A judge has found a convicted stalker not guilty by reason of mental illness for repeatedly violating a harassment restraining order two years ago by mailing greeting cards and letters to the St. Paul home of a then-midday host on 89.3 The Current.
Patrick Henry Kelly, 66, of Apple Valley, faced four counts of violating a harassment restraining order in two separate cases involving Jade Tittle, who left the alternative rock station in October 2023 due in part to Kelly, who eight years earlier stalked former Current DJ Mary Lucia.
Patrick Henry Kelly (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
In the latest charges, Kelly pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness or cognitive impairment. A stipulated evidence trial was held in June before Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher, who made her rulings last week, finding him guilty of all four counts and — following a second stipulated evidence trial last month — not guilty by reason of mental illness.
An October forensic interview of Kelly by a psychologist noted that he admitted having delusions of a romantic relationship with Tittle, but that she apologized to him through a “back-channel program,” Bartscher’s written order said.
The psychologist concluded that Kelly’s delusions “are reduced but not eliminated,” the order said, and that he was “driven by the idealization of (Tittle) and false and accelerating attributions (Tittle) loved him but could not divulge that openly.”
Kelly was convicted in June 2022 of stalking Tittle, who had filed a harassment restraining order against him in July 2021. Five months later, the restraining order was extended to 50 years. He was given a stayed 28-month sentence and four years’ supervised probation.
In his two cases involving Lucia, Kelly was sentenced to five years of probation and nine months in the county workhouse in December 2015 after pleading guilty to stalking and terroristic threats. He was given credit for 6½ months already served in custody. The convictions were reduced to misdemeanors after he successfully completed probation, which included no contact with Lucia.
‘By the tennis court’
According to the latest charges, Kelly sent Tittle two cards without return addresses between July 15 and 17, 2023. Although one card was signed “Joshua,” Tittle recognized the handwriting as Kelly’s from his letters he wrote to her in the past. In both cards, he told her that he loved her.
Tittle reported to St. Paul police on Sept. 15, 2023, that she had received an envelope mailed to her without a return address. Inside was a card and letter signed by Kelly, who mentioned that he saw her driving her car while “sitting in my car waiting for you.” He said he’d meet her “by the tennis court” at 6 p.m. on Sept. 17.
An investigator contacted Tittle the day after she made the report and she said she received another card from Kelly that was postmarked Sept. 5, but was originally delivered to her neighbor’s house. Kelly invited her to meet him at a Burnsville park, by the tennis courts.
Officers on Sept. 17 conducted surveillance at Kelly’s home and Lac Lavon Park, where he arrived at 5:45 p.m. He walked around the tennis courts “as if he were looking for someone.”
The following December, Kelly was found to be incompetent to face the charges, according to court records. A report said that Kelly was exhibiting active psychotic symptoms, specifically delusional disorder in which a person has difficulty discerning what is real and what is imagined.
Civilly committed
Kelly was civilly committed and involved in the commitment treatment process until Aug. 24, 2024, when he was found to be competent to face the charges.
The psychologist, hired by Kelly’s attorney, noted that his delusional disorder was the erotomaniac type, which “entails the conviction that another person is in love with the individual,” the judge’s order said.
The psychologist noted that “Kelly’s alleged criminal behavior “were indicative of his mental illness-driven delusional belief that beneath it all, she was not genuinely upset about his pursuit behavior. Thus, he did not know the true nature of the acts or that they were wrong.”
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Prosecutors are required by state law to file a petition for civil commitment after the not guilty verdict. Following due process and input from medical professionals, a judge will decide whether Kelly should be civilly committed.
Tittle told the Pioneer Press in October 2023 that Kelly first noticed her when she attended one of Lucia’s court appearances to support her friend. “Apparently he saw me and decided at that moment I was next for him,” she said.
Tittle, a St. Paul native who joined The Current as an overnight host in 2008, left the station in November 2023.
“It’s various reasons,” she said of her departure. “I’ve had the same job for 15 years and I’m looking for some growth. The stalker does play into it. It’s been three years now (of harassment). … I’m taking some time to focus on taking care of myself.”
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