So I work in the mental health field in NJ, and every day we deal with "Krol" clients who have a "Krol" case" and have to go to a "Krol" hearing. My younger colleagues don't even seem to know that "Krol" is a guy's name, and that it's not a acronym (I see "KROL" in a lot of documentation).
Since I'm a little older, and I went to college here in NJ, and since I was not just a Psych major but a Criminal Justice minor, I did learn years ago about the famous Krol case, which was the landmark case in NJ that changed the way people found "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" (NGRI) are treated. Even today, people under Krol are first confined in the State forensic hospital, then after a long period of stability and not exhibiting any dangerousness, they can transfer to the "regular" state hospital, and gradually get stepped down to community living. But they must stay in treatment, and they must continue to have at least annual Krol hearings before a judge.
The landmark case in 1975 was a NJ Supreme Court decision, when Stefan Krol and his defense attorney (a public defender!) challenged the state's standing law that essentially allowed NGRI people to be confined forever. The new law was now (and still is) that each NGRI case is to be decided on its own merits, with ongoing monitoring. Many NGRI folks have one episode of dangerousness, usually while not being treated, and they never become dangerous again, if they stay in treatment.
Stefan Krol was an immigrant from Poland, and a research chemist at Hahnemann University (then "College") in Philadelphia. He resided in Cherry Hill, NJ with his wife Rosemary Krol, who was originally British, and who was a biochemist at University of Pennsylvania, also in Philly. They evidently met in England and came to the US around 1960. In 1969, Stefan's mental health problems flared up again. He had been previously diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and had severe episodes which led to hospitalizations, alternating with periods of stability and productivity. It seems in 1969, he had been getting more and more paranoid, and their 11 year old daughter had to go stay with friends. On August 6, 1969, Stefan killed his wife Rosemary by stabbing her several times. He then called the police himself and reported what he'd done. He was under the belief that she had been plotting to kill him. He was tried in Camden County court and found NGRI. Five years later, he and his lawyer won his landmark case.
So I wondered...whatever happened to Stefan Krol? Of Course, it's possible that he's still alive and in the State forensic center (Ann Klein), or in Trenton Psychiatric hospital or another state hospital. But since he was the subject of the landmark case, it would be unlikely for him to still be confined, when he'd just have to be compliant with treatment, non-violent, and generally stable for a few years, in order to get stepped down to a less restrictive environment. He may be alive--he was 49 at the time of the murder in 1969, making his date of birth ca. 1920, making him 95-96 today. But I also know that most people with Schizophrenia die about 25 years earlier than the average person without Schizophrenia (it's common to see our clients die in their 50s instead of the average in the 70s in the general population).
So if he died, when, where and how did he die?
I found in the SS Death Index a Stefan Krol born 28 Aug 1919, and died Feb 1976 in Philadelphia. Could be him, but not sure.
This same Stefan seems to be buried in Doylestown PA, north of Philly, in a cemetery for Polish Americans.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...GRid=154977169&
He has a couple other people named Krol buried near him, so maybe he and Rosemary didn't just come to the US together, but some relatives came over too? Also, this headstone says "DR PODCHOR" before the name Stefan Krol. In the Findagrave listing it has "Ensign" after that "DR PODCHOR" but when I google the Polish word for Ensign, I get "chorazy." the "DR" could, of course, be "Dr" because he was a very highly educated chemist. But would they really say "Dr. Ensign Stefan Krol" on a headstone? That would be pretty weird, unless it's some way that Poles tend to inscribe their headstones(?)
In the news articles I could find about the murder, I never saw any mention of Krol having been in the military, either in Poland or here. But being born around 1919-1920, there's very little chance he would NOT have served
somewhere in WWII.
So this is my best candidate for the "real" Stefan Krol right now. But then how did he die, I wonder? I can't find any death notice on the newspaper site I subscribe to (genealogybank), but then again, I have not yet tried common misspellings. How interesting that he died less than a year after winning his court case, which altered the lives of so many mentally ill people in NJ. I would think that some newspaper would have carried some story of his death, especially being so soon after the Krol decision.
Anyone want to poke around and solve the mystery of how Stefan Krol died?
(Note: please don't post anything about the daughter, who is very likely still living, and though she likely has a different name today, would not want to be identified online).
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