A Fond du Lac man convicted for a hate crime in an intentional crash that killed a Fond du Lac motorcyclist has been found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. As a result Daniel Navarro will be comitted to a mental institution for life rather than prison. A Fond du Lac Jury reached the decision Thursday afternoon, a day after finding Navarro guilty of first degree intentional homicide with a hate crime enhancer in the fatal July 3, 2020 crash that killed Phillip Thiessen, a retired law enforcement officer who was white. Two doctors testified that the defendant experienced paranoid delusions from schizophrenia. Navarro told deputies on the scene he intentionally struck the motorcyclist because he believed he was white. Investigators say Navarro complained he had been harassed by co-workers, poisoned, drugged, and verbally attacked by white people because he is Mexican.
