The man accused of assaulting and kidnapping Elie Wiesel -- attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes, to be exact -- changed his not guilty plea to one of insanity today. Earlier this year, if you recall, Eric Hunt, 23, stalked and dragged the Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor from an elevator at the Argent Hotel (recently re-branded Westin San Francisco Market Street, even though it's totally located on Third Street) and then assaulted him.

Diagnosed as bi-polar, and having already offered his mea culpa to Wiesel, today's third plea change makes sense. Sort of. According to Bay City News (via SF Examiner), Hunt "dropped his original insanity plea and simply pleaded not guilty this summer as his defense lawyer tried unsuccessfully to get the case moved to a court for mentally ill offenders." Held in a psychiatric hospital since February, his trial starts in March '08.

Also, skinny slip of a thing, isn't he? (His top simply hangs off him!) Not the Russel Crowe in Romper Stomper type we had imagined.


Image credit: AP Photo / Mike Derer

Currently on sabbatical at the psychiatric unit of San Francisco County jailhouse for trying to beat the holy hell out of Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel -- and also hopped up on meds to soothe his lack of mental clarity , which supposedly triggered the violent incident -- the apologetic 23-year-old Eric Hunt will go to trial on September 4.

Staring down the barrel of six felony charges -- i.e., attempted battery, stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, elder abuse, and false imprisonment of an elder, each count also tagged with a hate crime allegation -- it will be interesting to see how this plays out since Hunt reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder. Which type of bipolar is unclear as of now.

According to Hunt's lawyer, this incident "came about as a result of a psychiatric condition and not anti-Semitism and hatred." He could receive up to seven years in prison and a $100,000 fine, said prosecutors.

Oy is right.