Man charged with killing prominent Edwardsville couple found unfit to stand trial
A Madison County judge has found that Zachary Capers, the man charged with stabbing to death Lois and Michael Ladd in their Edwardsville home three years ago, is unfit to stand trial.
“Defendant is hereby remanded to the custody of (the Illinois Department of Human Services) for treatment,” according to an order issued this week by Associate Judge Neil Schroeder.
A jury trial had been set to begin April 18. Prosecutors were prepared to present forensic evidence and call more than 100 witnesses.
Schroeder canceled the trial the week before, when he granted a motion by Capers’ public defenders asking that a mental-health expert be appointed to perform an evaluation on him.
“Defense counsel has a bonafide doubt as to Mr. Caper’s fitness to stand trial,” according to the motion by Public Defender Mary Copeland and Assistant Public Defender Allison Simmonds.
Schroeder’s order on Monday stated that both State’s Attorney Tom Haine’s office and the public defender had stipulated to a report submitted by court-appointed clinical psychologist Anita Bazile-Sawyer.
The order provided no further information on the report.
Capers, 26, attended Edwardsville High School and formerly lived in Glen Carbon and Collinsville. He had used a sibling’s address but was widely believed to be homeless at the time of his arrest.
According to a “fitness standard” in the Illinois Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, “A defendant is unfit (to stand trial) if, because of his mental or physical condition, he is unable to understand the nature and purpose of the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense.”
Capers is charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Madison County Chief Judge Bill Mudge said Wednesday that he could be tried at a later date if the court determines that treatment restores his fitness.
“That’s the goal,” Mudge said.
‘Brutal and heinous murder’
The bodies of chiropractor Lois Ladd, 68, and her husband, contractor Michael Ladd, 79, were found Monday, March 18, 2019, in their home on North Kansas Street after Lois Ladd failed to show up for work. Authorities believe they were killed on March 16 or 17.
Capers was arrested on March 17, 2019, on an outstanding warrant related to a different incident. Former State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons later charged him with murder in the Ladd case, and a grand jury indicted him.
“This is a brutal and heinous murder,” Gibbons said at the time. “(The Ladds) are absolutely innocent and wonderful people, whose lives are lost and who leave behind an amazing family, a tremendous number of friends and community members who know and love them.”
The public defenders filed their motion on April 8 asking Schroeder to appoint an expert to examine Capers. It stated that:
- On March 22, the state’s attorney’s office disclosed written messages that Capers purportedly sent to family members via a tablet provided to him at the Madison County Jail.
- Due to the nature of the messages, defense counsel contacted psychologist Daniel Cuneo, who had been previously retained in the matter, to request that he evaluate Capers.
- On April 7, Cuneo interviewed Capers and verbally indicated to defense counsel that he believed Capers was unfit to stand trial.
“The Defendant respectfully requests this Honorable Court order an examination of the Defendant by one or more licensed physicians, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, chosen by the Court,” the motion stated.
History of troubling behavior
Capers had more than 35 contacts with law enforcement in Madison County communities between September 2017 and March 2019. Some reports describe suspicious, odd or disruptive behavior, such as staring into store windows, standing in the street or yelling at people at the library.
In two cases, police officers described Capers as a “possible 10-96,” which is code for mental subject. In one, he was voluntarily transported to Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, which has an inpatient psychiatric unit.
In February 2020, Capers filed three hand-written motions asking for a “closed” hearing to get his murder case dismissed and mentioning his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. He hadn’t consulted his attorney, former Public Defender John Rekowski, now retired.
“(The motions are) basically incoherent,” Rekowski said at the time. “And given that circumstance, I have no idea what Mr. Capers is thinking or what he’s trying to do.”
Rekowski wasn’t ruling out an insanity defense for Capers.
“I think the motions show that he’s not functioning on the level that a court expects a defendant to be operating on to be able to assist in his case and work with his counsel,” Rekowski said.
Prosecutors on the Capers case are Assistant State’s Attorneys Jacob Harlow and Lauren Maricle.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 7:31 AM.
