Exantus v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 17 December 2020 |
| Docket Number | 2018-SC-0241-MR |
| Citation | 612 S.W.3d 871 |
| Parties | Ronald EXANTUS, Appellant v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: Karen Shuff Maurer, Frankfort, Roy A. Durham, II, Assistant Public Advocate, Department of Public Advocacy.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: Daniel Jay Cameron, Attorney General of Kentucky, Thomas A. Van De Rostyne, Assistant Attorney General.
Ronald Exantus was found not guilty by reason of insanity of one count of murder, not guilty by reason of insanity of one count of first-degree burglary, guilty but mentally ill of two counts of second-degree assault, and guilty but mentally ill of one count of fourth-degree assault. He now appeals his resulting twenty-year sentence to this Court as a matter of right.1 After review, we affirm.
Exantus was a thirty-two-year-old dialysis nurse from Indianapolis, Indiana. He worked with dialysis patients for ten years with the same company, first as a technician and later as a registered nurse. His coworkers and supervisors described him without exception as an exemplary, dependable, and trustworthy employee. He had no previous criminal convictions, though it was undisputed that he smoked marijuana regularly. He had no documented history of mental illness.
The series of events that led to the tragic outcome of this case began to unfold in the first week of December 2015. During that week Exantus’ girlfriend of three years, Lauren, began noticing that he was exhibiting odd behavior. She testified that she first noticed on Monday or Tuesday of that week that he was not sleeping as much as he normally did. Lauren, as well as her parents Will and Lisa, noticed that Exantus also was not eating much. This was highly unusual as Exantus, a former semiprofessional linebacker, is a man of large stature and was known to eat a lot. He also began having crying spells. Both Lauren and Lisa testified that these crying spells were the first time either of them saw him cry. His coworkers also noted unusual behavior that week. He was very "giddy and bubbly" at work, when ordinarily he was very serious and grounded. He was also speaking at a much louder volume than normal. One coworker stated he discussed his personal life with her, which he had not done in the ten years she worked with him. Another said he put his arm around her during a conversation. This was notable to her as he, historically, was not someone who showed affection to others in that way.
All of this uncharacteristic behavior came to a head on Sunday, December 6th. Exantus cried the whole time he and Lauren were getting dressed for church that morning, but he could not articulate what was wrong. Towards the end of the church service, he began crying again and asked to speak to Lauren's mother. Lisa testified she and Exantus went outside to the church parking lot. She tried to talk to him, but he was rambling and saying things that did not make sense to her. At one point he dropped to the ground and started crying again. Eventually she was able to calm him down and they went back inside the church.
Not long after Exantus was back inside he started causing a commotion in the back of the sanctuary, so Will and a pastor took Exantus back outside to the parking lot. Will testified Exantus was babbling and saying things that did not make sense. The pastor, who met Exantus for the first time that day, testified that Exantus was very animated while he was talking. He further attested that he gathered that Exantus was asking him spiritual questions, but his words were out of order. Exantus did not seem to realize that his words were not coherent. The pastor also stated Exantus’ emotions went from joy, to sorrow, and back to joy within a five to eight-minute period. He fell to the ground and cried in front of them as well.
Ultimately, they went back into the church and sat with the rest of Lauren's family. Exantus then began pointing at people and saying they were police officers and investigators. Soon after that, he got on one knee and proposed to Lauren while sobbing hysterically. Lauren stated this was completely unexpected, and she rushed him to get off the floor because it embarrassed her.
Later that afternoon Lauren and Exantus went shopping for an engagement ring, as he did not have one when he proposed. The woman working at the jewelry store testified they were in the store for about an hour. She said they were both very happy and she did not notice anything unusual about Exantus’ behavior, though she had never met him before.
That evening they went to dinner with Lauren's family. Exantus started crying again during dinner and asked Will to go outside with him two different times. Will said when he was outside with him, Exantus was crying and started saying things about his patients and that he was sorry for something that happened at work. Will asked him what happened but Exantus would not tell him. Will was able to get him to calm down and go back inside the restaurant, but Exantus did not eat the food he ordered.
