Judge To Consider 'Amnesia' Defense In St. Charles Attempted Murder

ST. CHARLES, IL – Days before a 67-year-old St. Charles man was slated to go to trial for attempting to murder his wife, his attorney is now claiming the man suffers from amnesia and has requested a judge allow a fitness evaluation be completed on him, the Daily Herald reports. Scott Turyna is accused of severely beating his wife inside their home on the 400 block of Hunt Club Drive on May 3. That fight moved outside where Turyna allegedly fired bullets in the direction of of his wife before he was tackled, and held down, by District 303 School Board president Steven Spurling who happened to be walking by the couple’s home with his wife at the time of the domestic incident.

On Tuesday, Kane County Judge D.J. Tegeler approved the defense request and ordered the Kane County Diagnostic Center to do an evaluation on Turyna, the Daily Herald reports. The evaluation order will delay Turyna's trial, which was supposed to start on Tuesday.

Defense attorney Allison Motto first brought Turyna's amnesia to the judge's attention last week and says her client does not remember any of the domestic incident, except when he fired his final shot, which he said was not aimed at his wife and was straight into the air, according to the Daily Herald. She said because of his memory loss, he is not able to help his lawyers with his defense.

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Tegeler will ultimately decide, after the evaluation, whether Turyna is fit to stand trial.

Turyna is free on bail. His wife of 26 years filed for divorce days after the May domestic, which stemmed from an argument over financial matters between Turyna and his wife. Turyna threatened to kill the woman, pushed her down on the kitchen floor, sat on her chest and started punching her in the head and upper body, Kintz said.

“He let her up and walked towards a cabinet where his wife knew a handgun was stored,” according to St. Charles police. “She ran out of the garage and crawled under the garage door as it was opening.”

At that same time, school board president Steven Spurling, and his wife, Diane, were walking by.Police said the couple helped the victim up and started to walk away with her, “sensing that something was not right.” Turyna came out and tried to explain that the woman had just fallen.

Diane Spurling started walking with the victim to get her away. Turyna walked after them and produced a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber 5-shot revolver and began firing in the direction of the two women, Kintz said.

"One shot went off and then another. It took a second or two for me to register what was happening,” Spurling told Patch in May. When he did, he quickly grabbed the shooter and tackled him to the ground. He estimates that a total of four shots were fired. Spurling got the handgun and threw it away from the area. He then held the suspect down until police arrived.

The victim ran to a home in the 500 block of Steeplechase Road, screaming that she needed help, police said. A teenager let the injured woman into the home. The woman was later taken to Delnor Hospital with extensive injuries.

During a search of the home on Steeplechase Road, a bullet was found inside. A juvenile was inside the home not injured.

The gun in the incident was recovered and contained five spent shell casings. Police searched Turyna’s home and found 26 firearms and about 3000 rounds of ammunition, police said. Turyna did have a valid Firearm Owner Identification card.

Photo via Kane County Sheriff's Office

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• Bail Set at $500000 for Husband Charged With Attempted Murder