Inset: Jamie Anderson (Dane County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The residence where she attacked her father with an orange knife (Google Maps).
A Wisconsin woman is facing a lengthy period away from society after a violent episode where she attempted to murder her father, under the delusion that he was the devil incarnate. This dramatic case has captured attention due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the crime and the subsequent legal proceedings.
Jamie Anderson, aged 34, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect back in February. This plea was swiftly accepted by the court, although at the time, the judge noted that there wasn’t sufficient information to determine the appropriate sentence or the length of her commitment. This was documented in Dane County court records analyzed by Law&Crime.
By March, a comprehensive “Predisposition Investigation Report” on Anderson was filed and examined by all parties involved, providing further insight into her mental state and the events leading up to the crime.
In a decision made on Wednesday, Judge Mario White of the Dane County Circuit Court handed down a sentence requiring Anderson to spend 20 years in a mental health inpatient facility, aiming to provide the necessary treatment and ensure public safety.
The chilling incident unfolded on July 1, 2025, at her father’s suburban home on South Page Street in Stoughton, a quaint town approximately 20 miles southeast of Madison. That morning, Anderson embarked on a 16-mile journey on foot from her own apartment to her father’s house. It was around 5 a.m. when she rang the doorbell, setting the stage for the unfortunate events that followed.
During the early morning hours, Anderson walked some 16 miles from her own apartment to her father’s residence. Then, sometime around 5 a.m., came the ring at the doorbell, authorities said.
When the defendant’s father finally awoke and answered the door, Anderson first said she wanted to stop hallucinating, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Madison-based CBS and MyNetworkTV affiliate WISC and ABC affiliate WKOW.
Next, Anderson is said to have asked her father for a hug. In response, however, her father said he asked her if she was on drugs.
That question prompted Anderson to try and stab her father in the head, according to the complaint. Multiple stabbing attempts allegedly ensued, and some of those efforts drew blood, police say.
“I’m going to kill you,” the defendant is said to have repeated.
The two then fought as the scuffle continued inside.
The woman’s father told responding officers he eventually had to push his daughter over a coffee table so he could escape to safety.
Around 6 a.m., officers found the man on his front stoop with blood on his left arm, according to the complaint.
“She actually came here to kill me,” the man explained to police.
Anderson’s father said his daughter was still somewhere inside the house, police say. The defendant was discovered walking down a stairway on the side of the house into an alleyway, knife in hand. When asked to drop the orange-colored blade, the defendant immediately complied and was arrested without incident, police say.
Anderson allegedly told police she hallucinates and thought her father was the “devil.” She then went on to allegedly admit to cutting or slashing him roughly four times. The defendant further allegedly admitted she planned to kill him because she wanted him dead.
The woman’s father suffered serious injuries from the attack, resulting in staples in his head and surgery on one arm. In comments to police, the victim struck a somewhat conciliatory tone, saying the incident was “not her” and that her “mind is cooked” due to drug use.
Law enforcement on the scene described the since-convicted woman as “wide-eyed and staring at things that didn’t exist.”
Anderson was initially charged with one count of attempted intentional homicide in the first degree by use of a dangerous weapon.
