PORTLAND, Maine — A Freeport man accused of a string of violent crimes in December 2019, including the murder of a Scarborough Christmas tree farmer, was found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity on Wednesday.
Quinton Hanna, 24, was placed in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and is expected to be transferred to Riverview Psychiatric Facility in Augusta.
Hanna previously pleaded not guilty and not criminally responsible to charges of intentional or knowing murder, four counts of attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault, and eluding an officer.
Prosecutors said Hanna stabbed a 68-year-old man at his Freeport home the evening of Dec. 14, 2019, and then fatally stabbed 82-year-old James Pearson in the front yard of his Scarborough home the next day.
They said he sexually assaulted a 42-year-old woman in West Bath two hours after Pearson's death and then ran her down as she fled and later robbed a 72-year-old woman, also in West Bath.
Sarah Miller, director of the Maine State Forensic Service, said Wednesday that Hanna was diagnosed with schizophrenia following a "full-blown psychotic episode" in 2016 and had stopped taking psychiatric medication two months before the stabbing.
She said hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia made him unable to think and act in an organized way. He met the statute's criteria because he was unable to appreciate the wrongness of his actions.
"On that day, he was clearly hearing voices to harm other people," she said. "His symptoms of mental illness were clearly affecting his actions that day."
Pearson family and friends told Justice Daniel Billings on Wednesday that they hope for healing, but haven't forgotten what happened.
"People even now come by and ask about the red coat he'd wear and ask if I planned on wearing the coat sometime in the future because of their memories," his son, Robert Pearson said. "I haven't been able to do that yet ... I won't forgive, nor will I ever forget. I do pray for healing on both sides. I also pray that there will never, ever, ever be an opportunity for something like this to happen again to anyone."