Pecatonica man found mentally unfit for trial in friend’s deadly stabbing

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Pecatonica man has been found unfit for trial in the 2019 stabbing death of his friend.

David Baldwin, 48, was charged in September 2019 with first-degree murder for the slaying of 52-year-old Scott Rocen.

Following his arrest, Baldwin was treated for a year at the Elgin Mental Health Center.

This week, a discharge hearing was held in Winnebago County Court to determine if he could be restored to sanity. Baldwin was found mentally unfit to stand trial and found “not not guilty.”

According to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to investigate a disturbance at in the 300 block of E. 7th Street around 9:30 p.m. on September 13th.

There, they found Rocen dead of multiple stab wounds, according to the Winnebago County Coroner.

According to investigators, Baldwin had been released from Oakhill Correctional Institution on Aug. 20 of that year.

On the night of the killing, Baldwin, Rocen, and a neighbor had been drinking at a neighbor’s house. At some point, investigators said Baldwin returned home. Rocen went to check on him, and Baldwin allegedly stabbed him to death, thinking he was a burglar.

The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office said Baldwin was the one who called police, claiming he had stabbed a burglar in the neck, throat, and stomach.

Rocen had been stabbed 13 times, authorities said.

The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office said that while he was in custody, Baldwin claimed that he was tired of people breaking into his house and stealing from him.

Judge Debra Schaefer ordered him to five years of additional treatment at the Elgin Mental Health Center. If he is restored to mental fitness, he will then stand trial for first-degree murder.