A Massachusetts man accused of killing an Appalachian Trail hiker with a machete two years ago was found not guilty “by reason of insanity” last week.
James Jordan, 32, was arrested and charged with murder and “assault with intent to murder” in May 2019 after officials said he attacked a group of hikers on the trail in Virginia — fatally stabbing 43-year-old Ronald S. Sanchez, Jr. of Oklahoma and injuring a woman, McClatchy News previously reported.
A few weeks before the attack, other hikers had reported that Jordan — who was wielding a machete and calling himself “Sovereign” — threatened and terrorized them along the trail in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Then, in May, Sanchez set up camp with three other hikers in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, The Washington Post reports based on court records. Jordan, who the hikers said they recognized due to his “erratic behavior,” was camping nearby.
When Jordan started acting “increasingly disturbed and unstable,” Sanchez and the others decided to leave.
“Jordan began randomly approaching the hikers’ tents, making noises and threatening the hikers,” FBI Agent Micah Childers wrote in 2019, according to MassLive. “Jordan spoke to the hikers through their tents and threatened to pour gasoline on their tents and burn them to death.”
When the four tried to leave the camp, officials say Jordan ran after two of them with the machete, MassLive reports. Jordan returned to the campsite, where officials say he fatally stabbed Sanchez.
A woman saw the attack and ran. But feds say Jordan caught up to her, stabbing her multiple times, The Washington Post reports. She survived and was able to call 911.
Jordan was arrested and charged on May 11, records show.
He was originally found incompetent to stand trial due to a “history of mental illness,” The Associated Press reports, but a judge later overturned that ruling.
Forensic psychologists later examined Jordan and found he suffered from schizoaffective disorder and acute psychotic symptoms during the attack and that he was “unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts,” The Boston Globe reports based on court documents.
He pleaded not guilty “by reason of insanity” in connection to the killing of Sanchez.
On Thursday, Jordan was found “not guilty solely by reason of insanity to all counts of the indictment,” in the U.S. District Court of Western Virginia, court records show.
The judge ordered that he be “committed to the custody of the Attorney General until he has recovered” or until his release would “no longer create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another or serious damage to property of another,” court records show.
Jordan read an apology in court, the AP reports, and his attorney said Jordan is “deeply remorseful for the profound sorrow he has caused.”
Several statements from victims and Sanchez’s family were also filed in connection with the plea.
“I am haunted by Mr. Jordan’s actions in May 2019,” the woman who was attacked wrote, according to MassLive. “And, as a direct consequence of his actions, I am also haunted by my own decisions. I watched and listened in helpless near disbelief as Mr. Jordan transformed before my eyes from a bewildered, confused man into a violent animal. I saw him attack and murder a good, kind man. And I remember his eyes when I tried to run, and when I looked back over my shoulder. They are burned into my mind.”
Sanchez’s girlfriend urged the judge to keep Jordan in custody.
“I would never want anyone else to have to go through the living hell of pain and heartache that I have been put in because of this person,” she wrote, according to MassLive. “The risk is too high.”
Sanchez was a military veteran and was attempting to hike the entire 2,190 mile trail.
“What gets me the most is wondering how my sweet brother took his last breath,” Jayme Miller, Sanchez’s sister, wrote, according to The Boston Globe. “I can’t imagine being stabbed multiple times and then left there in the dark, cold wilderness to bleed to death.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 12:59 PM.
