WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Jordan Peters was convicted Thursday of first degree intentional homicide for killing his mother, Angela Zahn, in Clintonville in September 2023.
The jury returns to court today to determine if he will be held mentally responsible for the crime.
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning the guilty verdict Thursday afternoon, court records show. Peters did not testify on his own behalf.
Peters had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The same jury which convicted him Thursday will now decide if he suffered from such a mental condition at the time of the crime, determining if he was able to tell right from wrong when he stabbed his mother.
If the jury rejects the so-called insanity plea, Peters faces mandatory life prison sentence. If the jury accepts he had a mental disease, Peters would be committed to a secure psychiatric facility.
According the criminal complaint, the now 20-year-old Peters was just 19 when he stabbed his 39-year-old mother in a car. She later died.
“He hates me,” she told police, the complaint states.
Peters’ explanation to police cited their past history.
“During the interview when asked about what happened Jordan stated “I guess I got really angry and was thinking about the past and got to that breaking point and just stabbed her”. Officers asked Jordan why he had the knife with him today and Jordan stated “because I had plans to hurt [Zahn].” Jordan went on to tell investigators that he had wanted to kill (Zahn) for the last year and had begun planning it over the last week,” the complaint states.
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