before fleeing the scene and later killing another man as he tried to make his escape.
Michele Petty told a jury Tuesday that Nicholas Horner then shot her in the hip and warned her not to move.
read more here
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: March 21, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — A woman shot by a Pennsylvania Iraq war veteran in a sandwich shop robbery says the man apologized to the co-worker he killed before fleeing the scene and later killing another man as he tried to make his escape.
Michele Petty told a jury Tuesday that Nicholas Horner then shot her in the hip and warned her not to move.
read more here
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Iraq vet's Pa. double-murder trial
Iraq vet's Pa. double-murder trial not 'whodunit' but 'whydunit' - with his life in balance
JOE MANDAK Associated Press
First Posted: March 18, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — In 2009, three months after he was discharged from the Army because of post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq, Nicholas Horner robbed a sandwich shop, gunned down two people in cold blood, wounded a third and put a fourth life in grave danger.
His own.
Those facts won't be in dispute when a Blair County jury hears opening statements Monday, which is why his trial will be less of a whodunit than a whydunit. And the jury's answer to that question — why did it happen? — could put Horner on death row.
Horner's family firmly believes his PTSD was fueled not just by his high-stress work clearing roadside bombs, but by images of children killed by artillery shells that cleared the way for his unit. That is the reason Horner, now 31, would have robbed a Subway sandwich shop in Altoona for $130 he didn't need.
Horner shot to death 19-year-old sandwich maker Scott Garlick and wounded another clerk on April 6, 2009. As he ran down the street, possibly searching for a getaway star, he killed 64-year-old Raymond Eugene Williams, who was out collecting his mail.
read more here
JOE MANDAK Associated Press
First Posted: March 18, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — In 2009, three months after he was discharged from the Army because of post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq, Nicholas Horner robbed a sandwich shop, gunned down two people in cold blood, wounded a third and put a fourth life in grave danger.
His own.
Those facts won't be in dispute when a Blair County jury hears opening statements Monday, which is why his trial will be less of a whodunit than a whydunit. And the jury's answer to that question — why did it happen? — could put Horner on death row.
Horner's family firmly believes his PTSD was fueled not just by his high-stress work clearing roadside bombs, but by images of children killed by artillery shells that cleared the way for his unit. That is the reason Horner, now 31, would have robbed a Subway sandwich shop in Altoona for $130 he didn't need.
Horner shot to death 19-year-old sandwich maker Scott Garlick and wounded another clerk on April 6, 2009. As he ran down the street, possibly searching for a getaway star, he killed 64-year-old Raymond Eugene Williams, who was out collecting his mail.
read more here
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Nicholas Horner to get new jury
New jury to be picked in Pa. sandwich shop deaths
Mar. 10, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTW) — Lawyers will begin a second attempt Monday to choose a jury in the case of an Iraq war veteran accused of having killed two people during the robbery of a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop almost three years ago.
Thirty-one-year-old Nicholas Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, and killing another man as he fled in April 2009.
read more here
Mar. 10, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTW) — Lawyers will begin a second attempt Monday to choose a jury in the case of an Iraq war veteran accused of having killed two people during the robbery of a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop almost three years ago.
Thirty-one-year-old Nicholas Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, and killing another man as he fled in April 2009.
read more here
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Nicholas Horner, Iraq Veteran with PTSD wants to defend himself
Iraq veteran charged in killings wants to represent self if convicted off first-degree murder
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — An Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting two people in a Pennsylvania sandwich shop shooting wants to represent himself at sentencing if he's convicted of first-degree murder next month.
A Blair County judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 29 on Nicholas Horner's request to represent himself during sentencing if he's facing the death penalty.
Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, then fatally shooting another man as he fled. Horner says he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the April 2009 shootings.
read more here
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — An Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting two people in a Pennsylvania sandwich shop shooting wants to represent himself at sentencing if he's convicted of first-degree murder next month.
A Blair County judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 29 on Nicholas Horner's request to represent himself during sentencing if he's facing the death penalty.
Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, then fatally shooting another man as he fled. Horner says he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the April 2009 shootings.
read more here
Friday, January 20, 2012
Lawyers agree Supreme Court should receive Horner report
January 19, 2012
Lawyers agree Supreme Court should receive Horner report
Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Attorneys on both sides of the Nicholas Adam Horner case are seeking permission from the state Supreme Court to submit a medical report on the defendant in the hopes of bolstering their cases.
Meanwhile, as of late Thursday there was no indication from the state’s highest court how it will handle the case, which came to a sudden halt a week ago after the justices granted an emergency stay.
read more here
Lawyers agree Supreme Court should receive Horner report
Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Attorneys on both sides of the Nicholas Adam Horner case are seeking permission from the state Supreme Court to submit a medical report on the defendant in the hopes of bolstering their cases.
Meanwhile, as of late Thursday there was no indication from the state’s highest court how it will handle the case, which came to a sudden halt a week ago after the justices granted an emergency stay.
read more here
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Nicholas Horner's trial on hold
Jury selection in Pa. soldier's double-murder trial halted after insanity ruling appealed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 14, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered a halt to jury selection in the death penalty trial of an Iraq war veteran accused of having killed two people during the robbery of a sandwich shop.
Justice Seamus McCaffery issued a one-paragraph ordered late Friday afternoon halting the Blair County proceedings in the trial of 31-year-old Nicholas Horner.
Dickey contends that his client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and couldn't tell right from wrong when he killed a clerk and bystander during a 2009 robbery at an Altoona Subway restaurant.
read more here
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 14, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered a halt to jury selection in the death penalty trial of an Iraq war veteran accused of having killed two people during the robbery of a sandwich shop.
Justice Seamus McCaffery issued a one-paragraph ordered late Friday afternoon halting the Blair County proceedings in the trial of 31-year-old Nicholas Horner.
Dickey contends that his client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and couldn't tell right from wrong when he killed a clerk and bystander during a 2009 robbery at an Altoona Subway restaurant.
read more here
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Minnesota specialist to give take on PTSD in Horner trial
Minnesota specialist to give take on PTSD in Horner trial
Defense attorneys hoping to build insanity defense
October 12, 2011
By Kay Stephens
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Attorneys representing Nicholas A. Horner are turning to a St. Paul, Minn., psychologist who may be able to help them build a not guilty by reason of insanity defense in a double-homicide case.
Ernest Boswell, a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorders who has worked with veterans since 1998, is being asked to review materials related to Horner's alleged actions on April 6, 2009, when police said Horner killed two people and wounded a third during the robbery of an Eldorado sandwich shop and the subsequent police pursuit.
Boswell's identification was revealed in the latest court documents filed Friday, which led Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva to delay Horner's trial until January and set a pre-trial hearing for Oct. 18. The trial was supposed to start next week with jury selection.
read more here
Defense attorneys hoping to build insanity defense
October 12, 2011
By Kay Stephens
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Attorneys representing Nicholas A. Horner are turning to a St. Paul, Minn., psychologist who may be able to help them build a not guilty by reason of insanity defense in a double-homicide case.
Ernest Boswell, a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorders who has worked with veterans since 1998, is being asked to review materials related to Horner's alleged actions on April 6, 2009, when police said Horner killed two people and wounded a third during the robbery of an Eldorado sandwich shop and the subsequent police pursuit.
Boswell's identification was revealed in the latest court documents filed Friday, which led Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva to delay Horner's trial until January and set a pre-trial hearing for Oct. 18. The trial was supposed to start next week with jury selection.
read more here
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Ex-soldier's Pa. trial delayed due to PTSD defense
Ex-soldier's Pa. trial delayed due to PTSD defense
Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011
Associated Press
A former soldier's death penalty trial for a double-murder prosecutors say occurred during a central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery has been delayed until January, because his defense hopes to argue post-traumatic stress disorder contributed to his alleged crimes.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Oct. 18 at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, but a judge delayed it because of motions filed late Friday.
read more here
Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011
Associated Press
A former soldier's death penalty trial for a double-murder prosecutors say occurred during a central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery has been delayed until January, because his defense hopes to argue post-traumatic stress disorder contributed to his alleged crimes.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Oct. 18 at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, but a judge delayed it because of motions filed late Friday.
read more here
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
PTSD on Trial, update on Nicholas Horner
Pennsylvania Soldier's Double-Murder Trial Set for August
Published February 23, 2011
| Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- The trial of an Iraq war veteran who is raising post-traumatic stress disorder as his defense in a double-murder case is set for jury selection Aug. 15.
