Judge denies motion to reconsider guilty verdict in fatal 2020 fatal crash near Hebron

A McHenry County judge denied a defense attorney’s motion Thursday to reconsider his guilty verdict, claiming the judge had erred in finding his client guilty of murder by reason of insanity in connection with a fatal crash near Hebron in 2020.

Judge Michael Coppedge found William P. Bishop, 44, of Chicago guilty but mentally ill in November of first-degree murder, two counts each of aggravated battery and aggravated driving under the influence.

Bishop, who has a documented history of mental illness, said he was hearing voices in the days leading up to May 18, 2020, telling him to kill himself.

On the day of the crash, he had traveled from his apartment in Chicago west to clear his head. He said he was traveling along Vanderkarr Road when the voices that were coming through the radio told him to cross over the centerline and hit an oncoming van, doctors testified during the bench trial.

But instead of killing himself, Bishop killed Jason Miller, 41, of McHenry and critically injured his passenger, Rory Fiali, 58, also of McHenry. The men had just finished a job hanging windows in Harvard.

The verdict means that although Bishop may have been experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the crash, he still had the capacity to discern right from wrong. It also means that when he is sentenced to prison, he would be eligible to receive mental health treatment.

His defense attorney Robert Deters argued Thursday that the judge erred in not giving more weight to two experts who testified that Bishop was having a psychotic break, experiencing hallucinations and hearing auditory commands, and was insane at the time of the crash.

He referred to witnesses first on the scene who testified that Bishop was at times “nonsensical.”

He also said more weight should have been given to doctors who cared for him at the hospital who also testified that they were concerned for his mental health even when he was discharged weeks later.

He said that experts on both sides diagnosed him with bipolar depression type II with manic episodes, and he was in the throes of a mental health crisis at the time of the crash.

Deters referred to statements Bishop reportedly made following the crash, such as “I would never have done this if my brain didn’t tell me to,” proving he was in the midst of a psychotic episode.

But Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito refuted any claims that Bishop was not guilty by reason of insanity.

She said although he was diagnosed with a mental illness, he also was intoxicated at the time of the crash, which one expert testified could have triggered his mental illness that day.

Still, this did not rise to the level of not guilty by reason of insanity, she said.

She said a person can have “command hallucinations” and still be found sane under the law. She referenced cases where such a verdict was rendered. One involved a mother who killed her children and dogs because she believed she had to save their souls, Romito said.

Based on comments Bishop made after the crash and while in the hospital, including asking how much this situation would cost him, would he lose his license and should he move to Canada, all show he “was aware what he was doing was wrong,” she said.

“I submit your honor’s ruling is correct,” Romito said.

Coppedge said he weighed and considered all of the evidence, experts and witness testimony in his ruling and denied the motion for reconsideration and a new trial.

“The court cannot and does not find [Bishop] not guilty by reason of insanity,” Coppedge said.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 26.

Bishop, who had been out on bond awaiting his trial, had his bond revoked after the judge made his ruling in November and is currently being held in the McHenry County jail without bond.