Bradford James Gille, the named suspect in the July 26 mass stabbing at a northern Michigan supermarket that hospitalized 11 people, had been in and out of the criminal justice system for decades, having cases either tossed or pleaded down due to mental health issues, a Detroit Free Press analysis of court records and archives found.
Gille, 42, was arrested after being subdued by bystanders after allegedly stabbing 11 people at Walmart near Traverse City. He was arraigned on one count of felony terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder in Grand Traverse County 86th District Court on July 28. He’s due back in court. Aug. 6.
Gillie pleaded not guilty and requested a court-appointed attorney.
The Emmet County Sheriff’s Office was searching for Gille on July 25, a day before the stabbing. A local court had granted an order allowing deputies to arrest Gille, although officials were not able to locate him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Gille has had repeated run-ins with law enforcement and the courts in Petoskey and Emmet County, going back to at least 2002, online court records show. An attorney who previously represented Gille said the recurring legal issues, coupled with court-recognized mental health issues, should have led to Gille receiving more formalized treatment.
In 2017, after a competency hearing, Gille was found not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of dismemberment and mutilation of dead bodies and malicious destruction of tombs and monuments, court records show. Duane Beach, an attorney who represented Gille in the case according to court records, did not return a message seeking comment left July 28.
An affidavit signed by a Petoskey Public Safety Department officer said that on April 11, 2016, Gille was arrested at Greenwood Cemetery after attempting to dig up the casket of an individual who had died that February. Gille was then tracked to a nearby motel. Officers called Chris Gille, Bradford Gille’s father, who informed police his son had told him he had bought a shovel and was going to the cemetery to dig him out of his grave.
When officers found Bradford Gille’s van parked outside the Emmet County jail, he was questioned. During questioning, he told police he was concerned about people being buried alive.
“Defendant stated he dug up the grave because the person was buried alive, but that he was mistaken about the grave site and did not know who was buried there,” the affidavit states. “Defendant when asked about the other overturned grave stones stated he did that because he was angry that they were burying people alive.”
Court records indicate that after Bradford Gille was arrested, he was taken to a psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After being found not guilty, a judge ordered him committed to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline for a period of at most 60 days.
Aside from the 2016 incident, he’s also had short jail sentences, fines and probation over the years after being charged with offenses that include felonious assault, domestic violence, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, retail fraud, possession of marijuana, and public intoxication, records show. Some charges were pleaded down or dismissed.
Bryan Klawuhn, a Petoskey defense attorney who represented Bradford Gille in a 2002 case in which an assault with a deadly weapon charge was eventually dismissed, said he hadn’t stayed in touch with his former client since he defended him in court more than two decades ago.
Klawuhn said it’s clear Bradford Gille needed further intervention, and failures in how the state addresses mental health issues in the justice system are overdue to be addressed.
“Am I shocked? No I am not. The system is a flawed system,” Klawuhn told the Free Press. “Starting back then, we did have mental health facilities but in recent years, the system’s broken. For some reason, after the dismantling of the public health system for mental health, the decision was made to use the criminal justice system as the conduit for treatment.”
A 2007 article in the Petoskey News-Review detailed the perspective of Beverly Gille, Bradford Gille’s mother, who said her son’s repeated legal issues were a direct result of mental health lapses. In the article, Beverly Gille said her son had been formally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
“He’s fine when he’s on his medication,” Beverly Gille told the News-Review in 2007. “The problem is, his illness tells him that he is fine and doesn’t need to take his medication. He’s also been through the (mental health) evaluations so many times that he knows how to answer their questions.”
Paranoid schizophrenia is an outdated term for a type of schizophrenia, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The condition affects cognitive ability, memory and senses, and can lead to hallucinations, delusions and general struggles to maintain organized thinking.
Beverly Gille told the News-Review in 2007 that although she didn’t believe jail was the best place for Bradford Gille, his mental health issues flared least often when he was in jail or on probation, in the years around the article’s publication.
Klawuhn said individuals with mental health struggles who are jailed are often kept on strict medication regimens by corrections workers.
“Forced compliance for medications in jails, the jailers don’t want it, it’s not their job, they’re not medically trained,” Klawuhn said. “It’s not a long-term solution to a problem, until Michigan figures it out and they start spending the money to address the problem … the problem’s going to continue.”
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Traverse City Walmart stabbing suspect had history of mental health and legal troubles
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Paul Egan and Annie Doyle, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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