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Crystal Ann Curtis


Indiana Man Gets 55-year Sentence in Wife's Slaying

Updated: Thursday, 20 Jan 2011, 3:51 PM EST

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - A central Indiana man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for stabbing to death his sleeping wife with an ornamental dagger.

Forty-six-year-old Thomas E. Curtis was sentenced Wednesday by a Delaware County judge who had found Curtis guilty of murder but mentally ill last month in the December 2009 killing of his 27-year-old wife, Crystal, in the couple's Muncie home.

Authorities said Curtis immediately called 911 dispatchers after the fatal attack and said, "I think I just killed my wife."

The Star Press reports that mental health professionals testified during Curtis' bench trial that he had been diagnosed with bi-polar and "intermittent explosive" disorders, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Public defender Kelly Bryan said his client's "thinking was disturbed by mental illness."

UPDATE:

August 26, 2011

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that a judge wrongly sentenced a Muncie man to prison for killing his wife and that he should instead be sent to a mental hospital. The decision overturns the verdict of guilty but mentally ill on murder charges that Thomas Curtis, 47, received last year after a bench trial. It orders that he be found not guilty by reason of insanity for stabbing Crystal Curtis, 27, with an ornamental dagger while she slept in 2009.

The Star Press reported that a psychiatrist testified that Curtis might not spend much time hospitalized after going on anti-psychotic medications. The appeals court ruled that the judge's concerns over public safety weren't grounds for a guilty verdict. Delaware County prosecutors say an appeal of the ruling is unlikely.

(Commentary: Unbelievable!!!)

7 comments:

Lena marie clark said...

Im glad that he got sentenced to 55 yrs,I had bad feelings when i met eyes on him that he was a gut grrr making me sick to my stomach, so many lies hes told my sister.This lie he isnt getting out of.My sister has justice that was her only way out of the controling relationship!We miss her soo much! .God bless my sister RIP CRYSTAL ANN SCROGGS,Love Mom,jerry,michelle,Lena,Amber and niece/nephews FOREVER AMEN....

Anonymous said...

Crystal was my step mom and yea my dad killed her. I am sorry for what happened to her and my dad gets what he deserves for it. I wish I got to spend more time with her before she died. Her and my dad came to see me and my son in the hospital when he was born that same year. I am going to miss her a whole lot.

Anonymous said...

hey crystal this is your sis for life, bernadette lawson i love u and miss you alot. wish you were here to see the boys grow up. RIP i will hold youy in my heart always. you will never be forgotten. love you always and forever

Carrie redwine said...

I was the teenager that was staying the night when crystal was murdered. Crystal was so full of life and when I needed somebody the most she was always there to help me through whatever I was going through. What happened to her was horrible. Nobody understands what it's like to see somebody that means a lot to you somebody that's a friend to slip away and die, especially in such a horrific way. I still have nightmares to this day and I'm now 20. What happened is something I'll never forget, but I am engaged now and the happiest I've ever been. I finally feel like I can get on with my Life.

PoetFeather said...

Hi carrie,
Im crystals sister i often wondered how you were holding up you were very dear to my sister and thank you for loving her.I dont know you but i am sorry for what you saw you shouldn't off saw that.

You will ways be a part of crystal life im sure she misses you too.
God bless you
Lena

PoetFeather said...

Carrie, i have a face book page set up in her honor Crystal ann curtis-Scroggs,you can look back and remember her as we do.

Cheyanne said...

Hey,my names Cheyanne I was Crystals bestfriend I was 11 years old when she died, I'm now 18 and I miss her everyday of my life, her death was the worst thing for me to ever go through, though I wasn't there when it happened like Carrie was, I am still scared by it, I still cry very often about her death, though I know I'll see her again one day, I miss her not being here to see me graduate like we had talked about when she was alive

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