The defense team for a Fond du Lac man accused of killing a former police officer aren’t denying that their client killed him, but they do say it was not a hate crime.
29-year-old Daniel Navarro’s trial began yesterday (August 8th) as he faces charges including 1st Degree Intentional Homicide with a Hate Crime Enhancer.
He allegedly ran his truck into the back of a motorcycle carrying 55-year-old Philip Thiessen.
His defense team told the court that he was actually trying to escape his home, and that he believed his neighbors were poisoning him.
They say that Navarro believed that killing Theisen was “the only way he could think to be removed from his home.”
District Attorney Eric Toney pointed out that Navarro repeatedly brought up race, and told police that his actions were intentional.
Navarro has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and the trial is expected to last all week.
