Man pleads guilty, mentally ill in shooting

A 73-year-old man who walked into a Monroe County township building a year and a half ago and fatally shot a zoning officer pleaded guilty but mentally ill Monday.

David Green, who lives in the Henryville section of Paradise Township, is awaiting sentencing after Monroe County President Judge Margherita Worthington accepted the plea.

Green had been charged with an open count of criminal homicide for the shooting death of Michael Tripus on Nov. 27, 2018, at the Paradise Township Municipal Building.

Green had parked at the lot for the building, when, a short time later, Tripus arrived to start his work day as the township’s part-time code enforcement officer.

After Tripus entered the building, Green followed him in and asked a secretary if he could speak to “Mike” and was shown to Tripus’ office.

Within minutes, Green pulled out a semi-automatic handgun from his coat pocket and shot Tripus at close range while he sat at his desk. The bullet struck Tripus in the chest, and he died at the scene.

Green placed the gun on the desk and waited for the arrival of police.

Green had never met or even spoken to Tripus, and the only interaction the investigators could uncover was about a year before the incident when Tripus had left a notice at a property owned by Green in Pocono Township.

During the subsequent police investigation, Green admitted to the killing, but did not give a reason for the crime.

Green said he believed that his home was the source of mold infiltration that was harming him, and described the lengths he went to in order to clean up the mold but felt that nothing he did was effective.

After a series of mental health evaluations, Green was determined by defense-hired mental health professionals to be competent to stand trial and not insane.

However, Green was found to be suffering from a “delusional disorder of the somatic type,” a condition described in court as a “false but fixed belief” that mold was harming him and he could not correct it.

Green was also found to be suffering from a mild cognitive impairment, some kind of pre-dementia condition.

Green will be sentenced at a later date, and can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 20 to 40 years for the crime.

Green was 72 years old when he killed Tripus.