Venable
A Hope man accused of shooting his wife after an argument has been found incompetent to assist in his defense and will be committed to the Indiana Department of Mental Health and Addiction for further evaluation.
Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin so ruled Monday in a hearing for Thomas Venable, 72, who is charged with Level 1 felony attempted murder in the June 27, 2020 shooting of his wife, Linda Venable, in their home. Thomas Venable also is charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony.
Linda Venable was shot twice in the chest by her husband, authorities said, but she survived after she was transported by Lifeline helicopter to University of Louisville Hospital.
Benjamin ordered the defendant committed to the DMHA after evidence and testimony presented Monday showed both Venable’s defense attorney and the state agreed that Venable should not be in jail due to his declining mental and physical condition. Two doctors evaluated Venable, one finding his competency cannot be restored and another saying the prospects for restoring competency are dubious.
Venable appeared in court Monday in a wheelchair and red jail scrubs as his defense attorney, Mike DeArmitt, moved for a motion to dismiss the charges against his client.
To bolster his case, DeArmitt called Bartholomew County Jail nurse Cindy Weisner. He asked her about Venable’s condition after more than three years behind bars.
“He has continued to decline,” Weisner testified, noting Venable has difficulty with daily activities, has suffered from falls in detention and cannot effectively communicate. She estimated jail staff has difficulty understanding him about 80% of the time, and the jail lacks the adequate staff and resources to provide for his care.
“He needs to be in a nursing home,” Weisner testified.
DeArmitt also called Venable’s sister, Marie Sauer, a retired nurse who lives in Lawrence, who testified that she had contacted more than 20 nursing homes, all of which said they could not admit Venable due to the charges against him. If the charges were dismissed, Sauer said, Venable could be admitted to receive the care he requires.
Sauer said in her experience, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction lacked the expertise to care for someone such as Venable who is not mentally ill, but rather has been diagnosed with degenerative cognitive and physical conditions. Ultimately, she said, her brother would be “pretty much paralyzed and unable to communicate.”
Bartholomew County Deputy Prosecutor Kim Sexton, while acknowledging that “jail is probably not where he needs to be” said the statute required a civil commitment to the DMHA for Venable under the circumstances.
And while DeArmitt argued that dismissing the charges against Venable was “a matter of fundamental fairness,” Sexton disagreed. She noted the victim “still does have a fear of the defendant” regardless of his condition. Sexton also noted that while the victim was not in court by choice, several people attended the hearing on her behalf.
Benjamin said at the close of Monday’s testimony, “I have to follow the law, I have no choice,” and ordered Venable committed to the DMHA, where the agency will conduct a formal competency evaluation as required by law and report to the court within 90 days.
Meantime, the judge said she would defer judgment on the motion to dismiss charges against Venable until after the court has received a competency evaluation from the DMHA. “It almost seems silly, if you will,” Benjamin said of requiring a further competency review in Venable’s situation, but she said the law was clear that she could not rule on the motion to dismiss until receiving the agency’s competency report.
Benjamin also ordered the DMHA to assist in making recommendations to find a proper placement for Venable.
No further hearings on the matter had been set as of Monday afternoon.
Investigators wrote in a probable cause affidavit that Thomas and Linda Venable had been arguing just prior to the morning shooting, after Linda told her husband she was leaving the house and began changing her clothes.
“She said that Thomas fired the pistol until it was empty,” according to the probable cause affidavit. “Linda called 911 after she was shot, and while she was on the line, she could hear Thomas reloading the pistol.”
That’s when the victim fled outside and was met by Hope Police officers Rick Everroad and Tony Wilson, the affidavit states.
After Linda Venable was taken to a safe location, Everroad and Wilson ordered the husband to come outside. Thomas Venable complied, and was taken into custody without further incident.
