Killer ruled as insane to ask for court s oversight to end

2/26/2005

BOWLING GREEN A former Wood County man found to be insane when he killed his 18-month-old son and beat his wife and 6-year-old daughter with a claw hammer will be in Wood County Common Pleas Court Monday to ask to be released from the court s supervision.

A conditional release review hearing for Phillip Sharp, 44, is set for 3 p.m. before Judge Reeve Kelsey.

In 1995, Sharp was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges stemming from a Jan. 12, 1994, attack on his family at their West Millgrove home. In 2000, mental health professionals testified that he was well enough to be released from a Dayton psychiatric facility where he had been living.

Judge Kelsey granted his release at that time with a list of conditions that included monthly meetings with his psychiatrist and weekly meetings with a community service provider.

At a review hearing two years ago, Judge Kelsey found that Sharp remained a mentally ill person who should remain under the court s jurisdiction.