Old Salisbury Road Murders - Trial, Verdict and Aftermath

Trial, Verdict and Aftermath

Hayes' trial began in Forsyth County on March 27, 1989. The scene became a media circus, resulting in difficulties in trying to seat an impartial jury. After several weeks of testimony, Hayes' defense attorneys convinced a jury that Hayes was insane at the time of the murders, resulting in a "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" verdict. Many in the community and state were outraged.

Hayes was committed to the Dorothea Dix State Mental Hospital in Raleigh. At Dix, he was given Haldol, a drug often used to reduce aggression or treat schizophrenia. The psychosis went away, and Hayes went off the drug in 1989. Since then, he has never been on medication for mental illness. Hayes' yearly petitions to be set free are usually met with protest from the victims' families and scrutiny by the media.

As a result of the public outrage at the Hayes verdict, the N.C. General Assembly has made a few attempts to change the law regarding verdicts of "not guilty by reason of insanity." The most notable attempt came in 1998, when a handful of Republicans, outraged by the news that Hayes had fathered a second child while ostensibly in custody at Dix, attempted to introduce a bill that would change an insanity verdict to "guilty but insane." Such a change would allow for incarceration, rather than release, following psychiatric treatment.