A federal judge has committed 52-year-old Joseph K. Banks, a diagnosed schizophrenic and serial killer, to the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board’s lifelong jurisdiction.
The ruling permanently places Banks in state mental care, with the possibility of his release 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 living in a Northeast Portland group home in 2022 when he fatally shot three men in different instances over a three-month period.
That March, he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity for illegally possessing a pistol, a charge compounded by his previous commitment to a mental health facility and felony status…