Overview
- A Baltimore County judge on Wednesday granted the state’s motion to postpone the plea hearing for Anthony “Tony” Lechner, who is charged with first‑degree murder in the September 2025 killing of his wife, Kimberly Lechner.
- Prosecutors and defense teams are expected to move toward a not‑criminally‑responsible (NCR) outcome, and the family says the defense plans to seal any deal and the underlying psychiatric report.
- The Lechner children and their attorney have filed to get a redacted forensic psychiatric report and to delay proceedings so the children can review expert findings and prepare to participate consistent with the Maryland Supreme Court’s Adnan Syed guidance.
- The family’s lawyer says the estate at issue — the home, vehicles and retirement accounts — is worth more than $2 million and that an NCR finding could leave the adult children with little or nothing because the state’s slayer rule may not apply.
- The court will now decide how much of the psychiatric and competency material must be disclosed, whether the hearing is further delayed for a forensic review of alleged prison voice messages, and how the procedural outcome will affect both criminal disposition and estate rights.