By Fallan Patterson

Staff Writer

A judge signed an order this morning committing accused murderer Steven Bronson to a state mental facility due to being found incompetent to stand trial for the 1979 slaying of St. Cloud housewife Norma Thomas Paige.

Osceola Circuit Judge Scott Polodna found evidence for Bronson, 63, to be involuntarily placed in inpatient treatment from evaluations performed by four mental health professionals, the order stated.

Polodna wrote in the order that Bronson appeared to qualify for involuntary commitment because “he is mentally ill” and is “unable to determine for himself whether placement is necessary.” Polodna added that Bronson is “manifestly incapable of surviving alone” and without placement “is likely to suffer from neglect or refuse to care for himself,” which “poses a real and present threat to of substantial harm to his well-being.”

The order comes after the Florida Department of Children and Families in July filed a motion not to accept Bronson per state statute that stated that the agency was only responsible for individuals who were found incompetent to stand trial but were able to be rehabilitated.

DCF was reviewing the order this afternoon to determine their response to the court, if any, however spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the agency stands by its previous motion.

“We do not believe Mr. Bronson meets the criteria (for DCF placement),” she said due to the “very unlikely” occurrence of Bronson's competency being reinstated.

DCF has 15 days to respond to the order.

Polodna's order followed a hearing Oct. 5 called by public defender Robert Wesley, who filed a motion to dismiss first-degree murder charge based on Bronson's mental state. If the charge was dropped, Bronson could be placed in a public nursing home.

Currently, Bronson is at the Osceola County Jail on no bond and has racked up more than $46,000 for direct care and medication in the facilities' medical ward, county spokesman Larry Krause said. Bronson receives around-the-clock treatment for his physical ailments brought on by a series of strokes in 2003, Wesley has said, previously calling Bronson's condition a “drag race with dementia.”

Messages left at the Orange-Osceola Public Defender's Office were not returned late Monday.

The victim's family was receptive to Bronson's placement at a state mental facility since the likelihood of him standing trial is small.

“It's our only alternative. We can't go to court and find him guilty,” Cheryl Hickman, Page's cousin, who was instrumental in pushing for the case to be re-evaluated last year, said. “It's a shame he's gotten away with it, basically. There's absolutely without a shadow of a doubt proof he did it.”

Hoeppner said that due to the law keeping DCF from taking responsibility, the alternative for Bronson was “similar to the care he was receiving prior to his charges” when he was living at the Avante nursing home a mile from the murder scene in St. Cloud.

“We certainly sympathize with the family,” Hoeppner said.

Page's family feared Bronson will hurt someone else if he is released to a nursing home rather than a state mental hospital.

“The elderly don't deserve that,” Hickman said, adding some justice is served with Bronson in a state facility. “We'll get a peace of mind to know he is not in a plush situation and (enjoying) a normal way of life.”

Bronson is accused of stabbing Page to death inside the Church of the Nazarene's parsonage June 21, 1979, while Page's two sons, then ages 2 and 4, were present. Bronson was connected to the crime after DNA found on several articles of clothing matched him. He was arrested in December.