A jury in Anne Arundel County, Maryland found that the gunman who killed five Capital Gazette employees in their Annapolis newsroom was sane at the time of the shooting, and is therefore criminally responsible for their deaths. 

Following Thursday’s verdict, Jarrod Ramos, 41, will now move to the sentencing phase of his trial, where prosecutors are seeking at least five life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The jury was responsible for determining whether Ramos was criminally insane when he fatally shot Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, Rob Hiassen, and Wendi Winters. Ramos pleaded guilty to the murders in 2018, but not criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of the “insanity” plea. 

The jury had to determine two factors to reach their verdict: one, whether Ramos could appreciate the conduct of his behavior and the gravity of his actions, and two, whether he could comport his behavior to the rule of law.

Prosecutors successfully argued the attack on the newspaper offices was a revenge killing, and that Ramos should be held criminally responsible for his actions because he began meticulous planning the shooting two and a half years before committing it.

Ramos planned to go to the Capital Gazette newsroom around 2 p.m. on the day of the shooting, prosecutors said, because there was an editorial board meeting planned with community members. 

Ramos’s defense lawyers argued that he suffered from a number of long term mental health issues, including what they called autism spectrum disorder, or the inability to recognize emotion, obsessive compulsive disorder, and delusional disorder. They hoped to persuade a jury that Ramos’ mental health issues and personality disorders caused him to fixate on the newspaper and he could not be held responsible for the shooting. 

Dr. Marshall Cowan, a psychologist from the state’s department of health, disagreed with the defense experts who testified that Ramos showed signs of obsessive compulsive disorder and delusional disorder. Instead, he diagnosed Ramos with schizotypal personality disorder, which causes an individual to have discomfort with those closest to them and behave in odd or eccentric ways, and narcissistic personality disorder, which means that an individual is vulnerable to criticism or defeat that can “haunt” them, causing individuals to react ragefully or defiantly in a counterattack.

Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess, the lead prosecutor, said in her opening statement that she agreed with defense lawyers that Ramos suffered from several mental health issues. But that “does not mean the person lacks criminal responsibility,” she testified. 

We will continue to update this story.