Edward Cable points to the spot where a bullet hit his car as he was driving. He was one of those shot at in a series of over 20 sniper attacks in the region. A woman doing Christmas shopping was killed in one attack, sparking fears of a D.C. sniper copycat (Ohio, 2003) [1320 x 856].

The woman killed was 62-year-old Gail Knisley

The shooter was 28-year-old Charles A. McCoy Jr.

Columbus sniper Charles McCoy had central Ohio driving in fear 20 years ago

John Allen Muhammad was a domestic abuser, child molester who groomed his younger accomplice, and a cold-blooded murderer. However, during the murder trial of Charles McCoy Jr. in 2005, a very different picture emerged.

McCoy Defense Begins; Mother Apologizes to Victim's Family (below is an excerpt from the article, not all of it)

The defense in the jury trial of suspected "Highway Shooter" Charles McCoy went on offense today in an effort to spare their client a possible death sentence. McCoy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to a string of shootings on or near interstate highways in late 2003 and early 2004, including the fatal shooting of a Washington Courthouse woman on the city's south outerbelt.

Defense attorney Mark Collins used the same opening line as the prosecution as he addressed the jury. "Life is about choices" he said…and then he told the jury that defendant Charles McCoy lacked ability to make daily routine choices about what to wear or what route to drive to work. He told jurors McCoy was diagnosed with paranoid-schizophrenia in 1997.

Collins says in March of 1997 doctors determined McCoy was totally and permanently disabled, at age 23. Collins outlined more of the defense case saying it will present evidence of the ongoing battle between the defendant and his parents to keep him medicated.

Psychiatrist: Sniper's attempt to control voices led to shootings (below is an excerpt from the article, not all of it)

Dr. Mark Mills testified that, during a June 2004 evaluation of the defendant, McCoy told him that demeaning voices tormented him because of the severe paranoid schizophrenia he was diagnosed with in 1996. As a result, Mills claimed, the defendant could not distinguish between right and wrong when he opened fire on 12 targets, killing one person. "He was desperate to control the voices," said Mills. "He had the sudden distorted perception that if he dropped bags of cement or shot at cars, it would attenuate the voices." The disease also rendered McCoy unable to accurately recall details from the shootings, said Mills, whose findings provided the basis for the defense's insanity plea. McCoy's lawyers finished presenting their case Monday after nine witnesses.

"Most people don't like to think of themselves as nuts," Mills said. "It's common to shut off the part of memory that describes illness."

The final and perhaps most crucial witness for the defense testified that the intensity of McCoy's affliction, coupled with his well-documented proclivity toward "cheeking," or pretending to take his medication, made his psychosis particularly severe. Mills testified that McCoy admitted to cheeking his medication because he felt it interfered with his ESP, or his ability to read others' minds.

McCoy told the psychiatrist that the first signs of his psychosis began surfacing when he was 9. McCoy suspected the bathroom spout was actually a camera used to monitor his genitals, Mills testified.

As is common among paranoid schizophrenics, McCoy never told anyone of his growing paranoia, which peaked in 1996 when be began tearing apart the walls of his parents' Grove City home in search of hidden cameras, Mills said. Mills said that McCoy's delusions became so severe he began passing notes to his mother in their home to avoid speaking aloud, testimony that McCoy's mother, Ardith, corroborated on the stand.

Psychiatrist: Highway shootings defendant knew right from wrong (below is an excerpt from the article, not all of it)

Jurors took copious notes during the testimony of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, the final rebuttal witness for Franklin County prosecutors, who refuted the defense's contention that McCoy, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1996, did not understand the wrongfulness of his conduct.

"When he fired the weapon on each occasion, he knew firing the weapon was wrong," Resnick testified. "One can look at his behavior to know whether he knew right or wrong when he committed the acts."

Resnick used a PowerPoint presentation to outline behavior he believed indicated McCoy took steps to avoid detection, from hiding the murder weapon to concealing his involvement in the shootings.

"He had something to hide because he knew what he was doing was wrong rather than being proud of it," Resnick told jurors. "If he thought what he was doing was right, I would expect him to share it with his treating medical professionals."

In a nine-hour interview with McCoy on December 29, 2004, Resnick said the defendant admitted to throwing wooden planks and bags of cement from highway overpasses starting in May 2003. When he ran out of those materials, he switched to a handgun, opening fire at least 200 times between summer 2003 and February 2004.

The case ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he would drop his request for a death sentence at McCoy's retrial based on what he now knew about him. He did not believe McCoy was insane, but said mental illness had been a factor in his crimes. After a meeting with the prosecution, defense attorney Michael Miller said, "There's not a shred of a chance that a jury would give him death." Four of 12 jurors were not convinced that McCoy was culpable at all, favoring a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.