Winchester Library Stabbing: Yao Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity

WINCHESTER, MA — Jeffrey Yao was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Middlesex Superior Court Wednesday for stabbing a former classmate of his 20 times, killing her, and slashing a man who tried to intervene in three years ago in the Winchester Public Library.

Police said in Feb. 2018 Yao snuck up behind Deanne Stryker and stabbed her repeatedly with a hunting knife, killing the 21-year-old. Yao then slashed a 77-year-old man who attempted to help her.

Yao now faces hospitalization at Bridgewater State Hospital, where he will undergo annual mental health reviews. He could be released one day or spend the rest of the life in the hospital, the judge said, according to The Boston Globe. The ruling came during a bench trial after Yao waived his right to a jury trial.

Yao was a 2012 graduate of Winchester High School and was known to police, according to initial reports by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. According to police records, Yao had about two dozen encounters with police before the attacks in the library. Several of the police encounters ended with Yao being taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Ryan issued a statement on Wednesday that reads:

"Deanne Stryker was an amazing young woman planning a life full of promise and service. No outcome in this case can ever diminish the great tragedy of her death or fill the void left in the lives of her mother, sisters and others who loved her. The result in the this case, which acknowledges the seriousness of the mental illness that this defendant is living with and was experiencing at the time of the murder of Deanne Stryker, was compelled by the findings of the medical experts. It does not alter our belief that Mr. Yao continues to pose a serious risk to the public and that his long term civil commitment to Bridgewater State Hospital is required. While today marks the end of this criminal case for the Stryker family, the brave gentleman who tried to save Deanne and the many witnesses who were in the Winchester Public Library that day, the effects of that painful day remain."