The murder trial of Ian Anselmo: Not guilty by reason of insanity? Jury will decide

TAVARES — Was Ian Anselmo not guilty by reason of insanity when he strangled his pregnant stepmother at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis in 2019? Or was he guilty of the crimes of second-degree murder and killing an unborn child due to injury to the mother?

Mental hospital or state prison? That’s the question a six-member jury must decide in the trial that was scheduled to begin April 8. In a bizarre twist, the tragedy led to Sue-Ellen Anselmo being buried in the same cemetery and later moved in a family dispute.

The defense must prove its claim that Anselmo “was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the alleged offense and did not know what he was doing or, if he knew what he was doing, did not know that what he was doing was wrong.” That’s the standard of the law.

Guilt is not the issue in an insanity case. Besides, when he called 911 he said, “I killed my mom, she’s dead.” He was sobbing and howling so uncontrollably it was hard for the operator to understand what he was saying.

“The insanity defense is raised in fewer than 1 percent of all cases in Florida, and the odds of it being used successfully is not high,” said attorney Brunvand Wise in a post on his Clearwater law firm’s website.

Wise is no stranger to mental health issues in court. Although it was not an insanity case, he was able in 2022 to get Jason Wheeler’s original death sentence reduced to life for killing Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Koester and wounding two other deputies in 2005.

A defense expert testified that Wheeler was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance.

The legal standard

Casual observers often theorize that a defendant must have been “crazy,” but reaching the legal definition of insanity is a high bar.

Circuit Judge Brian Welke will spell it out in his jury instructions.

Timing is key. If he was insane at the time, he seemed to have at least some clarity shortly afterward.

“I accidentally killed someone. Please,” he said. “My dad is going to kill me. I guess I strangled her. I don’t remember doing it. I remember the argument.”

Pre-trial motions

Among defense attorney Richard Hornsby’s pretrial motions is one seeking to include 39-year-old Sue-Ellen’s alleged mental health issues, medications, illegal drug use, and suicide attempts.

“The prior issues of the victim are not pertinent….” Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio responded.

Anselmo’s medical records will be key, however, and so will the testimony of dueling expert mental health experts.

Included in his statements to police recorded on body cam video was one in which he claimed he had not taken his pills for two or three days, and that he suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety. “States he has had his Vyvanse but not his Lexapro for 2-3 days.” Vyvanse is prescribed for ADHD and Lexapro is for depression. He told police that he was not depressed.

Five hours after the 4 p.m. attack he told his father he didn’t remember what happened.

Hornsby also wants to keep autopsy photos away from jurors. The pictures show the examination of her skull and the unborn child. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as cardiac arrest due to strangulation, not a head injury.

The photos “serve no purpose other than [to] inflame the passions of the jury and they are more prejudicial than probative of any material issue in the case,” the defense motion states.

The circumstances of the case

The circumstances leading up to the death are especially hard to hear. Sue-Ellen’s adult daughter, Dejah-Thoris Waite, told her mother that her husband, John Anselmo, had physically and sexually abused her when she was living at home.

Waite wrote to her mother sympathizing with her. “Every time I saw you get hit it was like I was getting hit myself.”

John Anselmo has denied the allegations. He was never charged.

When Sue-Ellen heard Waite’s allegations, she moved in with her and took four of the couple’s five minor children with her.

Waite said John Anselmo made threatening phone calls and begged Sue-Ellen to return.

The witness list includes case workers with the Florida Department of Children and Families, police officers, crime lab analysts, fire rescue, hospital workers and others. Sue-Ellen was on life-support before she died.

Ian had reportedly begged Sue-Ellen to return with the children, but also aired his vitriol against her.

“I have some things I want to tell you and get off my chest, and I’m not in a bad way,” he said in a text.

“All my life I just wanted a mom and you have denied me that since I was seven. For years I resented you and wanted nothing to do with you. But that is OK. I am able to move past that.”

Texts from Ian and John accused her of infidelity, cruelty, mental illness and lying. She denied the accusations and sometimes ignored them. The allegations were what the “argument” was about in her Chevy Trailblazer at the cemetery.

Sue-Ellen texted John: “Ian told me he wants to skin me alive and cut out my intestines and strangle me with them. He said he has no problem telling me he hates me. I don’t know what to believe.”

She was strangled with a cord.

Hornsby has filed a motion to exclude the communication, claiming it “is hearsay and inadmissible for purposes of proving the truth of the matter asserted.”

Prosecutors also have filed a discovery exhibit relating to oral statements Ian allegedly made to his brother, Eric. “I killed her because she wronged the family. I will do the same thing to you that I did to Mom.”

The defense has also argued against the state showing a video of man walking by and looking at the Eustis beauty salon where Sue Ellen worked as a hairdresser.

“It is impossible to identify the individual in the video and Talk of the Town Hair Design is located directly across the street from a motel that appears to house numerous transient individuals.”

The defendant published a book

Ian has been described as highly intelligent by family members, even publishing a book shortly before the crime. He was set to attend the University of Central Florida and was training to become a professional wrestler.

It is unclear what role, if any, the 21-year-old’s child-like letters to his father from jail might have in the trial.

The notes were written before he was released on a $75,000 bond. He urged his dad to watch cartoons with his 10-year-old brother and said the two of them “can play with all my Paw Patrol toys.”

In another note, he drew a cartoon featuring “Mr. Mean” and Teddy Ruxpin. He also wrote: “Don’t forget to watch my favorite Ninja Turtle for me. And watch it how I would feel how I do. You’ll get more out of it that way.”

At first, he was desperate.

“I MISS YOU SO BAD! I CAN’T IMAGINE ANYTHING WORSE THAN BEING AWAY FROM YOU! I AM THE SADDEST, LONELIST AND MOST SCARED I’VE EVER BEEN. PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!’’

Later, he wrote: “Jail’s a wacky place. However, I am getting along fine.”

Related coverage: Lake County has had its share of murder defendants pursuing an insanity defense

He said he made friends with a man later convicted of first-degree murder despite claiming to be insane.

Family dispute

The grief-torn family continued battling after Sue- Ellen died. John held a private service excluding Waite and her family while she hosted a big funeral at First Baptist Church of Umatilla.

More than a month after the slaying Waite urged friends to bring flowers to her mother’s grave. She made the offer because someone kept removing the flowers. While greeting visitors, Waite and her mother-in-law were attacked by her 16-year-old stepsister and the 10-year-old boy after John Anselmo drove up to the cemetery.

“She advised [redacted] placed her hands around her neck and stated over and over she was going to kill her,” according to the police report. She also yanked out hanks of her hair.

The girl was charged as a juvenile with misdemeanor battery.

The mystery of missing flowers was solved when a trail camera hidden by Waite showed John and some of the children removing flowers when no one was around.

“I think what they’re doing is disrespectful to our faith,” John told the Daily Commercial.  Anselmo is a Sedevacantist, a sect of the Roman Catholic Church that does not recognize the current pope.

He later had Sue-Ellen’s body disinterred and refused to give Waite any details.

Among his musings from jail, Ian quoted Scottish psychologist R.D. Laing. “Insanity: A perfectly rational adjustment to the insane world.”

He continued, “But whether I’m guano crazy or just a little goofy, things could be worse.”

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Lake County courts: State v. Anselmo. Charge: second-degree murder