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Who is Brady Zipoy? Ex-marine from Minnesota who shot stranger in head and chest gets acquittal for mental illness

Zipoy’s mental breakdowns were connected to the unrest following the death of George Floyd, military service-related PTSD, and psychotic episodes related to religion
UPDATED MAR 26, 2021
Brady Zipoy, though acquitted of murder, will receive mental health care at St Peter Regional Treatment Center (Scott County Jail)
Brady Zipoy, though acquitted of murder, will receive mental health care at St Peter Regional Treatment Center (Scott County Jail)

SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA: A former marine has been cleared of a murder charge on Wednesday, March 24, after a judge ruled that because of his mental illness he “did not understand that his act was wrong.” Brady Zipoy, 24, was acquitted of second-degree intentional murder by Scott County District Court that also ordered him to be shifted from Scott County Jail to St Peter Regional Treatment Center. 

Zipoy was accused of murdering Timothy Guion on June 8, 2020. He gunned down the 65-year-old inside his Shakopee home but “did not know the nature of his act at the time,” Judge Paul Vraa said that he “was laboring under such a defect of reason... that he did not understand that his act was wrong.” Earlier, Zipoy’s defense team claimed that he had struggled with many psychotic episodes that were related to religion. He was also affected by the unrest following the death of George Floyd and suffered from PTSD from his military service.

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County Attorney Ron Hocevar said Thursday, March 25, “It's a tough pill to swallow when you have somebody who murdered another individual in cold blood. There is no criminal punishment, but he will receive mental health care." Hocevar, however, admitted that highly regarded psychologists did the man’s two court-ordered mental tests and his attorney showed "a valid mental illness defense. We do find it sincere.”

As per reports, the June 2020’s tragedy happened after Zipoy smoked marijuana at a friend’s house on Paha Circle and apparently left. But he, later, returned to the area.

According to reports, he had then “broken into” Timothy Guion’s house, before shooting him in the head, chest, and elsewhere. At the time of the incident, the victim’s family members were either at home or just outside. Guion’s granddaughter, Candace Garlitos, was a witness, and she screamed for her husband, saying, “Someone shot grandpa.”

A criminal complaint stated that when officers arrived at the scene they “observed a male wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts, and no shoes run out of the driveway of a neighboring” home. But Zipoy was soon detained, and later confessed to murdering Guion, who was a stranger to him.

Defense attorney Brockton Hunter said on Thursday, March 25, that the cause of Zipoy’s mental illness is his time spent overseas as a military serviceman. He noted, “He saw a significant amount of combat... in which his unit worked with US special operations forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces to drive ISIS” from the northern city of Raqqa. "His commanding officer had nothing but praise for Brady,” Hunter stated

He went on to say that his client came home in 2019, and “when Covid hit [in March 2020], he seemed to decline" since he was unable to socialize. Then in May 2020, the Floyd tragedy happened that months of unrest and protests followed. According to Hunter, he was "impacted by the helicopters flying overhead constantly. His delusions started taking control, and he became more and more out of control.”

However, Guion’s family was not happy with the court’s decision. Garlitos said, “To have somebody killed right in front of me, somebody that I love so deeply, with that scene running through my head like a movie on a never-ending loop, is something that I am afraid will continue the rest of my life.”

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