By Shereen Siewert
MERRILL — A Wausau man accused of fatally shooting a friend at a Tomahawk home is claiming insanity, according to court records.
Eric Moen, 32, faces charges in Lincoln County Circuit Court of first degree intentional homicide in connection with the Nov. 16 shooting of 52-year-old Charles Ramp of Tomahawk. Police say Moen lured Ramp outside of his home, then fired five shots at Ramp from a .20-gauge shotgun before driving away.
Ramp was taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Tomahawk, where he died from his injuries. Police say the two men were friends for several years before the shooting.
At an arraignment hearing Wednesday, Moen pleaded not guilty by reason of disease or defect. The so-called insanity defense asserts that a defendant is not responsible for criminal conduct because he did not possess “substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law,” according to the Legal Information Institute.
When judges ultimately agree, the suspect is often committed to a psychiatric facility rather than a state prison.
A psychiatric evaluation has not yet been scheduled. Moen, who is facing life in prison if he is convicted of the charge, is currently jailed on a $1 million bond.