When Lauren and Exantus got home from dinner they began looking at items for their wedding. Lauren had him take NyQuil because she thought his behavior would return to normal if he got some sleep. Instead of going to sleep he suddenly got out of bed and told her he did not want to marry her or be with her. He also said that he was not going to hurt her, but he had to go. Lauren testified that he said all of this with a calm, flat affect and, though his words were directed at her, he was not looking at her when he said them. According to Lauren, he left their home between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. He took his personal cell phone, but not his work cellphone despite the fact that he was on call. Lauren said she tried calling and texting him several times after he left, but he never answered or responded.
The evidence presented at trial suggested Exantus was planning to drive from Indiana to Florida where his family lived. Instead, he ended up in a neighborhood in Versailles, Kentucky, a place he had never been before. Exantus would later tell investigators that he saw a street sign that said either "Grey's Street" or "Grey's Road."2 He said the sign made him think of the television show "Grey's Anatomy," which in turn made him believe he needed to perform surgery. The house he chose to enter was the home of the Tipton family. He said he selected the home because of the Christmas lights on the outside.
The members of the Tipton family living in the home at that time were a married couple, Dean and Heather, and their five children: K.T.3 (11 years old), L.T. (9 years old), D.T. (7 years old), Logan (6 years old), and A.T.4 The home had two stories: Dean and Heather's bedroom was downstairs, and all of the children slept in a bedroom on the second floor. Heather was working a night shift when the following events took place, but Dean and all five children were home.
Shortly before 4 a.m. on December 7th, Exantus entered the home through the unlocked front door.5 He went into the kitchen on the first floor of the home and got a butcher knife and a butter knife. He then went upstairs to the children's bedroom. He entered the bedroom and stabbed Logan in the back of the head with the butcher knife eight times. The oldest child, K.T., testified that she awoke to the sound of Logan screaming. When she realized what was happening, K.T. yelled at Exantus to stop and kicked him. Exantus then turned to K.T. and came at her with the butter knife. She grabbed the knife out of his hand. Exantus asked for the knife back and K.T. gave it to him. Exantus then ran the butter knife up her stomach and cut her nose with it.
By that point, L.T. had gone downstairs to get Dean. When Dean reached the top of the stairs, Exantus came at him with the butcher knife raised and a struggle ensued. Dean was able to get the knife away from Exantus, but Dean's pre-existing shoulder injury was re-injured during the fight. Dean told K.T. to go downstairs and call the police. All of the children except for Logan went downstairs with her, and she called 911. The police arrived shortly after and placed Exantus under arrest. The paramedics arrived thereafter and attempted to save Logan's life but were unable to do so. It was later discovered that Exantus also cut D.T.’s back at some point during the chaos.
At trial, the Commonwealth sought the death penalty. Its theory of the case was that Exantus smoked or otherwise took some illegal substance which caused him to commit these crimes. The defense conceded that Exantus committed the acts and instead focused its case on proving that he was legally insane when he committed them. The defense adamantly denied that Exantus’ mental state during the crimes was caused by any kind of drug, illegal or otherwise.
Forensic toxicologists from the Kentucky State Police laboratory and a private lab hired by the defense tested blood samples taken from Exantus shortly after his arrest. Jason Berry, a forensic scientist with the Kentucky State Police, tested Exantus’ blood for the presence of drugs. His test results showed the presence of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. However, he stated with certainty that the compound was inactive at the time Exantus’ blood sample was drawn and was therefore not having an active effect on him. The defense's private lab found only doxylamine, a metabolite found in NyQuil and other sleep aids, in Exantus’ blood sample. Nothing else was found, though both witnesses acknowledged that new drugs are being created continually, and it was possible that drugs existed which the labs did not yet test for. Additionally, less than a gram of marijuana was found loose in the floorboard of Exantus’ vehicle. That marijuana was tested by the Kentucky State Police crime lab, and their tests concluded it was not laced with any of the substances they test for – PCP, MDMA, etc.
The sole mental...
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