Messenger 11 Michelle Lee Hardesty Niece of Killer Wililliam Edward Hardesty

William Edward "Billy" Hardesty killed seven people and wounded two others in Ypsilanti, Michigan, between October 3 and October 19, 1978. After an hour-long standoff with police, he was shot twice and captured.

On October 3, Hardesty killed his roommate Lawrence Leon Gordon in his home, and hung the naked body from the doorknob. He afterwards went to the home of another roommate of his, Willie Dunn, and on October 4 killed him by stabbing and hacking him more than 50 times with a machete.

On October 18, at his home in Ypsilanti, he armed himself with a .22 caliber pump-action rife, and killed his father with a shot to the back, and also killed his cat. He hid the body of his father in a freezer chest on the porch of the house and waited for his mother to come home. When she did, he killed her with a shot to the head.

The following day, on October 19, at about 2 am, Hardesty entered a Ypisilanti bar. After an altercation inside the building Hardesty went into the parking lot, where he killed Troy Curry and Timothy Schofield. At 6 am, he arrived at a tool and die company owned by his ex father-in-law, there he first shot dead his ex-wifes brother, Daniel Wood, and wounded Tommy Lee Brown. He then left the establishment, but returned shortly afterwards and wounded Bobby Joe Baker, who was trying to help Brown. Hardesty afterwards returned to his home and fired at police officers who tried to arrest him. After an hour-long siege, Hardesty was shot and wounded in the shoulder and stomach, and afterwards taken into custody

Victims:
Lawrence Leon Gordon, 46
Willie Dunn, 35
Ronald Hardesty, 43, his father
Jeanette Hardesty, 40, his mother
Troy Curry, 28
Timothy Schofield, 21
Daniel Wood, 38, ex-wifes brother
Wounded were:

Bobby Joe Baker, 23
Tommy Lee Brown, 31

Tei-Jay
·
11/18/2023
I think I found the find a grave for Jeanette and Ronald

Jeanette Miron Hardesty (1937-1978) - Find a Grave Memorial

A jury found defendant to be guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder but mentally ill. He was sentenced to life terms for the five murders, and terms of 100 to 200 years and 150 to 300 years on the assaults. Defendant filed an appeal as of right alleging seven grounds for reversal.
The charged offenses occurred at three different locations in Wayne and Washtenaw Counties during the night of October 18-19, 1978. On the evening of October 18, defendant shot and killed his parents, Ronald and Jeannette Hardesty, at their home in rural Wayne County. Later that night, he shot and killed Troy Curry and Timothy Schofield outside Abigail's Bar in Ypsilanti. The same night, he went to Stiles-Wood Building, a machine shop in Ypsilanti Township, Washtenaw County, and shot and killed Daniel Wood, the brother of his former wife. He also shot Tommy Lee Brown, a witness to the Wood killing. He later returned to the machine shop and shot Bobby Joe Baker as he fled after discovering the dead and wounded men at the machine shop. Defendant was arrested at his home on the morning of October 19, 1978.

On November 8, 1978, defendant was admitted to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti for a competency evaluation. After two Forensic Center examiners testified that defendant was not competent to stand trial but might eventually be rendered competent, the trial judge found defendant incompetent and committed him to the Department of Mental Health for treatment.

In March, 1979, a competency hearing was again held and defendant was found competent to stand trial. However, on June 15, 1979, the judge, on h is own motion found reason to believe defendant again might not be competent. He ordered that defendant be returned to the Forensic Center for another evaluation, and at the next hearing he was again found incompetent. Defendant was recommitted to the Forensic Center.

In August, 1980, Dr. Lee of the Forensic Center staff recommended that defendant be found competent to stand trial. During his commitment, defendant was given psychotherapy and drug therapy, receiving injections of Prolixin (fluphenazine decanoate), an antipsychotic medication and major tranquilizer. Dr. Lee strongly recommended that Hardesty be continued on this chemotherapy while awaiting trial. The judge found defendant competent to stand trial by an order dated September 11, 1980. He ordered that defendant's treatment not be changed without consultation with Dr. Lee.

On January 30, 1981, just prior to the trial herein, the judge heard several motions, including a motion seeking to discontinue use of psychotropic drugs in defendant's treatment program. Defense counsel argued that this would give the jury a truer picture of defendant's mental condition when he took the stand. The motion was denied without prejudice.

Defense counsel also argued prior to trial that the evidence was insufficient to support the prosecutor's charges of first-degree murder in the killings of defendant's parents. The trial judge denied defendant's motion for a directed verdict on this issue, and defendant went to trial on these charges. After the prosecutor's case in chief, defendant again moved for a directed verdict on this issue, which the trial court again denied.

The trial commenced on February 13, 1981, and continued through 11 days of proceedings, until the case went to the jury on the evening of March 4, 1981. The prosecutor's case-in-chief included the testimony of 35 witnesses. Following the denial of defendant's motion for a directed verdict of dismissal with respect to the first-degree murder charges in the killings of Ronald and Jeannette Hardesty, the defendant presented nine witnesses, including defendant, in support of defendant's insanity defense. The judge refused to allow defendant's clinician at the Forensic Center to testify as an expert on his criminal responsibility, but allowed her to testify on his competency for trial.

Among his witnesses, defendant produced three experts who testified that he was insane at the time of the killings. In rebuttal, the prosecutor presented four expert witnesses who had examined defendant and determined that he was not insane and should be found criminally responsible.

The jury deliberated all day on both March 5 and March 6, 1981, ultimately finding defendant guilty as charged but mentally ill on six of the seven counts, and guilty of second-degree murder but mentally ill in the killing of his father.

Thus, whether or not he was mentally ill, a defendant is legally sane if he had substantial capacity both to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. If any evidence of insanity is introduced, the prosecution then bears the burden of establishing the defendant's sanity beyond a reasonable doubt.
In defense counsel's opening remarks, he stated that the sole issue in the case was defendant's sanity at the time of the shootings. He argued that the prosecution could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was not mentally ill and not insane at the time of the offenses. Following the defense attorney's opening statement, the trial judge gave instructions on the statutory definitions of mental illness and insanity.