WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
As 36 year old Patrick Yoder appeared onto the video stream in the Knox County Common Pleas Courtroom a person in the gallery screamed an expletive as the emotions of Justin Proper being murdered this past weekend spilled over. Proper is alleged to have been shot by Yoder inside the Dollar General Store on Coshocton Avenue in Mount Vernon. Yoder is charged with aggravated murder in the shooting death along with a firearm specification.
Yoder was arraigned on Wednesday and entered a Not Guilty plea as well as a plea of Not Guilty by reason of insanity. Yoder’s legal counsel asked for a competency hearing to be done which means he will be held without bond until the Prosecution and Defense can find out more about his mental state. Prosecuting Attorney in Knox County, Chip McConville, said they believe that mental state is this case is an issue.
McConville explained why this is not a Death Penalty case. He said Aggravated Murder requires that you find one of the statutory factors involved. McConville says this was an aggravated murder that was with prior calculation and design which means Yoder thought about it before he did it is the allegation. McConville said you something else in addition to that to be Death Penalty eligible for instance you kill someone under the age of 13, you kill someone while in the commission of another aggravated felony, you kill multiple victims. There are 10 statutory factors that make it that way and McConville says that none of those apply in this case.
McConville said it’s believed that Proper and Yoder knew each other from a workplace and Prosecutors are working to investigate more of the background behind it. Prosecutors say they have reviewed a lot of surveillance cameras at the Kroger Plaza. It’s believed that Yoder spotted Proper while driving through the parking lot. Yoder then did a loop around one of the aisles and came back and parked in the fire lane right outside the Dollar General and went into the store and fired several shots. There was someone with Yoder during this but police haven’t identify them as they have not been charged.
Yoder has pled Not Guilty and Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. McConville says Not Guilty pleas are saying that the defendant denies doing what was alleged while Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity means you didn’t have the mental state to know that your conduct is wrongful at the time you did it.