John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot and nearly killed President Ronald Reagan in 1981, now spends most of the year living in a big house full of windows in a gated community.
The wood-and-brick home belongs to Hinckley’s 89-year-old mother. It is located in Williamsburg, Va., on the grounds of the Kingsmill resort — amid a small forest of mature trees and on the 13th green of a golf course, The Associated Press reports.
The gorgeous, sprawling resort, ranked No. 15 of 79 hotels in Williamsburg by Tripadvisor.com, boasts two championship golf courses, a pampering spa, four restaurants and a huge pool complete with a lazy river. Kids activities are plentiful.
In his ample leisure time, Hinckley, now 59, enjoys many hobbies, including painting, playing guitar and contemplative walks. He drives a Toyota around town. He eats at Wendy’s.
At trial, a jury found Hinckley, the wealthy scion of an oil company executive, not guilty by reason of insanity. Instead of prison, his sentence was confinement at St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric facility in the southeast quadrant of the nation’s capital.
In 2013, pursuant to a judge’s order, Hinckley was allowed to begin spending 17 days each month at the rambling Williamsburg home.
Psychologists testified on Hinckley’s behalf, saying that the risk he now poses to society is “decidedly low.”
Hinckley’s window of freedom has grown gradually. Beginning in 2006, the court overseeing his mental hospital confinement allowed him three-night visits to Williamsburg. Then it was four nights, etc.
He must still meeting with a psychiatrist as well as a therapist regularly. He also has to do unspecified volunteer work.
Hinckley was 25 when attempted to assassinate Reagan because of his obsession with Jodie Foster, the actress who had enthralled Hinckley by playing a 12-year-old prostitute in “Taxi Driver,” a 1976 movie.
Hinckley shot Reagan, as well as three other people: White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington, D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty.
At the time, Hinckley called the assassination attempt “the greatest love offering in the history of the world.”
All four victims lived, though Brady would die decades later because of his injuries.
Reagan famously quipped “Honey, I forgot to duck” to first lady Nancy Reagan as hospital personnel wheeled him into surgery.
Hinckley’s gradually increasing taste of freedom has not been without problems. In 2011, for example, he lied about going to a movie and to a bookstore. The Secret Service, which still keeps tabs on Hinckley from time to time, reported that he had spent time looking at shelves where books about Reagan were located. He didn’t pick any of the books up.
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