Judge to weigh mentally ill plea for teen in Franklin Regional attack

Nov. 21--A decision to allow a teenager to plead guilty but mentally ill for the attempted murder of 21 fellow students and a security guard at Franklin Regional High School could come early next year.

Four mental health experts testified Monday that Alex Hribal suffered from a mental illness when he used two kitchen knives to slash and stab his way down a school hallway on April 9, 2014.

Hribal, now 19, sat quietly in a blue prison jump suit as he listened to defense experts describe him as depressed, schizophrenic and psychotic.

Psychiatrist Bruce Wright, a prosecution witness, testified that the Murrysville teen was mentally ill but that his mental state did not cause him to break the law.

"He knew what he was doing was wrong," Wright testified. "He had the capacity to know right from wrong, and he had the capacity to conform to the law."

Hribal has been in jail since his arrest more than two years. Defense attorney Pat Thomassey is attempting to have his client plead guilty but mentally to all 43 counts he faces.

Thomassey said Hribal's case will go to trial if Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani rejects the guilty plea.

District Attorney John Peck has argued that Hribal was not sick enough to warrant a finding that he was guilty but mentally ill. Peck repeatedly questioned doctors about Hribal's intent based on a handwritten manifesto the teen wrote in which he explained the planned attack was to honor the attackers from the 1999 deadly shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Defense experts said Hribal was suicidal and wanted to die in the knife rampage that left students severely wounded.

"He was looking for a way to commit indirect suicide," testified psychiatrist Christine Martone.

Feliciani did not rule immediately.

"I will try to make a prompt decision after getting the written arguments from the attorneys," the judge said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.

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