More treatment ordered for murder suspect deemed incompetent to stand trial

Published 11:20 am Tuesday, June 16, 2026

EVERETT — An Edmonds man accused of killing his father in 2019 will undergo another round of restorative mental health treatment as prosecutors push to take the case to trial.

Experts and attorneys agree: John Fry isn’t competent to face the murder charge leveled against him.

The 31-year-old with diagnosed schizophrenia has been held in the Snohomish County Jail and at Western State Hospital since he was arrested for stabbing his father, 64-year-old Stephen Fry, to death inside their home on Nov. 21. 2019, court records said.

Doctors believe John Fry experiences hallucinations and delusional beliefs that would make it impossible for him to help in his own legal defense at this time, according to testimony during a three-hour hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court on Friday.

“Mr. Fry seemed to have a distorted perspective about his pending legal matters that appeared influenced by delusional or irrational beliefs,” Dr. Melissa Miller, a forensic mental health evaluator with the Department of Social and Human Services, testified during the competency review hearing. “It raised concerns about his ability to differentiate between his psychiatric experience and what is reality.”

Under Washington state law, a defendant deemed unfit to stand trial should undergo multiple rounds of competency restoration treatment if “there is a substantial probability that the defendant will regain competency within a reasonable period of time.”

Miller said John Fry is not currently competent to stand trial because he can’t manage the symptoms of his mental illness, but she testified that “there was a reasonable likelihood that the patient could restore to competency with further treatment.”

With more treatment and appropriate medication, prosecutors contend there’s a chance John Fry may one day be able to stand trial for his alleged crime.

“I have seen at least modest improvements in his insight,” testified Dr. Adam Ketron, John Fry’s prescribing psychiatrist at Western State Hospital.

As John Fry looked on via Zoom, his defense lawyers argued the man’s mental health is not improving and he likely won’t ever be fit for trial, meaning his case should be dismissed.

“He has been consistently at Western State Hospital and consistently adherent to medication for a period of nearly four years. I don’t see how there can be a reasonable possibility that he is restored with 90 more days,” said public defender Cassie Trueblood.

John Fry’s mental health has been in question since he allegedly admitted to Edmonds police investigators that he attacked his father with a utility knife and a Nerf gun after he thought he heard his father talking about a weapon, The Daily Herald previously reported.

Prosecutors charged John Fry with premeditated first-degree murder in December 2019, but he was quickly deemed not competent to stand trial, court records said.

Over the ensuing six-and-a-half years, John Fry’s mental state and his court proceedings have remained in flux.

In October 2020, a judge found John Fry was competent to stand trial while being held in the Snohomish County Jail, but by April 2022 he was once again deemed not competent and ordered to receive treatment at Western State Hospital, court records said.

After months of delays waiting for John Fry to be transported for treatment, a judge dismissed the murder charge in September 2022, citing fears that the delays violated his due process rights, The Daily Herald reported. John Fry was then civilly committed to Western State Hospital, according to court records.

Prosecutors brought murder charges again in February 2024 that were dismissed nearly a year later due to John Fry’s mental state, online court records said.

The case was filed once again in December of last year and a judge ordered in January that John Fry receive a 90-day inpatient competency restoration treatment, according to filings in the case.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent presided over the latest competency hearing to evaluate whether John Fry should receive another round of treatment or have his case dismissed.

Dr. Jennifer Harris, a clinical psychologist and witness for the defense who evaluated John Fry, testified that most people who have been hospitalized for as long as John Fry don’t continue to see improvement and usually aren’t restored to competency.

“I haven’t seen anything that would support that (additional treatment) will necessarily restore the delusional aspects that are impairing his competency,” Harris said.

Ultimately, Okrent cited state law in siding with prosecutors giving John Fry an additional 90 days of competency restoration treatment.

“The policy seems to be that if I find by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant is incompetent, I should be cautious to dismiss the case without at least another restoration period,” Okrent said before handing down his decision.

A new competency hearing is now scheduled for John Fry in September after the latest round of restoration treatment.

“There’s no way to 100% confirm whether or not somebody is able to proceed with their legal matter,” Miller said. “The subsequent events that follow a (competency) opinion would kind of lend evidence for or against whether that opinion was accurate.”

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com