Austin Miltenberger (Submitted photo)

After more than four years, the attempted murder case against a La Pine man who beat his mother with a gavel has concluded.

On Tuesday, Austin Miltenberger, 24, was placed in residential-based treatment rather than committed to the state psychiatric hospital. The decision came after Miltenberger’s one-day bench trial Sept. 22. He was found guilty except for insanity of attempted murder after striking his mother, Karen Morse, in the head multiple times with a gavel on March 16, 2013.

Miltenberger will be transported to Pendleton Cottage, a community-based psychiatric treatment center in Pendleton. Miltenberger’s attorney, Karla Nash, said the facility houses 16 residents, and for many it’s their first stop after civil commitment in the state psychiatric hospital. Nash said the facility is very secure.

Miltenberger will be under the authority of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board for the next 20 years. Frequent evaluations of Miltenberger’s mental state will dictate how he is treated during that term. Nash said as time goes on Miltenberger could be placed in less structured environments where he has more freedom.

Prior to sentencing, Karen Morse, Miltenberger’s mother, stood before Deschutes County Circuit Judge Beth Bagley to voice her support for more resources being devoted to serving the mentally ill.

“I really don’t think what happened should have ever occurred,” she said. “Bad things don’t need to happen. There needs to be more money and more programs.”

Miltenberger was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 18. Prior to the attack, Miltenberger exhibited psychotic behavior while living with his sister in La Pine, according to testimony given at the trial. He paced the halls at night and talked to himself in his room. He talked about a gavel that had gone missing, though at the time he had never had one.

He asked his sister for a gavel, and she purchased one online and gave it to him on March 15, 2016. The next day, he went to his mother’s house with the gavel and struck Morse with it repeatedly, according to testimony.

The case against Miltenberger was stalled as he spent 22 months in the state psychiatric hospital while evaluators determined whether he was mentally fit to aid in his own trial. In July he was found to be fit and was transferred to the Deschutes County jail.

Throughout court proceedings, Miltenberger has been subdued. On Tuesday, Bagley asked if he had anything to say. The 5-foot-10-inch, skinny man stood and said, “Thank you for being here for me.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0376, awieber@bendbulletin.com