Former Deputy Committed In Slaying Of Wife, Sister-In-Law

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge has committed a former Dane County sheriff's deputy with Lou Gehrig's disease to a mental health institution after a jury earlier found he was not legally responsible for killing his wife and sister-in-law.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Nicholas McNamara ruled Friday Andrew Steele is a danger to himself and others, should not be released and instead sent to an institution for the foreseeable future.

The 40-year-old Steele had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease to killing his 39-year-old wife, Ashlee Steele, and her 38-year-old sister, Kacee Tollefsbol, of Lake Elmo, Minnesota last August at the couple's home near Madison. The defense convinced jurors that the Saginaw Township, Michigan native suffered from a neurocognitive disorder as a result of ALS.

Steele broke down in court and apologized to the victims' families.

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