OND DU LAC, Wis.—A Wisconsin judge committed a man accused of targeting a motorcyclist in a fatal crash because of the victim’s race to life in a mental institution Thursday.
Daniel Navarro, a 27-year-old Mexican American from Fond du Lac, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree intentional homicide as a hate crime in the July 3, 2020 crash that killed Phillip Thiessen, who was white, in Fond du Lac County. He was also convicted of first-degree recklessly endangering safety as a hate crime.
Navarro pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The convictions triggered a second phase of his trial in which the jury was tasked with determining his mental state at the time of the crash, a key finding that helps determine whether he should face prison time or be institutionalized….