'What have I done?' 2nd competency exam ordered in 'unprovoked' stabbing at Mukwonago gas station

WAUKESHA COUNTY -- Another competency examination was ordered Thursday, Sept. 5 for Ashlyn Wieczorkowski, 18, facing attempted homicide charges in connection with a stabbing at a Mukwonago gas station on July 15. Prosecutors said she stabbed a 59-year-old man in what police said appeared to be a "completely unprovoked" attack.

Wieczorkowski faces one count of attempted first degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.

She was in court Thursday for a review hearing, during which Wieczorkowski's attorney told the court Wieczorkowski was aware she's competent and wanted to move forward with the waiver of her preliminary hearing. The court advised Wieczorkowski that she's allowed to challenge the competency findings, and the court found Wieczorkowski competent to proceed.

Prosecutors asked that another competency examination be done to determine whether a not guilty by reason of mental disease/defect could be supported in this case. The first competency exam was ordered by the defense on July 26.

An arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 9.

According to a criminal complaint, around 9:15 a.m. on July 15, police responded to the North Star Shell gas station on Rochester Street near West Veterans Way, where the victim was found kneeling in the parking lot. There were several people holding napkins and cloths over his hand and chest. The victim was stabbed in the chest area (resulting in a four-inch deep wound), and in both of his hands. He was taken to the trauma center at Froedtert Hospital.

The victim told investigators he was driving a delivery truck for ACE Hardware and staff wasn't ready to unload the truck, so he went to get a soda at the gas station. He said a female hidden behind an aisle came out and plunged a knife into his chest without saying anything. As he turned to try to get out of the store, he was stabbed again in his left hand. He said he tried kicking the woman to get her away from him. He eventually made it out to the parking lot.

A customer told police, "She's still in there." In the store, Wieczorkowski was found in the coffee area with her phone in one hand, and a 12-inch butcher knife in the other.

Surveillance video showed Wieczorkowski waiting with a knife in her hand, before coming around the corner and attacking the victim. She then crouched down behind the coffee counter, and was soon taken into custody, the complaint said.

Wieczorkowski told investigators she stabbed the victim, who she didn't know prior to the incident. She said she took a knife from her home after her parents and sister left, and walked four miles to the gas station. She said she had been suicidal in the past, and her suicidal thoughts turned to homicidal thoughts. She indicated she had been seeing a therapist. The complaint said she indicated she thought there would be less people at the North Star Shell, so "she would be able to kill someone" and people wouldn't be able to apprehend her. She said she wanted to kill a female because they "would be less able to defend themselves." She said she stabbed the victim because he walked into the aisle she was in. She said she was initially excited, but then thought, "What have I done?"

When asked if she had accomplished what she wanted to do, the complaint said Wieczorkowski said, "Not fully." When asked what would have been "fully," she said, "That the person died."

The complaint noted Wieczorkowski told investigators she once brought a knife to high school and was waiting with it in the bathroom. She said she later told someone about it, and authorities were notified. She said a voice told her to do it. Officers confirmed the incident in October 2018.

Wieczorkowski made her initial appearance in court in Waukesha County on July 16 -- wearing a suicide vest with her head down -- facing 60 years behind bars.

"Frankly, there is no one even in the gallery here for her," said the defense attorney.

Cash bond was set at $750,000, and she was ordered to have no contact with the victim or the gas station. She was also prohibited from possessing any knives, and ordered to take her medication.