Judge finds Richfield man insane in hammer attack
A Richfield man who inexplicably attacked his 13-year-old neighbor with a hammer as the boy mowed the lawn was found not guilty by mental disease or defect Thursday and committed to a state hospital for more than 30 years.
Brian Scott Olson, 47, first pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of mayhem and to failing to comply with an officer’s orders before Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Gonring found him not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on each count.
A forensic psychiatrist had evaluated Olson, who had a long history of mental illness, and found support for the so-called NGI plea. Neither the prosecutor nor defense contested that conclusion.
But the boy’s parents, in a victim impact statement submitted to Gonring, said it was “hard to comprehend” that Olson wasn’t “being held fully accountable for his actions.”
Scott and Erika Day’s letter detailed the extensive surgery and rehabilitation their son has undergone and still faces in the wake of traumatic brain injury. He may never be cleared to play soccer or snowboard again and has to deal with speech therapy, restoring executive functioning, and depression. He must wear a protective helmet until he has more surgery to reconstruct his skull.
The family has also decided to leave their Washington County home of 18 years. “We can’t live with the emotional reminders of Michael’s attack and need to leave for our own emotional well-being.”
Olson, who told police at the time of his arrest that he was “in love with the thought of no tomorrow,” was committed to treatment at a secure state mental hospital for 311⁄2 years, under an order for involuntary medication.
The attack occurred in the early evening Aug. 14 on Wexford Circle. Olson’s neighbor was driving a lawn tractor when Olson walked across the street and hit him three times in the head with a hammer.
Friday was the second time Olson was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for a crime.
In 2003, he successfully entered the plea to misdemeanor charges of vandalism and disorderly conduct.