Illinois man stabs himself after jury’s guilty verdict in sexual assault case

Johnny Icard, 78, stabbed himself in the abdomen in the courtroom using a folding knife with a 3 ½-inch blade. The jury that convicted him of predatory criminal sexual assault had already left the courtroom.

Authorities say a central Illinois man stabbed himself in a courtroom shortly after a jury found him guilty in a sexual assault case.

Cops are investigating how the man got the knife through metal detectors. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Pantagraph reports 78-year-old Johnny Icard was sitting alone Wednesday at a defense table in Bloomington where he had represented himself at trial. When the judge said he was revoking Icard’s bond, the Bloomington man said he had family affairs to attend to and wasn’t expecting the verdict.

He stabbed himself in the abdomen moments later. McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage says Icard used a folding knife with a 3 ½-inch blade. The jury that convicted him of predatory criminal sexual assault had already left the courtroom.

Sandage says his office is investigating how Icard got the knife through metal detectors.

Icard was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover. He’ll be sentenced next month.