A sanity hearing continues for a Redding man convicted last week in the August 2024 murder of his neighbor in the Wilshire Drive neighborhood west of Bechelli. 36-year-old Robert Parker Milton shot 71-year-old William Dressler and then, as Dressler was pleading for someone to help him, Milton struck him in the head twice with a cinder block, killing him. After a psychological assessment the court sent Milton for treatment at Napa State Hospital. He returned and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. During trial Milton’s defense argued that he was driven by psychosis and paranoid delusions and that he thought Dressler was a cyborg or doppelganger who had been sent to kill him and replace him. Last Wednesday a jury found Milton guilty of charges that include first degree murder. They also found to be true enhancements that the crime involved great violence and a high degree of cruelty, viciousness or callousness, and that he’s a danger to society. There’s no doubt that Milton is going to be locked up for a long time, possibly for life. The sanity phase of the trial now underway will determine whether he goes to a mental institution or state prison.
-Steve Gibson