ARVADA - A 43-year-old Arvada man was sentenced Tuesday to 28 years in prison for stabbing his mother at her home in 2011. Thomas Donovan, 42, was convicted of attempted first-degree murder by a Jefferson County jury in August 2014.
On June 24, 2011, Arvada police were called to 6098 Balsam Avenue regarding a stabbing. They found Cathleen Williams-Vandiver, 59, slumped over a car in her front yard. She had been stabbed by her son, Donovan.
Donovan had been evicted from the American Motel in Wheat Ridge, where he was living. Police say he was angry and he went to his mother's house. Court records say he blamed her for the problems with his living situation and told her he was going to get a knife. He went to the kitchen and got two knives. Before his mother could escape from the house, he stabbed her. She was able to get out of the house but not before she suffered five stab wounds. She suffered a punctured lung and lacerated liver.
Arvada police arrived within minutes of the 911 calls made by a neighbor and Donovan's step-brother, who ran from the house to get help when the attack took place.
Donovan had a 15-year-history of mental illness, non-compliance with taking his medication and illegal drug abuse. He had lived at his mother's house on Balsam until she moved him into a motel months prior to the attack. She had begun to fear for her safety with Donovan living in her house.
After Mr. Donovan was charged with the attempted murder of his mother, a not guilty by reason of insanity plea was entered and he was sent to the state hospital to be evaluated. The opinion of the doctor at the state hospital was that Donovan was insane at the time of the attack, and unable to distinguish right from wrong.
Prosecutors believed that Mr. Donovan was able to distinguish right from wrong at the time he stabbed his mother. They presented numerous witnesses and items of physical evidence to the jury. A psychiatrist who evaluated Mr. Donovan's medical records testified that although he had mental illness, he was legally sane.
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