Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Craft found incompetent to stand trial


 

POUGHKEEPSIE — Two court-appointed psychiatrists have found Christopher Craft, 42, of Stanfordville, mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was sent to Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in Orange County following an arraignment at the Dutchess County Courthouse on Nov. 30.

Craft is accused of holding Stissing Mountain Middle School Principal Robert Hess hostage at gunpoint for more than two hours on Nov. 10 with a 12-gauge shotgun. He surrendered after speaking with hostage negotiators from state and county police departments. Students at Stissing Mountain Middle/High School were all evacuated safely.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ed Whitesell confirmed that court documents state Craft wanted to attract media attention to what he claimed was unfair treatment of his son, Christopher Craft Jr., by the United States Army. He was reportedly looking to get social services for himself and his son, Whitesell said, and he was seeking Hess’ help in arranging a meeting with FBI and military personnel to discuss his son’s treatment.

Craft will be kept at Mid-Hudson Psychiatric until it is determined that he is competent to stand trial, explained Chief Assistant Public Defender Thomas Angell, who is Craft’s attorney.

"Normally people come back within a couple of months [to stand trial]," Angell said. "It’s rare, I’ve only had a few cases where someone stayed beyond the one year mark."

If that mark is met, Angell explained that another court order would be required to keep Craft at the psychiatric center.

Until Craft is able to stand trial, the criminal case cannot move forward. Craft entered not-guilty pleas to 11 felony charges and three misdemeanors during the arraignment before Dutchess County Court Judge Thomas Dolan.

Felony charges include one count of kidnapping in the second degree, two counts of criminal use of a firearm, one count of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of burglary in the second degree, two counts of criminal trespass in the first degree and one count of unlawful imprisonment.
He also faces three misdemeanor counts of menacing. If convicted, Craft faces a sentence of up to 25 years in state prison.

Lakeville Journal

Latest News

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.

Jay Ballesteros

Fast fashion has made it possible to buy the latest trend almost as quickly as it appears on social media. The environmental cost, however, is anything but fleeting. Fashion production accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, consumes enormous quantities of water and energy, and an estimated 85% of textiles end up in landfills each year. Synthetic fabrics also shed microplastics when washed.

So what would happen if we slowed things down?

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
It’s a joyful process. —Susan Schneider

A beautiful September morning found Susan Schneider of Shandell’s working in her Ashley Falls home studio, while linen cocktail napkins she had marbled the day before hung on a line outside her back door. Her helpers, dogs Daisy and Stubbs, are never far from her.

“Marbling,” Schneider explained, “the art of floating paint on a liquid and printing it on a medium, has been around for hundreds of years.”

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Through the lens of war

Through the lens of war

“Omaha Beach Rescue, D-Day +1, Normandy, June 7, 1944.” one of the best-known photographs of D-Day.

Walter Rosenblum

Longtime Norfolk resident Nina Rosenblum will present her award-winning documentary, “They Fight With Cameras,” on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Library.

The film tells the story of her father, decorated U.S. Army Signal Corps combat cameraman Walter Rosenblum.

Keep ReadingShow less
film
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Filmmaker Brian Gersten

D.H. Callahan

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, award-winning filmmaker Brian Gersten will screen four short documentaries at the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, exploring obscure topics such as a lingering territorial dispute between the United States and Canada, a nationwide toilet paper panic sparked by a late-night joke, the infamous “Balloon Boy” saga and the history of bowling in America.

The Chicago-raised, Millerton-based filmmaker has worked as an editor on feature-length documentaries like the cycling film “Enter the Slipstream” and Netflix’s profile on author Tom Wolfe, “Radical Wolfe.” In 2025, “Why We Dream,” a film he edited about bringing D-Day veterans back to the beaches of Normandy, premiered aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City. When it comes to directing, Gersten’s own interests focus more on the underappreciated and unremembered, as the four short films he directed will demonstrate.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show
Muriel Stockdale, left, and judge Roger McKee during the awards announcement at the juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church. Stockdale\u2019s \u201cKevin\u201d was the second place winner.
Patrick L. Sullivan

The annual juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lime Rock was won by Mi-Kyung Hwang of Sharon for “Wild Hazelnut from Eggleston.”

The winners were announced at the show’s opening reception at the church Friday evening, Sept. 18.

Keep ReadingShow less
art show

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

Graham Nash brings a career-spanning retrospective to the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, joined by Todd Caldwell, Adam Minkoff and Zack Djanikian.

Misti Layne

Imagine stepping out onto a stage in front of hundreds of thousands of tired, wet and weary strangers with a lineup of songs they’ve never heard before. If you’re Graham Nash, who will perform with his current band at the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, you don’t have to imagine. You only have to remember.

The legendary Woodstock music festival was only the second concert Nash played with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Nash had already formed Crosby, Stills & Nash, releasing their debut album earlier that year. Theirs was a sound both new and nostalgic when it hit the scene in the late 1960s, and, thanks in part to the success all three members had had with previous bands, they instantly found a wide and willing audience.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.