Fate of Rapoza Delayed
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- Created on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 19:22
- Written by Jessica Walsh
ST. JOHNSBURY - Evan Rapoza faced the court Tuesday morning.
Judge Mary Teachout delayed her decision on whether or not he will be allowed to stay at his current rehabilitation home.
Two years ago, 50-year-old Micheal Kuligoski, a repair man for Fred's Propane in Lyndonville, arrived at Rapoza's home to fix a furnace but instead was brutally attacked.The then 21-year-old Rapoza, hit the father of two over the head with a foot-long wrench. Police say that Rapoza then dragged his victim across the floor and then proceeded to drown him in a bucket of water while strangling him with a belt.
Kuligoski spent nearly fifteen months in three different states recovering from this attack that could have possibly ended his life. Rapoza however, hasn't served a single day in jail. After many psychiatric evaluations, he was found "insane" during the attack and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Both the state and the defense agreed that Rapoza should be confined to the state's mental health facility instead of a prison.
After two years spent at the Meadowview Recovery Residence, a secure mental health treatment center in Brattleboro, the Department of Mental health released Rapoza without the approval of a judge. The state admitted the mistake, and today Rapoza was back in court to find out where he should go next. His doctor, Robert Linder, said Rapoza should stay where he is for now for many reasons. "Inside his head, he has more than himself up there," Dr. Linder explained on the stand.
Rapoza sat in the courtroom Tuesday morning, never making eye contact with his parents who were in the back of the courtroom. While his doctor went on to tell the judge that "medication has been effective, but it hasn't been a cure of any kind'', Rapoza calmly took a sip of water. Dr. Linder went even further to say that "there will never be a time in the near future when Rapoza is risk free". Dr. Linder explained to the courtroom that Rapoza hears voices in his head and even experiences delusional ideas. Right now, Kuligoski is still struggling to recover from that horrific day while the state of Vermont is still trying figure out the fate of Rapoza.
