Doctors Are 'Incompetent' Says Father Of Missing Hoggle Kids

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County prosecutors requested that a separate state evaluation be conducted on Catherine Hoggle, the mother indicted for the murder of her two children. The request came after the most recent court hearing where doctors told a judge that Hoggle remains mentally incompetent to stand trial after more than four years of treatment at a state psychiatric facility.

Thirty-two-year-old Hoggle — who was indicted on murder charges in 2017 — is believed to be the last person to see her children Sarah and Jacob Hoggle. Sarah and Jacob were two and three when they disappeared in September of 2014. Since their disappearance, Hoggle has been at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup.

At a competency hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors asked Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg to allow a doctor of their choosing to evaluate Hoggle.

Hoggle's attorney, David Felsen, said he was surprised by the state's request.

"There's no authority for the state to pick a doctor to do an evaluation. And that's what they asked for," Felsen told Patch.

Hoggle's doctors at Perkins have repeatedly said she is unable to stand trial. Until she can face trial, the judge will not allow her to be interrogated about the fate of her children.

During Wednesday's hearing, Greenberg referred to a report by Danielle Robinson — a doctor at Perkins — who said medical professionals treating Hoggle determined she is "not competent, dangerous, but restorable," according to WTOP.

Troy Turner — Hoggle's estranged partner and the father of Sarah and Jacob — said it is necessary for the state to conduct a separate evaluation. He also said that the report about Hoggle's ability to stand trial says more about Perkins' incompetence to treat her.

"If you have someone sitting there incompetent for four-and-a-half years, then that means that the doctors who are treating them at the time are incompetent," Turner told Patch.

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"You can't just be the same for four-and-a-half years," he added. "If she's not getting better, then she's getting worse. You can't say that she's the exact same. That doesn't make sense. If you're medicating her and you're the one treating her, then I don't see how there's no forward progress."

In an interview with Patch, Turner said he believes Catherine is competent to stand trial.

"She checks all the boxes for competency," Turner said. "She knows who everyone in the courtroom is, she knows what she is there for, she knows what the consequences she's facing are, she's explained that system to people before."

Greenberg has scheduled another hearing for June 10.

Prosectors have suggested Hoggle is malingering and they're building a murder case against her. Turner has maintained that Hoggle is acting a part so she can avoid trial on the felony charges. On social media, Turner has said that Hoggle tried at least eight times in one year to escape from her maximum security facility, either by tying bedsheets together or taking a security card from staffers.

Turner has said in interviews and on social media that Hoggle understands her situation based on conversations with her and that she should be questioned in court about the children's fate.

Family members ask anyone in the Clarksburg area who may have seen Sarah and Jacob to message the Facebook page, call or text (301) 549-9044, or submit a tip on the website www.findsarahfindjacob.com. Tips can be made anonymously.