Husband of woman killed by their son says mental health system is broken, tragedy was preventable

Sept. 16--In two heart-wrenching minutes Friday, a man whose wife was killed last year by their mentally ill son decried a "broken" mental health system that led to frustration for his family, and ultimately tragedy.

Joe Skalitzky, whose wife, Jane, was killed with a sword just over a year ago by their son, Matthew Skalitzky, kept his emotions just barely in check as he told Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds that the mental health system needs to be fixed before other families endure the same kind of tragedy he now lives with.

"I not only lost my wife, I lost my son," Joe Skalitzky said. "Both of these losses were preventable. Mental illness is real and needs to be taken seriously."

On Sept. 11, 2015, Matthew Skalitzky, 41, killed his 68-year-old mother at his apartment in Sun Prairie. According to court records, he believed his mother to be an inhuman clone and decapitated her after she found a box containing swords and knives at his apartment.

Matthew Skalitzky declined the opportunity to speak in court Friday.

In June, he pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide, but by agreement with prosecutors and based on mental health examinations, he was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. On Friday, Reynolds ordered him confined indefinitely to a state mental hospital, and also ordered that he be made to take prescribed psychotropic drugs involuntarily.

Skalitzky had been prescribed drugs to treat his mental illness, but had stopped taking them months before killing his mother. Details about his diagnosis have not been discussed publicly.

"Jane was dedicated unconditionally to advocating for Matt," Joe Skalitzky said, "which she did up until her very last breath. Our family was let down by a system that relies heavily on adult individuals with mental illness to know what they need and follow through with treatment plans."

That leaves the families of mentally ill people to care for them, but gives them few rights to enforce care plans, he said.

"How was Jane supposed to force medication that Matt believed he did not need?" he asked. "How was Jane to seek in-patient care for him when it was voluntary?"

The system also leaves law enforcement and medical assistance programs with limited options, he said.

"The system is broken and our family is broken," he said. "Right now something really horrific needs to happen before the system takes action. This is wrong."

Jane Skalitzky's sister, Luana Schneider, told Reynolds that she hopes there will be "major changes" to the mental health system that make it harder for tragedies like her sister's death to happen to others. In the meantime, she said, "our hopes are that Matt will continue to be confined for his lifetime so he cannot hurt others."

She encouraged him to explore his mental health condition, perhaps write a book explaining his perspective.

"Everyone agrees you are a very bright person," Schneider said, "and even with your mental issues, there are things you can do."

Reynolds thanked Skalitzky's family for its compassion and forgiveness, and acknowledged that the criminal justice system isn't well equipped to deal with the mentally ill.

"In this situation, it reached an absolutely tragic level," Reynolds said.

Skalitzky can first petition for release into the community in six months, and every six months thereafter, but must be able to convince a judge that he is no longer a danger to himself or others.

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