Oregon Man Found Not Guilty by Insanity for Triple Murder Is Committed Indefinitely to State Psychiatric Care

A federal judge has committed 52-year-old Joseph K. Banks, a diagnosed schizophrenic and serial killer, to the lifelong jurisdiction of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board.

While the ruling places him under state psychiatric care indefinitely, Banks could be released if he no longer poses a threat to others.

He Was Living in a Residential Group Home When He Shot and Killed Three Men

Banks was residing in a Northeast Portland group home in 2022 when he fatally shot three men in separate incidents over a three-month span.

That March, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for unlawfully possessing a firearm — a charge complicated by his prior commitment to a mental health institution and felony status.

U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio ruled that Banks had violated the terms of his 2021 supervised release by failing to take his prescribed psychiatric medication.

Following the series of random attacks in Portland in 2022 that left three dead and three others injured, Banks was committed to the Oregon State Hospital.

First Ordered Into Psychiatric Care in 2007

Banks was first placed under psychiatric care in 2007 after a second federal conviction for illegal firearm possession. Court records show prior convictions dating back to 1997, including firearm and drug offenses.

He was conditionally released in 2021 to a halfway house, eventually moving to the residential group facility where the killings took place.

The first victim, 39-year-old Isaiah Hurst, was discovered behind the wheel of a crashed vehicle on North Morgan Street. Jeff Ramirez, 35, was the second to die after being shot in the torso while sitting in a car on Southeast Stark Street near 119th Avenue.

The third victim, 55-year-old Mark Johnson, was found near his SUV on the edge of Dawson Park.

Three other individuals survived after being shot by Banks during the same period.

Judge Baggio said during sentencing that any decision by the state to release Banks would result in his transfer to a federal medical facility, where he would remain until a federal judge determines he no longer poses a danger to the public.