After pleading guilty to a lesser charge Tuesday, a Madison man was found not legally responsible for stabbing his roommate multiple times last year.
Luke R. Faircloth, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless injury for stabbing his roommate on Feb. 10, 2019, at the home where they lived in the 800 block of South Midvale Boulevard. Faircloth was originally charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, but the charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement.
Agreeing to a stipulation between Deputy District Attorney Matthew Moeser and state Assistant Public Defender Jon Helland, along with a report by Dr. Michael Spierer, Circuit Judge Nicholas McNamara found Faircloth not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. While Faircloth agreed he committed the crime, the mental defect finding means Faircloth will not be held criminally responsible for the stabbing.
Faircloth
Instead, Faircloth will be examined by the state Department of Health Services, which will recommend the form his mental commitment will take, how long it will last and whether it will involve treatment in a state institution.
Had Faircloth been found legally responsible, he could have faced up to 36 years of combined prison and extended supervision, when penalty enhancers for being a repeat offender and using a dangerous weapon are applied.
According to a criminal complaint, Faircloth claimed to police that the stabbing victim owed Faircloth money. It also states Faircloth made nonsensical statements to police after his arrest.
The complaint states the fiancée of the stabbing victim told police she and her husband-to-be thought in October 2018 they were renting an entire house, but the following month the landlord informed them she was renting a room in the house to Faircloth, who was a stranger to the couple.
They learned Faircloth is schizophrenic and was on extended supervision after serving a prison sentence for an earlier crime in Door County, the complaint states.
The victim said that on Feb. 10, 2019, he walked into the kitchen and was stabbed in the abdomen by Faircloth. During a struggle that ensued, he was stabbed six times, according to the complaint.
The knife narrowly missed the man’s intestines and heart, the complaint states. A doctor said the man would have died without immediate medical help.
Faircloth served a prison sentence for punching a deputy at the Door County Jail two months after his arrest for driving a vehicle stolen in McFarland. He still faces a 2015 burglary charge in Calumet County, but that case has been suspended since 2017.
Shooting death of Monona credit union robbery suspect tops recent local crime news
Man killed by state troopers after shooting at them was Monona credit union robbery suspect, authorities say
A man who was fatally shot by state troopers Dec. 9 near Fort Atkinson after shooting at officers was a suspect in a Monona credit union robbery earlier in the day, authorities said Wednesday.
The State Patrol attempted to stop a car for speeding that contained a driver and one passenger on Highway 26 between Watertown and Johnson Creek about 12:30 p.m. Dec. 9, according to a DOJ statement. The car stopped for a short time, the passenger got out and fled, and the car then drove off.
2 teens arrested for attempted homicide in Sun Prairie shooting investigation, police say
Sun Prairie police, with the help of other law enforcement agencies, arrested two teenagers this week as part of an ongoing shooting investigation in Sun Prairie that was believed to be targeted.
A 16-year-old boy, of Madison, was taken to the Dane County Jail Friday on tentative charges of first-degree attempted homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, Sun Prairie police Lt. Kevin Konopacki said. The boy was identified as the shooter from the incident. He was taken into custody as Sun Prairie police, with the help from several Dane County agencies, executed four search warrants.
Teen arrested after shooting 2 people with compound bow, Janesville police say
A 17-year-old boy was arrested after shooting two people with a compound bow on Sunday night, Janesville police reported.
Officers were dispatched to Mercy Hospital in Janesville shortly before 9 p.m. on a report of two people shot with a compound bow. The two told police they were shot during a disturbance near the 700 block of Walker Street in Janesville, Sgt. Joshua Norem said in a report.
Police release image of thief who stole 75-year-old woman's car as she made food pantry donation
Madison police have released a surveillance video image of a thief who stole a 75-year-old woman's car last month as she walked into a food pantry to make a donation.
Not having a car is creating a real hardship for the woman and her husband, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said in a report.
Update: Madison man arrested for hitting 12-year-old girl with his car
A Madison man was arrested Monday for allegedly hitting a 12-year-old girl with his vehicle and driving away Sunday night, Madison police said.
Sarbjit Bhullar, 36, was tentatively charged with felony hit-and-run causing injury, Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.
‘Someone is going to die today’: Armed man angry over broken snow plow part arrested on way to kill repairman, Janesville police say
An armed man enraged by a broken snow plow part was arrested in a high-risk traffic stop after threatening to kill the repairman, Janesville police reported.
The incident began about 11:20 a.m. Wednesday when officers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at a residence on West Memorial drive in Janesville. Police reported being told that David K. Krause, 56, had left the residence with two handguns and was going to Elkhorn to kill the repairman.
Verona police investigating single-car crash that left Barneveld man with life-threatening injuries
The Verona Police Department is investigating a single-vehicle crash that left a man from Barneveld with life-threatening injuries Tuesday evening.
The dark-colored, full-size SUV crashed on Highway PB in Verona at around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Lt. Mark Horstmann said. The driver, a 45-year-old man from Barneveld, was the only one in the car and taken to a local hospital where he is being treated for his serious injuries.
3 Brodhead men arrested for possession of child pornography after raid, police say
Three Brodhead men were arrested for possession of child pornography on Tuesday night, police reported.
After a 3½-month investigation, Brodhead police and agents from the state Division of Criminal Investigation served a search warrant on a duplex in the 600 block of 1st Center Avenue about 7 p.m., Brodhead Police Chief Chris Hughes said in a report.
North Side shooting death brings 25-year prison sentence
The shooting death of a 19-year-old man in 2019 that was spurred by a simmering conflict led to a 25-year prison sentence Thursday for the man who shot him.
Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds said Larence G. Thomas, 38, should have had the maturity to step back from the conflict between Malik Moss and members of Thomas’ family, not impulsively shoot Moss several times in September 2019 in a parking lot outside the Ridgecrest Apartments on Madison’s North Side
Woman watches thief steal her car while it warms up outside West Side business, Madison police say
A woman watched a thief steal her car while it warmed up outside a West Side business on Wednesday morning, Madison police reported.
The woman told police that she was warming up her car shortly after 6 a.m. in the 400 block of South Yellowstone Drive when she watched a white 4-door KIA with tinted windows and its headlights off pull into a parking spot next to her car, officer Tyler Grigg said in a report.
Ed Treleven | Wisconsin State Journal
Ed Treleven is the courts reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
