Overview
- Montgomery County judges moved the trial window to begin between October 4 and November 5, 2027 following a status hearing held Wednesday, September 23.
- Hoggle faces two counts of first-degree murder from an August 2025 indictment tied to the 2014 disappearance of her children.
- Her defense has told the court it will seek a Not Criminally Responsible plea, Maryland’s statutory equivalent of an insanity defense, and a judge has ordered further mental-health evaluations to assess that claim.
- The prosecution must build a no-body case because 3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob were never found after they vanished while in Hoggle’s care in September 2014.
- Hoggle’s long history of severe mental illness shaped earlier proceedings: she was once found incompetent, committed to a state psychiatric hospital, released in July 2025, re-arrested, and ruled competent to stand trial in October 2025, and the upcoming evaluations will largely determine whether she is committed for treatment or goes through a conventional criminal verdict process.