Bartender accused of threatening Boehner is found not guilty

The former Cincinnati-area bartender charged with threatening to assassinate Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday, according to local news reports.

Michael R. Hoyt, who said he could hear the devil, was indicted in January after he told authorities of his plot to either shoot or poison Boehner, one of his regular customers at an exclusive country club where he once worked.

{mosads}U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black determined that Hoyt should remain in a federal medical facility and continue to be evaluated for bipolar disorder rather than go to jail. Hoyt faced up to 10 years in prison if he had been found guilty.

“I don’t struggle with this at all,” Black said at the trial in Cincinnati, according to WCPO-TV. “This is not a complicated case. It’s a sad case.”

Hoyt, 44, had a history of mental illness. He battled suicidal thoughts, and at some point his mother became worried enough that she retrieved his SKS assault rifle when he was not home in Deer Park.

After a “psychotic episode” two years ago, police took Hoyt to West Chester Hospital, where he locked himself in a room with his stepmother and damaged property, court records revealed. Doctors prescribed him medication, but he stopped taking the pills after only six months.

Losing his job at the Cape Cod-style country club in West Chester Township sent him over the edge again.

It was then Hoyt says he began to hear the devil speaking to him through his car radio. And on Oct. 28, he fired off an email to the Speaker’s wife, Debbie Boehner, a local realtor, saying he could have poisoned his wine many times but chose not to. Later, Hoyt told authorities he blamed Boehner for getting him fired, and he said the Speaker caused the Ebola outbreak.

Days before the November 2014 election, both Boehner and his wife were interviewed by federal agents, court records show. But the Speaker said he couldn’t recall any negative interactions with Hoyt.

Boehner had no comment about Monday’s verdict, a spokeswoman said.

“Mental illness is just that. It’s a disruption of the brain,” Black told the courtroom Monday, according to WCPO. “Mr. Hoyt was unable to appreciate what he was doing. He’s been suffering from mental illness and will continue to suffer moving forward.”

City leaders in Deer Park, where Hoyt lived, said they were surprised by Hoyt’s death threats against the Speaker, emphasizing that they weren’t reflective of their quiet, working-class community.

“We’re kind of like Mayberry here and I think he was just a troubled soul who happened to live here,” Deer Park Councilwoman Lori Newsom said in a recent interview.