SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.COM) – Prosecutors are weighing whether to pursue the death penalty for a Scotland man if he’s convicted of shooting five people, including three fatally, in Bon Homme County. Forty-two-year-old Francis Lange is accused of killing his former girlfriend, Angela Monclova, as well as her father, Librado Monclova, and Diane Akins. Vicki Monclova and an unidentified 5-year-old girl were injured in the Nov. 9, 2021 shooting at a Scotland residence. Circuit Judge Cheryle Gering has granted a second extension on the state’s death penalty decision. She has received a request from both the prosecution and defense for more time to complete Lange’s mental evaluation.
South Dakota has also previously considered a severe mental illness exemption. In 2020, a more expansive version of the bill failed in committee. This year, Senator Timothy Johns, a Republican legislator and retired judge, explained the importance of the bill, saying, “A person whose mental illness is so out of control that they are psychotic and cannot understand reality may have a different level of culpability or blameworthiness than a person who is not.” During a committee hearing, a representative from the attorney general’s office raised concerns that the bill would create additional hearings and expense in death-penalty cases, as well as possible avenues for appeal. Senator Arthur Rusch, a Republican who has previously introduced death-penalty repeal legislation, replied, “You know, if we’re talking about killing people, I don’t think there’s any harm in making sure we have the right procedural hurdles to do that.”
