Paradise Township shooter pleads guilty but mentally ill
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STROUDSBURG, PA (WNEP) — A man claims he was mentally ill when he shot and killed a township worker in Monroe County.
The trial for David Green was scheduled to get underway Tuesday morning at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, but he pleaded guilty Monday morning to killing a Paradise Township worker in 2018.
Green, 73, entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder.
Green admits he entered the Paradise Township building in November of 2018 to talk to Michael Tripus, the building code officer for the township, about mold problems in his house. He then admits he shot him in the chest and Tripus died at the scene.
“He never really gave a firm motive for why he was targeting Mr. Tripus, why he brought a loaded gun to that meeting he wanted that day,” said Monroe County first assistant district attorney Michael Mancuso.
Pleading guilty but mentally ill is different than pleading insanity.
“Insanity is not guilty finding based on the inability to know the difference between right and wrong. Guilty but mentally ill, you understand that your conduct is wrong, wrongful conduct, but you do have a disease or defect that makes it hard for you to conform to the law.”
A forensic psychologist assigned to evaluate Green diagnoses him with delusion disorder and early signs of dementia.
That doctor diagnosed him with delusion disorder and early signs of dementia. The doctor says green was “desperate and distressed” in his attempts to get rid of the mold and what he described as the smell of sewage from his home.
His “intense” symptoms, as described by the psychiatrist, directed most of what he did, occupied most of his mental energy, and clouded his ability to act logically.
Green said he doesn’t know why he shot Tripus and does not remember what happened but did admit to the crime.
The four employees who were inside the building at the time of the shooting were prepared to go to trial. The township supervisor tells Newswatch 16 he’s just relieved those four don’t have to testify
“No one needs to relive that day. To this day, people don’t even want to talk about it. We don’t use that office, we’ll never forget it,” said township supervisor Gary Konrath.
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