A Rock County judge has ruled that a man convicted in the stabbing death of his sister will move from Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison to an adult group home. The judge approved a conditional-release plan developed under the auspices of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services to place 44 year-old Mark Staskal at Brighter Life Living, probably within two weeks. Staskal stabbed his younger sister, Marcy, to death in their Milton home in 1984. Except for a brief stay at an Eau Claire group home late last year has lived at Mendota Mental Health Institute since he was found not guilty by reason of mental disease of his sister’s murder.
The Janesville Gazette reports that program manager for the state Department of Health and Family Services told the court that two-week delay is necessary to hire additional staff and train them to deal with Staskal’s specific needs. The group home, which as a rated capacity for four residents, currently has three, and the staff-to-resident ratio will be at least one to three 24 hours a day.