John Hinckley Jr. was the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
He was 25 years old when he shot Reagan outside a hotel in Washington.
The shooting also paralyzed press secretary James Brady and injured two others.
Hinckley was suffering from acute psychosis and major depression and had become obsessed with the actress Jodie Foster.
When jurors found him not guilty by reason of insanity, they said he needed treatment, not a lifetime in confinement.
Hinckley was confined to a psychiatric hospital in Washington for decades.
But health professionals have said that the mental illness that afflicted the 25-year-old Hinckley all those years ago has been in full and stable remission for decades.
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This is his story:
LONELINESS
Hinckley spent decades at St. Elizabeths Hospital in the nation’s capital.
He got out in 2016 and went into a gated community, known as Kingsmill.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman has said he is no longer a danger to himself or others and has gradually allowed him more time away from the hospital and more freedom.
Hinckley lives under a set of 30 conditions Friedman imposed including regular visits with mental health professionals.
Hinckley’s conditions include living within a 75-mile radius of Williamsburg, attending group and individual therapy sessions, volunteering or working at least three days a week and not speaking with the media.
Since then, he has had difficulty adjusting to a normal life.
Evaluations from 2018 depict a man who has readily taken on the role of caregiver for his mother as well as chauffer for his older brother who now lives with them and doesn’t drive.
While living with his mother and older brother in Virginia, he has also struggled to make close friends or develop romantic relationships in the Williamsburg area.
A friendly conversation with a neighbor prompted Hinckley to write her a letter proposing they go out for coffee. But she called the local authorities when she saw his last name.
Romance also has been elusive.
Hinckley said during one of his evaluations that “they were complaining I had too many women” when he was still in the mental hospital.
“Now I don’t have any,” he said.
HOBBIES
In 2016, he made purchases at Retro Daddio one might expect from a man of his generation: a book about The Who, the graying rock band then on a farewell tour, and an album by obscure ’60s rockers Ian and the Zodiacs that languished on the shelf for six months.
Last year, it was reported that he was interested in getting a job in the music industry, possibly in California.
In addition to a music industry job, Hinckley is interested in traveling, Hinckley’s lawyer Barry Levine said, possibly to visit his sister in Texas.
“He’s got some talent,” Levine said after a hearing in Washington, D.C., though he declined to elaborate on the kind of music industry job Hinckley might want.
According to court records Hinckley anonymously sells books online as well as items at an antique mall. Music has long been an interest for Hinckley, who plays guitar, writes music and sings. He participates in music therapy once a month. Under the conditions Friedman has imposed, however, he can’t perform publicly.
Hinckley also has been volunteering at the local Unitarian Church, cutting grass, raking leaves and building birdhouses, according to the judge’s 100-page order.
FREEDOM
“It’s been a long time since 1981,” Friedman said near the end of last year’s hearing, adding that he believes Hinckley is ready for the “next step.”
“The question is what the next step is,” he said.
Hinckley has sometimes appeared less than fully engaged in the world around him.
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By his own account, it appears he has been looking forward to living permanently outside the hospital for some time: “It’s really refreshing to be in a group with people who aren’t completely out of their minds,” he said, according to court documents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
