Man Who Killed Father in Laguna Niguel Committed to Mental Health Hospital

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 22-year-old man was committed indefinitely May 1 to a state mental health facility after he was found to have been insane when he killed his father on a Laguna Niguel trail the day after Thanksgiving in 2018.
Maximilian Gregory Ludwig was convicted March 21 of murder with a special circumstances allegation of lying in wait in a non-jury trial before Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue, who also found the defendant was insane at the time he killed 59-year-old Christopher Ludwig on Nov. 23, 2018.
Because he was found to have been insane at the time of the attack Donahue committed him to a state mental health facility indefinitely. As has been the case throughout the legal proceedings, many relatives and friends attended the hearing to support Ludwig….