A Michigan man has pled insanity after being charged with the murder of his wife.
Troy Burke has been incarcerated after murdering his wife in January of 2021
Burke, 45, shot his wife Jessica, 29, three times in the small town of Elwell, Michigan and just a year later has entered a plea of insanity that could keep him from serving hard time.
The plea came after Burke underwent two forensic psychiatric evaluations which both concluded while Burke admitted to the killing, his reasoning for doing so crossed into delusions making him unfit to stand trial.
The evaluations noted Burke had a history of mental illness that led to multiple stints in mental health institutions.
Burke's attorney, Sarah Huyser, said of Burke:
"He could tell me why he was in jail. He could tell what my job was, the judge's job, the prosecutor's job. He's an articulate and intelligent man."
However, Huyser said Burke reportedly told prosecutors his reason for killing Jessica was because the conspiracy group QAnon told him to.
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy cult that claims the world is run by a secret cabal of Satanic pedophiles who run a global underground sex trafficking ring they are working to take down with the help of former President Donald Trump.
Burke claimed QAnon representatives contacted him through his tablet and told him his wife was a secret CIA agent and needed to be killed.
He also claimed his wife was originally a son of President Joe Biden and had a "sex change operation" before becoming his wife.
Burke even told investigators he believed he had a neuro-link chip implanted in his brain.
Huyser said:
"He believed them. They may sound illogical to us. They may, when we hear them, we are thinking that's crazy for the lack of a better way to say that, but imagine being in the mindset where all of that is very real and very scary."
Twitter users are outraged over the newest in a line of QAnon-related murders.
Each QAnon murder is slightly different in circumstances, and equally horrifying for the families and loved ones left behind.https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— Mike Rothschild (@Mike Rothschild) 1644462810
Ok guys when are we going to shut this down?— Steven Erickson-Charles \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc68\ud83c\udffc\u200d\ud83e\udd1d\u200d\ud83d\udc68\ud83c\udffb (@Steven Erickson-Charles \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc68\ud83c\udffc\u200d\ud83e\udd1d\u200d\ud83d\udc68\ud83c\udffb) 1644439428
Right wing conspiracy circles are full of transphobic paranoias such as "transvestigations" where theorists study pictures of famous cis people to try to find proof that they are transgender deceivers.\n\nQAnon killer Troy Burke beleived his victim, his wife, was a trans woman.https://twitter.com/pinealdecalcify/status/1491828601590800393\u00a0\u2026— allie mezei (@allie mezei) 1644514943
How many have to die before Qanon is declared a public health crisis? @CDCDirector @CDCgov— \ud83e\udd8b\ud83d\udc9cLarissa\ud83d\udc9c\ud83e\udd8b (@\ud83e\udd8b\ud83d\udc9cLarissa\ud83d\udc9c\ud83e\udd8b) 1644439653
Reasons of Insanity? ok, so are we now classifying QAnon as a terrorist group yet?— Luke Breslin (@Luke Breslin) 1644439296
Like all cults these are the types of people QAnon attracts.https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— KwitFollowingMe\ud83d\udc89GeorgeWashingtonMandatedVaccines (@KwitFollowingMe\ud83d\udc89GeorgeWashingtonMandatedVaccines) 1644525323
This QAnon nut killed his wife because someone said she was a spy. This is almost as bad as the guy who killed his own 2 babies because he thought they had Serpent DNA. Those people are dangerous.https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— Morgaine Swann (@Morgaine Swann) 1644466636
This awful. A mentally ill man, indoctrinated into a cult of mentally ill people, amplified by some of our politicians. Started by an orange idiot and all of it funded by dark money. Nothing to see here folks. Nothing at all. \n#AreWeDoomedYethttps://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— Bringer of Context (@Bringer of Context) 1644464427
This would be at least the 6th murder tied to QAnon. https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1425565345239142408\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— Alex Kaplan (@Alex Kaplan) 1644439127
Tragic story but one that fits a larger pattern that we found in our research on QAnon crimes: 10 out of 11 victims of QAnon violence had close relationships with their attackers. 9 of the victims were the offenders' family members or children.https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1491504502486175744\u00a0\u2026— Michael Jensen (@Michael Jensen) 1644463827
Burke was sent to the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry where he will be held for more testing. It is likely he will then be sent to a state mental hospital.
Burke will continue to undergo regular evaluations. If his mental health improves and he passes these evaluations, it is possible he could be released.
Huyser said:
"A lot of it is going to depend on where those delusions are and where that mental illness is."
Huyser also urged those with mental health issues—and their loved ones—to reach out for help.
"If the general population knew what was out there as a resource, it's a possibility this could have had a different outcome."
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