CROWN POINT—A Lowell area man charged with murder in the deaths of his parents will get a mental health evaluation.
Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas granted a request by defense attorney Teresa Hollandsworth that Thomas Snow be evaluated for competency to stand trial and whether he was sane at the time of the offense.
Snow, 35, has pleaded not guilty in the deaths of his parents, Joyce Snow, 66, and Clifford Snow, 68, a retired Morton Junior-Senior High School teacher.
On Oct. 18, 2013, the couple’s daughter in Minnesota had asked police to check on their well-being and discovered their decomposing bodies after forcing their way into the home. Authorities said the homicides occurred between Sept. 11, 2013, and Oct. 18, 2013, at their residence. The couple both suffered blunt force trauma and had skull fractures and other injuries.
Snow, whose profanity-laced tirades garnered him three contempt findings in December and an 18-month sentence in the Lake County Jail, seemed subdued and contrite at the brief hearing on Wednesday.
“I don’t know if you got my letter,” Snow said to Cappas. “I want to apologize for my outburst and for my actions for what I said in court.”
Cappas said he hadn’t, but that he appreciated the apology and for Snow’s behavior in court on Wednesday.
Snow is due back in court April 8 for a status hearing and pre-trial conference. His jury trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 16.
Snow must serve the entire 18-month sentence for contempt with no day-for-day credit in the jail for good behavior.