Thirty-year-old Army veteran Nicholas Horner, of Altoona, contends his mental condition drove him to kill a 19-year-old clerk and a 64-year-old bystander while taking about $130 from an Altoona Subway store on April 6, 2009.
Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva on Tuesday ruled the jury will be picked locally, contrary to a defense request that media publicity makes picking an out-of-county jury fairer. The judge says pretrial publicity has died down and noted much of it has not been inflammatory.
The judge delayed the trial until August to give prosecutors time to hire experts to review psychiatric reports prepared by defense experts.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/23/pennsylvania-soldiers-double-murder-trial-set-august/#ixzz1EokUfKXD
Published February 23, 2011
| Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- The trial of an Iraq war veteran who is raising post-traumatic stress disorder as his defense in a double-murder case is set for jury selection Aug. 15.
Thirty-year-old Army veteran Nicholas Horner, of Altoona, contends his mental condition drove him to kill a 19-year-old clerk and a 64-year-old bystander while taking about $130 from an Altoona Subway store on April 6, 2009.
Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva on Tuesday ruled the jury will be picked locally, contrary to a defense request that media publicity makes picking an out-of-county jury fairer. The judge says pretrial publicity has died down and noted much of it has not been inflammatory.
The judge delayed the trial until August to give prosecutors time to hire experts to review psychiatric reports prepared by defense experts.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/23/pennsylvania-soldiers-double-murder-trial-set-august/#ixzz1EokUfKXD
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
PTSD defense may delay murder trial of Iraq vet
PTSD defense may delay murder trial of Iraq vet
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 19, 2010 13:28:36 EDT
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — The post-traumatic stress disorder defense being raised by an Iraq war veteran will likely postpone his double-murder trial to sometime after the second anniversary of the sandwich shop robbery at the center of the case.
read more here
PTSD defense may delay murder trial of Iraq vet
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 19, 2010 13:28:36 EDT
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — The post-traumatic stress disorder defense being raised by an Iraq war veteran will likely postpone his double-murder trial to sometime after the second anniversary of the sandwich shop robbery at the center of the case.
read more here
PTSD defense may delay murder trial of Iraq vet
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
PTSD on Trail: Nicholas Horner to use insanity defense
Soldier to present insanity defense at trial
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 12, 2009 8:32:53 EDT
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — A troubled Iraq war veteran says he is pursuing an insanity defense against charges that he fatally shot two people while robbing a Subway sandwich shop.
Defense attorney David Shrager on Tuesday asked a judge for more time to prepare a petition to the court on behalf of Nicholas Horner, 29, of Altoona.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_army_soldier_shooting_081209/
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 12, 2009 8:32:53 EDT
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — A troubled Iraq war veteran says he is pursuing an insanity defense against charges that he fatally shot two people while robbing a Subway sandwich shop.
Defense attorney David Shrager on Tuesday asked a judge for more time to prepare a petition to the court on behalf of Nicholas Horner, 29, of Altoona.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_army_soldier_shooting_081209/
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
PTSD On Trail:War vet cleared for murder trial
War vet cleared for murder trial
Psychiatrist deems Horner competent
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: July 8, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Iraqi War veteran accused of killing a high school senior during the robbery of a Subway restaurant and a retired insurance executive during his subsequent getaway attempt is troubled but competent to stand trial, according to a psychiatrist's report filed in the Blair County Courthouse.
Nicholas A. Horner is in the Blair County Prison awaiting trial for the homicides of Scott Garlick, 19, and Raymond Williams, 64. His attorney, David S. Shrager of Pittsburgh, has asked that his client be moved to a state mental health facility at least until his trial.
Shrager argues that Horner, 28, cannot obtain the ongoing mental health treatment he needs in the county jail.
District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio said Tuesday his office is reviewing the suggestion.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 14 before Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva.
