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On Wednesday, August 10, 2022, Daniel Navarro was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide as a hate crime by a Wisconsin jury. He was also convicted of first-degree recklessly endangering safety as a hate crime.
The Fond Du Lac resident was committed to a mental institution for life by Wisconsin judge Andrew Christenson on Thursday.
Daniel Navarro, 29, a Mexican-American man from Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, was arrested for his involvement in a fatal crash on July 3, 2020, that killed a 55-year-old white man named Phillip Thiessen
Navarro had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, citing that he had a mental disease or defect. In the second phase of the trial, the jury determined that owing to his mental state at the time of the deadly crash, Navarro should be institutionalized rather than be put behind prison bars. He was committed to the state Department of Health Services’ institutional care.
According to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, two doctors testified in front of the jury on Thursday that Daniel Navarro suffered from paranoid delusions and schizophrenia. These testimonials influenced the jury's decision regarding Navarro's future.
Navarro's attorney, Jeffrey William Jensen, believed that the jury made the right decision regarding his client's case. However, he could not find a reason to celebrate the ruling, for it is an “extremely sad case.” He said:
"An innocent man is dead. And if [Navarro] had gotten help maybe he wouldn't have ruined his life.”
Racism pushed Daniel Navarro to kill a white motorcyclist
Daniel Navarro was a victim of racism. Having been pushed to the brink, he killed a white stranger on the road in the hopes that in prison, he would be safe from racism.
On July 3, he crashed his truck against Philip Thiessen, who was on his motorcycle, in the town of Taycheedah. The impact killed Thiessen, a retired special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and a former police officer in Virginia.
The two men were strangers to each other, and Navarro had only targeted Thiessen because of the harassment he had to face on a daily basis from his neighbors and co-workers. When asked about whether the crash was intentional or not, Navarro replied:
"Yes, it was intentional, sir."
Navarro was charged with two hate crime charges, and on Thursday, he was committed to a lifetime in the care of mental health institutions.
According to law enforcement officials, Daniel Navarro informed investigators of how he had been 'poisoned, drugged, and verbally attacked' by white people just because of his race.
According to FDL Reporter, Navarro believed he was subjected to targeted harassment by Caucasians because he was a Mexican living in a predominantly white country.
In an interview at the Sheriff's office, Daniel Navarro further elaborated on the racism he had been facing for a long time. He said he wanted to go to prison for the rest of his life to escape from his neighbors, whom he could hear making racist comments through the walls of the house he lived in with his parents.
