The author of a murderous shooting in a local American newspaper appears from Tuesday before a jury, which will have to say whether he should end his life in prison or in a mental hospital.
Armed with a shotgun, Jarrod Ramos burst into the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, one hour from Washington on June 28, 2018, where he had killed five people before being arrested.
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The drama, one of the worst attacks on a media outlet in the United States, had sent shock waves through the country. Then president, Donald Trump had denounced a
"horrible"
attack
which
"shocks the conscience of our country"
. Charged with murder, Jarrod Ramos, now 41, pleaded guilty but said he was criminally irresponsible. He must now convince a jury of twelve citizens that his discernment was altered by mental problems.
At the opening of the proceedings Tuesday, his lawyer assured that he suffered, among other things, from autism spectrum disorders, as well as from compulsive and delusional disorders.
"It's scary but Mr. Ramos still doesn't believe what he did was wrong,"
Katy O'Donnell said, quoted by local channel WBAL-TV. She admitted that he had spent two years preparing for his attack, had scouted and even taken out a chess club membership in anticipation of his detention.
Jarrod Ramos had a conflicted relationship with the Capital Gazette after having unsuccessfully attacked it for defamation and threatened it several times on the internet. He blamed him for a 2011 article titled
Jarrod Wants to Be Your Friend
, in which the newspaper recounted the ordeal of a young woman he had harassed on the internet, which earned him a 90-day suspended prison sentence. The trial is to last ten days.