Dr. Edwin Tan, a Hollidaysburg psychiatrist, performed the court-ordered mental health assessment.
In his report, he stated that Horner suffers from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder as well as depression, panic disorder and sleep problems.
go here for more
War vet cleared for murder trial
Psychiatrist deems Horner competent
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: July 8, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Iraqi War veteran accused of killing a high school senior during the robbery of a Subway restaurant and a retired insurance executive during his subsequent getaway attempt is troubled but competent to stand trial, according to a psychiatrist's report filed in the Blair County Courthouse.
Nicholas A. Horner is in the Blair County Prison awaiting trial for the homicides of Scott Garlick, 19, and Raymond Williams, 64. His attorney, David S. Shrager of Pittsburgh, has asked that his client be moved to a state mental health facility at least until his trial.
Shrager argues that Horner, 28, cannot obtain the ongoing mental health treatment he needs in the county jail.
District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio said Tuesday his office is reviewing the suggestion.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 14 before Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva.
Dr. Edwin Tan, a Hollidaysburg psychiatrist, performed the court-ordered mental health assessment.
In his report, he stated that Horner suffers from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder as well as depression, panic disorder and sleep problems.
go here for more
War vet cleared for murder trial
Thursday, June 4, 2009
PTSD on Trial:Prosecutors didn't know Nicholas Horner was 3 tour Iraq veteran
Just what part - if any - PTSD may have played in the local shootings remains a question. Consiglio said that at this point, prosecutors don't even know if Horner saw combat in Iraq.
Two innocent people are dead and another one wounded. Three families left to grieve over this when they had done nothing wrong except to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Horner's family is left to suffer because of what he did and Horner sits in jail for committing these attacks.
The most stunning part of all of this is that the prosecutors didn't know he was a 3 tour Iraq veteran or that he was being treated for PTSD. How is this possible? Didn't his defense attorney think it was worth mentioning? How can justice be delivered if the jury and the courts have no idea what these veterans take home with them sometimes?
Horner did it. He shot three people. He is responsible for that because he decided to pick up a gun but we need to be asking if Horner is yet another victim in all of this because he arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time with PTSD.
All across the country things are happening to help our veterans heal. Veterans centers open up and the veterans end up having a place to open up, beginning the process of healing, minimizing the anger raging inside of them, removing the isolation they feel, comforting the pain they have trapped behind the walls of their soul and supporting each other. Veterans courts take the special circumstances of combat veterans into account to deliver proper justice. If Horner lived in another part of the country, something like this may have been prevented. At the very least, he would have appeared before a judge with knowledge of PTSD and prosecutors at least aware this man had been deployed into combat three times.
Is Altoona Pennsylvania part of the problem? Are they doing enough to treat their veterans? Do they have any compassion for them? Are they interested in true justice for our veterans? If the VA hospital treating Horner did all they could, then what failed? If they didn't then why didn't they? If Horner was a danger to others, then why was he allowed to walk freely instead of being hospitalized? Did his doctors know?
When veterans come back from combat there are so many questions that need to be addressed but as for Horner and the three people he shot, the truth was absent from this trial if the prosecutors didn't know he had been sent into combat three times and came back with PTSD.
'I feel so guilty'
Horner expresses remorse for double homicide, blames post-traumatic stress disorder
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
Editor's note: On May 15, the Mirror received and then confirmed that the adjacent letter is from Nicholas Horner, who is charged with murdering two people in Altoona April 6. With the exception of deleting a phone number, the letter appears without editing.
Nicholas A. Horner, writing from Blair County Prison, is "sorry to all of Altoona" for the shootings that occurred in early April when he allegedly killed a high school senior and a retiree.
"I shoot 3 people, killing 2 and injuring 1," Horner wrote in a letter sent to the Mirror in mid-May.
Horner, an Iraqi War veteran, is repentant for the killings that took the lives of 19-year-old Scott Garlick, a senior at Hollidaysburg Area High School who was working at the 58th Street Subway, and 64-year-old Raymond Eugene Williams, who was walking to his mailbox two blocks away, and for injuries to Michele Petty, another Subway employee.
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