Assailant found not guilty because of mental illness in fatal stabbing at Minneapolis home

A judge has ruled that a 34-year-old man was mentally ill and therefore not guilty of breaking into a northeast Minneapolis home and fatally stabbing a man as the victim’s wife watched in horror.

Franklin Terrol White of Akron, Ohio, encountered 32-year-old Ryan J. Peterson on Aug. 12, 2022, in the living room of the home in the 1800 block of NE. Arthur Street, stabbed him and left the knife in his neck, according to the criminal complaint.

Peterson’s wife, Kassie Peterson, who had a court order of protection against White, fled the home without being harmed by White, whom she knew in high school in Ohio.

Law enforcement caught up with White and arrested him that same day 200 miles away in Mauston, Wis.

On Thursday, Hennepin County Judge Juan Hoyos reviewed psychiatric reports from two doctors and concluded that White is “not guilty because a defect of reason by mental illness caused him to not appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions” when he killed Peterson.

In the same ruling, Hoyos then ordered the County Attorney’s Office to petition the court to have White civilly committed to the state’s secure treatment facility in St. Peter.

The judge, citing one doctor’s report, wrote that “White exhibited behavior showing knowledge of the legal wrongfulness of the acts comprising the alleged offense, but [White’s] reason was impaired by mental illness making Mr. White unaware of the moral wrongfulness of the acts.”

The doctor’s report, Hoyos continued, disclosed that “White reported auditory hallucinations from the ‘hive mind’ directing him to perform the criminal act for the purpose of saving a woman.”

A second doctor found that “the vast majority of evidence indicates Mr. White was experiencing pronounced symptoms of psychosis at the time of the alleged offense.”

Peterson’s parents were in the courtroom Thursday when Hoyos handed down his verdict and issued a joint statement.

“Even though we knew that he would not go to prison, it was stunning to hear that decision made in court,” the parents said. “With all of this presented before the judge, there cannot be a guilty plea and a prison term because Franklin has [a] mental illness, and the current county administration favors rehabilitation over public safety.”

The Petersons added that “we are now left with immense grief over losing a supportive, brilliant and loving son. ... We have a sense of constant insecurity because there are no set time frames for Franklin to be confined to prison and away from the public. We are sad and supportive that Kassie has moved out of the country to try to rebuild her life and feel safe.”

At the time of the stabbing, White was under supervised release while awaiting trial on charges that in February 2022 he broke into the Akron home belonging to Kassie Peterson’s parents “in a severely impaired mental state,” said attorney Peter Pattakos, who is representing the family members.

The wrongful-death suit against those whose responsibility was to keep tabs on White is proceeding toward a trial date next year, the parents said Friday.

Named as defendants are Summit County, various municipal officials and two companies the county contracts with — Oriana House and Community Support Services (CSS) — to help monitor and support defendants while they are released either before or after their criminal cases are resolved.

Pattakos is alleging in the suit that the county’s efforts since 2006 to save money by jailing fewer suspects awaiting trial led to White being moved to the CSS-operated Oriana House, where he cut off his electronic monitoring device, drove more than 11 hours, arrived in Minneapolis and killed Ryan Peterson.