State v. Ferrick

This is an appeal from a conviction of murder in the first degree.

Prior to the murder appellant, Julia Ferrick, had been committed to and discharged from Western State Hospital on three separate occasions. She was last discharged in June of 1969.

Not long after the last discharge, appellant stopped taking her prescribed medication and her condition worsened. As a result, her mother discussed the possibility of appellant’s recommitment with appellant’s caseworker and with other members of the family. When appellant learned of this, she told her mother that she would kill her if she tried to…