Death row inmate Guy Tobias LeGrande will not be executed at the hands of the state for the 1993 shotgun slaying of 26-year-old mother of two Ellen Munford.
Superior Court Judge Robert Bell delivered his case ruling Friday to LeGrande’s attorneys, reporting him as incompetent due to severe mental illness.
That label — incompetent — became the crux of LeGrande’s embattled journey in and out of court and mental evaluation facilities as attorneys, psychiatrists and judges sought to analyze and define his true mental state.
LeGrande, 49, who claims competency, refused legal council and represented himself in the murder trial.
He did so after co-conspirator, Ellen’s estranged husband, Howard Thomas “Tommy” Munford Jr., detailed the murder-for-hire scenario to investigators.
In addition to garish courtroom etiquette while representing himself, shouting at times and mumbling incoherently at others to the jury, LeGrande presented insufficient evidence to clear his name.
He was sentenced to death April 26, 1996 in Stanly County Superior Court for Munford’s first-degree murder, with a consecutive nine-year sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
LeGrande’s attorney, Jay Ferguson, believes and argued that his client, who summarily rejected legal advice throughout the execution hearings, should never have been considered for execution.
For Ferguson, the finding of LeGrande’s incompetence is a conclusion long overdue from the court.
“Guy LeGrande was delusional at the time of the crime, he was delusional while representing himself in his own trial for his life and he is delusional today,” Ferguson said.
“The court has finally stepped in and halted a colossal miscarriage of justice, the execution of a seriously mentally ill man.”
LeGrande is also represented by attorney James Monroe.
Scheduled to be put to death Dec. 1, 2006, until Bell stayed the execution and ordered further competency evaluation, LeGrande was again scrutinized by mental health experts.
Bell heard from three mental health officials during a two-day hearing in June — one hired by the state, one by the defense and one served as the court’s expert.
All three agreed LeGrande was mentally ill, but where the state’s expert found him competent, the court’s and defense’s experts found him incompetent.
The court’s expert, a Dorothea Dix Hospital psychiatrist who had never found a death row inmate too mentally ill to proceed, could not conclude that LeGrande was competent.
Since his initial incarceration, LeGrande has written numerous letters explaining he’s anticipating a pardon and a large cash settlement at the conclusion of all legal proceedings on his behalf.
In some of the letters he referred to court proceedings and execution dates as “scare tactics” and “delays,” keeping him from his release and his money.
He’s written to family members detailing his expectations to live comfortably on a tropical island with plenty of money to share with them.
LeGrande is considered by some to be an intelligent, severely mentally ill man attempting to appear less affected by his delusions and psychoses than he may actually be, lending to a court declared status of incompetent.
That possibility was explored in court and the term for such behavior used during testimony was “faking good,” a known practice of some mentally ill individuals.
Others believe he is at the other end of the mental spectrum, trying to pass himself off as suffering from greater mental abnormality than he actually does, suggesting he may, after all, be competent to face execution.
Individuals who attempt to appear affected by a non-existent illness or overly affected by a mild illness are termed “faking bad.”
As per the court’s findings and decision, LeGrande will be spared capital punishment.
He remains in prison.
Bipolar disorder with psychotic features, delusional disorder and schizoaffective disorder are among the illnesses LeGrande has been diagnosed as suffering from.
His sister, Florence LeGrande, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and his half sister, Veronica Green, has been diagnosed with chronic paranoid schizophrenia, according to mental health reports. She has an extensive history of mental health treatment, including inpatient psychiatric care.
Following his statements to prosecutors and subsequent court appearances, Tommy Munford Jr. was found to be directly involved in the murder and is serving a life sentence in prison handed down in 1996.
Although he was out of town headed for Myrtle Beach, S.C. at the time of the actual slaying, he was later found guilty of solicitation to commit murder and second degree murder.
Blackmail letters LeGrande wrote to Munford Jr. in 1993 demanding $10,000 for the crime further linked the two men, who first met while working together at Jay’s Downtowner, an Albemarle seafood restaurant.
Case evidence suggests Munford Jr. hoped to collect $50,000 in insurance money from his wife’s death.
In July 1993, the day the young mother was killed, she was home at 40379 Tower Road, where she and her then boyfriend, David Swaringen, lived.
Swaringen arrived home in the evening to discover her body inside the house and called the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office at 6:24 p.m., launching the murder investigation.
Jay Almond can be contacted by email at snaponline21@carolina.rr.com.
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July 3, 2008
LeGrande found incompetent
Inmate will not receive death penalty for Munford murder
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