A 73-year-old man accused of walking into a Pennsylvania municipal building and fatally shooting a zoning officer pleaded guilty but mentally ill Monday.
A Monroe County judge accepted David Green's plea in the November 2018 death of part-time Paradise Township code enforcement officer Michael Tripus.
Green, who lives in the Henryville section of the township, did not say Monday why he followed the 65-year-old victim into the municipal building that day and fatally shot him.
Tripus had left a notice at Green's property in 2017 but the two men never met or spoke to each other before the murder, according to state police.
Green’s defense attorney hired mental health professionals who found him competent to stand trial and not insane.
He was, however, found to have “delusional disorder of somatic type," the county said. Green was also found with “a mild cognitive impairment; some kind of pre-dementia condition."
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The prosecution plans to seek the maximum sentencing “in light of the danger the defendant poses to the community in general,” and for the premeditated nature of the victim's death.
