RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - A Centerville woman plans to plead guilty but mentally ill to burning her father to death in 2011, according to court documents.
A plea agreement was filed Friday between Nina M. Holbrook and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. If a judge accepts the plea agreement, she will be sentenced to 55 years in prison for murder and 50 years for arson in the death of Carl D. Holbrook.
On July 8, 2011, Nina Holbrook poured fuel on her father and set him on fire with a candle, according to authorities.
Nina Holbrook told investigators she put fuel in a cup and took it to her bedroom with a candle and lighter, court documents state. They claim she said she lit the candle, called her father into her room, threw the fuel on him and used the candle to set him on fire.
A friend of Carl Holbrook found him badly burned on the front porch of the home. He was airlifted to a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where he later died.
Nina Holbrook admitted to lighting her father on fire and told investigators that she intended to kill him, the documents allege.
Nina Holbrook has spent much of her time since her arrest receiving mental health treatment at Logansport State Hospital, the (Richmond) Palladium-Item (https://pinews.co/1EcV8YZ) reported. She was returned to the Wayne County Jail last November.
Her attorney twice filed notice of intent to use mental disease or defect as a defense. Each time Nina Holbrook has been examined to determine whether she’s competent to stand trial.
A date has yet to be set for the change of plea and sentencing hearing.
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Information from: Palladium-Item, https://www.pal-item.com
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