Jury to decide on insanity defense of father who dropped 5-year-old daughter from Florida bridge

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (KTLA/AP) -- No one disputes John Jonchuck dropped his 5-year-old daughter from a Florida bridge to her death four years ago, but whether he is a murderer or insane will soon be up to a jury to decide.

Jonchuck, 29, goes on trial Monday for the Jan. 8, 2015, death of his daughter Phoebe, whom he dropped 62 feet into Tampa Bay as a St. Petersburg police officer watched helplessly. Jonchuck is charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, he will automatically go to prison for life.

If his attorneys' insanity defense works, he would be sent to a psychiatric hospital and it's unlikely he would ever be released. To be eligible, he would have to prove he was no longer mentally ill or dangerous. Pinellas County Public Defender Bob Dillinger told the Tampa Bay Times he knows of no Florida case where a killer was found not guilty by reason of insanity of first-degree murder and eventually released.

Successful insanity defenses are rare. Under Florida law, Jonchuck's attorneys must convince the jury his mental illness was so severe that he didn't know what he was doing or that it was wrong.

Jonchuck did have a long history of mental problems before he and his daughter ever reached the Dick Misener Bridge – his family told the Times he had been involuntarily committed 27 times – and seemed to be having a breakdown.

Twelve hours before Phoebe's death, Jonchuck's divorce lawyer, Genevieve Torres, called a state child protection hotline, fearing for the girl's safety.

Torres told the Department of Children and Families operator that Jonchuck had driven to three churches in his pajamas with Phoebe in tow that morning, called Torres “God” and asked her to translate his stepmother's century-old Swedish Bible, which he carried and had become obsessed with. The attorney said Jonchuck was also paranoid that Phoebe wasn't his child.