The criminal case against Chanukah Monsey stabber Grafton Thomas has been put on hold yet again after a Rockland County judge approved a fresh order keeping him in psychiatric custody, following a determination by the state Office of Mental Health that he remains unfit to stand trial.
Evaluators concluded that the 43-year-old still does not understand the nature of the charges against him and is unable to meaningfully participate in his legal defense.
Thomas is charged in both state and federal court in connection with the December 2019 attack in Monsey, where a man armed with a machete burst into a local rov‘s home during a mesibas Chanukah and stabbed five people. One of those injured later died as a result of the wounds he sustained.
Since the attack, Thomas has been held at the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, where he continues to undergo treatment and periodic evaluations aimed at determining whether he can ever be restored to competency.
Under the most recent court order, the proceedings have been postponed until January 2028, extending the case by another four years. The delay leaves victims’ families and the broader Monsey community in continued uncertainty, as the court remains in a holding pattern, waiting to see whether Thomas will eventually be deemed capable of facing trial.
