A judge on Wednesday found Grafton Thomas, the man accused of carrying out a deadly machete attack at the Rockland County home of a rabbi in 2019, unfit to stand trial, CBS New York reported.
Thomas is accused of barging into the Monsey home of a rabbi during a Hanukkah party in December 2019 and attacking Jews. The most critically injured victim, Josef Neumann, 72, died of his wounds in late March of 2020, three months after the attack.
A judge on Wednesday found Thomas lacked the capacity to understand the proceedings against him, or to his assist his own defense, according to CBS New York. Thomas’ attorney said he believed the judge’s decision was appropriate.
“There have been adjudications by two courts of Mr. Thomas’s mental disease and defect,” said defense attorney Michael Sussman. “The proper situation for Mr. Thomas is a mental facility in New York state where he can get the care and treatment he needs.”
Thomas will be held at Rockland County jail until and appropriate mental health facility is found.
Wednesday’s ruling marks the third time that Thomas has been deemed unfit to stand trial. He had previously been declared unfit to stand trial in April of 2020 and again in April of 2021.
Thomas has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges. Prosecutors charged Thomas with federal hate crimes, citing anti-Semitic ramblings in his journal. Sussman has insisted Thomas had long struggled with severe mental illness.