Catherine Hoggle, the Montgomery County mother accused of killing her two young children in 2014, is seeking to use a not criminally responsible defense as her long-delayed murder case heads toward trial, according to NBC4.
Prosecutors are challenging the request, arguing it was filed seven months late and should not be allowed. The issue was argued in court Friday, but no ruling was made. According to NBC4, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said the late filing would “absolutely” delay the trial, which is currently scheduled to begin on October 19. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week.
The latest development comes about eight months after a judge ruled Hoggle competent to stand trial. Hoggle was indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, and was arrested on Friday, August 1, 2025, in Kent County after prosecutors learned she had been discharged from Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center.
According to court documents, Sarah and Jacob were last seen in their mother’s care on September 7, 2014. Sarah was 3 years old and Jacob was 2. Hoggle was arrested three days later, but investigators were never able to determine what happened to the children, whose bodies have never been found.
Hoggle was initially charged with child neglect, obstruction of justice and child abduction before prosecutors filed murder charges in 2017. However, those charges were later dismissed after she was repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial due to mental illness and remained committed to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital for years.
In December 2025, a Montgomery County judge ruled Hoggle was competent to stand trial after reviewing evidence that included drawings and recorded statements prosecutors argued showed she understood the allegations against her. That decision allowed the murder case to move forward.
According to NBC4, Hoggle’s attorneys now argue she was not criminally responsible at the time of the alleged offenses because of a mental disorder, asserting she was unable to appreciate the criminality of her actions or conform her conduct to the law. Prosecutors contend the defense was raised too late and say they have not received supporting evidence, arguing that allowing the plea would further delay a case that has stretched on for nearly 12 years.
The next hearing is scheduled for next week, when a judge is expected to decide whether Hoggle will be permitted to pursue the not criminally responsible defense at trial.
