Man accused of leaving wife for dead in a blizzard is going back to court

Charges were refiled this week against Gregory Guilfoyle, the Brookville, Indiana man accused of shooting his wife in head, running off with their daughter and then shooting a sheriff's deputy.

Guilfoyle's wife, Hannah Lynch, was left for dead in her own front yard during a blizzard just a few days before Christmas in 2022. She survived, but has yet to see Guilfoyle go to trial.

The case against Guilfoyle has been unusual. First, after his arrest, he was released to go live with his parents because he, too, had been shot that night.

Investigators said he shot a Franklin County sheriff's deputy while he was holding his own daughter in the other hand, but that deputy returned fired and struck Guilfoyle.

The deputy was struck in his body armor and survived. Guilfoyle was left a paraplegic, according to his lawyer Judson McMillin. The Franklin County Sheriff said the jail could not care for him, and he was released to await trial at his parents' home.

Next, his parents sought custody of their granddaughter, the child of Lynch and Guilfoyle. The court sided against them, but the process took about 10 months.

Charges dropped

In February, about 14 months after the shootings, Guilfoyle was set to go to trial.

However, both McMillin and Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp asked Circuit Court Judge Steven Cox for more time to prepare for the trial. Cox denied the motions for a continuance.

Without the trial looming, Huerkamp decided to drop the charges.

"Unfortunately, I was compelled to make the decision to dismiss the charges for now in order to preserve the opportunity to put the State's best case forward at trial, because I don't get a second chance," Huerkamp said.

Charges refiled, new judge requested

On Tuesday, Huerkamp refiled the charges: two counts of attempted murder, two counts of neglect of a dependant, aggravated battery, domestic battery and five other weapons charges.

Huerkamp also requested that Judge Cox recuse himself from the case and that a special judge be appointed.

Huerkamp wrote in his motion that Judge Cox personally visited Guilfoyle at his parents' house after the charges were filed to personally observe Guilfoyle's medical and mental condition. The prosecutor said Cox also had discussions with psychological evaluators outside the courtroom and without the prosecution or defense present.

Huerkamp said Guilfoyle only appeared in court once via Zoom during the year of proceedings.

He said Indiana law requires judges to disqualify themselves if their impartiality might be reasonably questioned, an example of which would be personal knowledge of the facts that are in dispute in the case.

Huerkamp argues that Guilfoyle's mental health and sanity are critical issues in the case. Guilfoyle's lawyer has said he plans to show the jury his client is not guilty, in part, by reason of insanity.

Franklin County has two elected Circuit Court judges and the cases are divided among them by the level of charge, so the refiled charges would default back to Judge Cox without this request for a new judge.

What's next

Huerkamp has asked for an initial hearing in the case to be held on May 22, but no official court dates have been scheduled.

The prosecutor said discovery between the prosecution and defense has continued, but it is unclear how much of the work done during the initial hearings will have to take place again.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man accused of leaving wife for dead in blizzard back in court