The jury found the man was suffering from mental illness when he fatally stabbed his mother

WAUPACA (WLUK) — A jury found Jordan Peters suffered from mental illness when he killed his mother and he was committed to a secure psychiatric facility.

Peters stabbed his mother, Angela Zahn, to death in a vehicle in Clintonville on September 4, 2023.

Last week, a Waupaca County jury convicted him of first-degree intentional homicide. However, based on the plea that he was not guilty by reason of mental illness or defect, the same jury then had to consider whether Peters was suffering from mental illness at the time of the crime and whether this prevented him from distinguishing between right and wrong.

After about three and a half hours of deliberations Monday evening, the jury concluded that Peters did indeed suffer from mental illness. Instead of a mandatory life sentence, Judge Vicki Clussman committed him to the Department of Health and Human Services for life, court records show.

According to the criminal complaint, Peters, now 20, was 19 years old when he stabbed his 39-year-old mother in a car. She later died.

“When Jordan was asked during the interview what happened, he said, “I guess I got really angry and thought about the past and got to the point where I had to incriminate her and I just stabbed her.” Officers asked Jordan why he had the knife with him today, and Jordan stated, “Because I had plans to hurt (Zahn).” Jordan further told investigators that he had wanted to kill (Zahn) for a year and had begun planning to do so within the last week,” the complaint states.