Salter v. State

Marshall, Chief Justice.

Jesse Pope Salter was found by a jury to be guilty but mentally ill of the murder of Alan Gross. The court sentenced Salter to life imprisonment.

In 1963, Salter was committed to a state psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid-schizophrenic reaction with prognosis poor. His continuing obsession with the delusion of his wife’s infidelity abated whenever he was taking prescribed medication, but he had stopped taking it. On the morning of July 24, 1986, as his across-the-street neighbor of 14 years was walking across his own yard to complete a painting job on an…