Hoggle Mom Improving But Unfit To Stand Trial, New Doctor Finds

ROCKVILLE, MD — A new and separate psychological evaluation of Catherine Hoggle — the mother indicted for the murder of her two children — has found her incompetent to stand trial, according to multiple media outlets. While the evaluation by a psychiatrist chosen by prosecutors did say Hoggle was improving, supporters of the children's father were frustrated by the finding.

"Ms. Hoggle is not currently competent to stand trial and remains dangerous," the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office said in a motion filed Friday, per The Washington Post.

Citing the report, prosecutors said that Hoggle was improving and is "approaching a level of understanding in which she could be considered competent."

The conclusion was reached by psychiatrist Christiane Tellefsen. Montgomery County prosecutors had picked her to conduct a separate evaluation on Hoggle after the 32-year-old mother was repeatedly found unfit to stand trial by her doctors at the state psychiatric facility.

Hoggle was indicted on murder charges in 2017 and is believed to be the last person to see her children, Jacob and Sarah Hoggle. The youngsters were 2 and 3, respectively, when they disappeared in September of 2014.

"We stand by our beliefs that Catherine is malingering," family members wrote on the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page started by supporters of their father, Troy Turner. "This is manipulation at its finest. This isn’t a guess, we have clear facts. Unfortunately for the doctors, they have no choice but to attempt to sift through nothing but lies. We are again devastated for you Sarah and Jacob. We are so sorry. We will never give up."

Since their disappearance, Hoggle has been held for treatment at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup. Doctors treating Hoggle at the state's psychiatric facility have repeatedly determined that she is "not competent, dangerous, but restorable."

Prosecutors believe the mother is malingering so she can avoid trial on felony charges — and have repeatedly asked Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg to allow a doctor of their choosing to evaluate Hoggle's mental state. On July 3, Greenberg agreed it was time for other experts to become involved.

With that green light, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy sent Tellefsen to evaluate Hoggle at Perkins. Tellefsen submitted a report to McCarthy on Wednesday, which he cited in his court motion on Friday, according to The Post.

In the motion, McCarthy said that Hoggle is in the middle of a medical trial with the drug Clozapine.

The National Institutes of Health says Clozapine "is used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions) in patients who have not been helped by other medications or who have tried to kill themselves and are likely to try to kill or harm themselves again."

WTOP reports that Friday's court filing states "the defendant has been partially responsive to Clozapine," but needs a higher dose to fully restore Hoggle. "The defendant is closer to competency than she has been in prior years."

Given the results, McCarthy has asked the the judge to allow Tellefsen to re-evaluate Hoggle in several months, before December's competency hearing, The Post reports.

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