GALESBURG, Mich. — William Wolfe shot and killed a married couple inside a unit at Galesburg Village Apartments three years ago. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Three years later, Wolfe is set to be released from state psychiatric care. A mother of a victim doesn’t understand why.
“Kailey was a shy but friendly individual,” said Denise Cooper. She loves to share about her daughter Kailey and her husband, Larry Walker, saying, “Kailey took their Christmas picture and made it into a shower curtain for their new home.”
That new home was an apartment in Galesburg.
“They moved in the same day as Mr. Wolfe,” said Denise.
She says for the next three months William Wolfe was always complaining about noise, saying, “There ended up being eight phone calls to the office, and 32 to the police station.”
Then on June 3, 2021, Wolfe knocked on the Walkers’ apartment door and shot and killed Larry and Kailey.
Denise said, “He stated that he shot my daughter eight times. He shot her till she shut up.”
Wolfe was arrested that day. Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Williams says people noticed that Wolfe might be struggling with mental health.
“He was evaluated by the Center for Forensic Psychiatry. They made a determination that at the time he committed the crimes which he committed, he met the definition of legal insanity,” said Williams.
Denise thought Wolfe would still be locked away for years.
“I wasn't thinking that he'd be out scot-free in a matter of year or two. I was thinking that there would be some kind of repercussions for this individual,” said Denise.
On Tuesday she got a call from the state that Wolfe would be released from the Kalamazoo State Psychiatric Hospital's custody and placed into adult foster care.
Denise said, “There is no lockdown in an adult foster home; there is no guidance. Is Mr. Wolfe going to take his medicine? Is Mr. Wolfe going to be compliant? No, we don't know that.”
She says she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what she went through and that laws need to be changed.
“That an individual such as Mr. Wolfe isn't just turned out on a street, because basically, that's what they're doing, even though they claim they're going to monitor him. I know how the system works,” said Denise.
She was told that Wolfe will be placed in an undisclosed adult foster home sometime next week.
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