John Hinckley bid for more time at large dented by killer choice of reading

THE man who tried to kill US president Ronald Reagan was seen thumbing through books about his target and other successful assassins of American leaders, a court heard yesterday.

John Hinckley Jr is trying to get permission to spend more time away from a secure institution for the criminally insane.

Hinckley, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for his 1981 attempt to kill Mr Reagan, has been in a mental ward for almost three decades. He has been allowed to leave repeatedly to visit family in Williamsburg, Virginia.

His lawyers argued that Hinckley deserved more time away from the hospital and eventual release, saying that the hospital and his doctors do not believe he is a danger.

Prosecutors countered that Hinckley has engaged in repeated deception when away from the hospital, telling doctors he had gone to the cinema, but secret service agents tailing him found him browsing books on Reagan and presidential assassins at a bookshop in July.

“Mr Hinckley has a long history of deception and misconduct,” Sarah Chasson, an assistant US attorney told Judge Paul Friedman, who is to rule on Hinckley’s request for more time away from the hospital and eventual release.

Hinckley, 56, tried to kill Mr Reagan outside a Washington hotel in 1981 in order to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. Mr Reagan was wounded, as were White House spokesman James Brady, a secret service agent and a police officer.