Styer pleads not guilty by mental disease or defect
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Gary Styer, who is accused in his death of his father, Edward Styer of Colfax, has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by mental disease or defect.
Styer, age 51, appeared with his attorneys, Liesel E. Nelson and Jeremiah Harrelson, for an arraignment hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court May 22 before Judge Rod W. Smeltzer.
Styer is charged with one felony count of first degree intentional homicide, with the modifiers of use of a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse inflicting physical pain or injury, in the death of his 78-year-old father on January 15 at the Styer home south of Colfax.
Section 971.15 of the Wisconsin Statutes defines not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, which is also referred to as “NGI.” A defendant can be considered NGI if the defendant lacks the capacity to understand his or her conduct was wrong and is so ill, he or she cannot understand what has been done is illegal. A defendant also can be considered NGI if the person is so ill, he or she cannot control his or her actions.
In the case of a trial where a defendant has pleaded NGI, the prosecution must prove the person is guilty of the crime, and it is then up to the defendant to convince the jury that he or she is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Evaluation
At the May 22 hearing, Harrelson asked the court to appoint someone to conduct a mental health evaluation for Styer.
Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf said she had been speaking with Styer’s attorneys and had been researching names for the evaluation.
Autism may be an issue in finding someone to do the evaluation, Nodolf said.
If the district attorney and Styer’s attorneys cannot agree on one person to do the mental health evaluation, Nodolf said she would file a letter with the court listing two or three possibilities.
“We will work together to find someone,” she said.
Judge Smeltzer asked that the recommendations for a mental health professional be submitted to the court within 20 days.
The order for a mental health evaluation will be prepared within 24 hours of receiving the recommendations, the judge said.
Styer is scheduled for another hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court July 24.
While Nelson said she would be able to attend the July 24 court hearing, Harrelson said he would be unable to attend.
When Judge Smeltzer asked if it was acceptable to have only one of his attorneys in court, Styer nodded in agreement.
Judge Smeltzer said that while it was acceptable to Styer for only one attorney to be present in court, the judge still wanted the defendant to have the representation of both attorneys and asked Harrelson to attend the court hearing by telephone or through the online platform Zoom.
Welfare check
According to the criminal complaint, a caller had contacted the 911 Communications Center on January 15 and said he or she had received information from a client that Edward Styer may or may not be alive and requested a welfare check.
Dunn County deputies were dispatched to the Styer residence on state Highway 40 in the Town of Colfax at around 6 p.m. January 15.
The deputies discovered the main door of the residence was locked and secured and then received additional information from another investigator that Edward Styer was in a bedroom on the first floor of the residence and deceased, according to the criminal complaint.
The investigator had gone to Eau Claire and was speaking with Gary Styer at the Eau Claire public library.
The deputies forced the door open, and after clearing the first floor of the residence, came to a bedroom door that was open six inches and observed a white male lying on his back, covered in blood.
The deputies initially suspected there had been a gunshot wound to the head, the complaint states.
A provisional autopsy report indicated Edward Styer had sustained multiple blunt force injuries, including facial fractures, skull fractures, cerebral contusions, vertebral fractures and soft tissue hemorrhage, according to the criminal complaint.
“The cause of death was determined to be due to multiple blunt force head injuries and the manner of death was indicated as homicide,” the complaint states.
At the time of the arraignment hearing May 22, Styer remained in custody on a $250,000 cash bail set on January 20.
