OXNARD : Outpatient Care OKd Again for Cummins
A former Oxnard man released from a state hospital seven years after being found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity was allowed on Monday to continue being treated for his mental illness as an outpatient.
But Craig Eric Cummins, who choked and beat to death a 25-year-old Oxnard woman in 1984, still must live under supervised care at a Ventura County Mental Health Services-monitored facility, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert D. Meyers.
“The (latest) report indicated that he was making progress,” Meyers said.
On Nov. 17, 1984, someone called 911 and police found Cummins in front of the home with Sonja Stromme’s body, according to court documents. Investigators said later that Cummins was addicted to methamphetamine and that he believed the woman was the Antichrist.
Cummins, 35, was found not guilty in 1985 of second-degree murder in the beating death of Stromme, who had rented a room in Cummins’ Oxnard home. But he was ordered to Atascadero State Hospital for treatment, and released to outpatient care in 1992.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. ruled last year that Cummins had received sufficient treatment to be released from the state psychiatric hospital.
On Monday, Campbell ordered Cummins to report back to court Aug. 15, 1994, for another case review. Meyers did not oppose the decision.
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