John Jonchuck, 29, goes on trial Monday for the 2015 homicide of his five-year-old daughter Phoebe in Tampa Bay, Florida
A father who dropped his five-year-old daughter to her death from a Florida bridge four years ago will plead insanity, it has emerged.
John Jonchuck, 29, goes on trial Monday for the January 8, 2015, death of his daughter Phoebe, whom he dropped 62 feet into Tampa Bay as a St. Petersburg police officer watched helplessly.
Jonchuck is charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, he will automatically go to prison for life.
If his attorneys' insanity defense works, he would be sent to a psychiatric hospital and it's unlikely he would ever be released. To be eligible, he would have to prove he was no longer mentally ill or dangerous.
Pinellas County Public Defender Bob Dillinger told the Tampa Bay Times he knows of no Florida case where a killer was found not guilty by reason of insanity of first-degree murder and eventually released.
"He'll be in a state prison for the rest of his life, or a state hospital for the rest of his life," Dillinger said.
Successful insanity defenses are rare. Under Florida law, Jonchuck's attorneys must convince the jury his mental illness was so severe that he didn't know what he was doing or that it was wrong.
Jonchuck did have a long history of mental problems before he and his daughter ever reached the Dick Misener Bridge - his family told the Times he had been involuntarily committed 27 times - and seemed to be having a breakdown.
Phoebe Jonchuck, 5, died on January 8, 2015 after her father dropped her off a bridge onto another roadway in Tampa Bay, Florida
Pheobe's father had been involuntarily committed 27 times for mental health issues prior to killing his daughter in 2015
Michelle Kerr, mother of Phoebe Jonchuck, wipes her eyes as she leaves the church after memorial services for the
