Albrecht Muth‘s health has grown strong enough that he was released from United Medical Center and returned to the D.C. Jail, according to an email from a hospital official.
The email, which was forwarded to prosectors, defense attorneys and Judge Russell Canan, said Muth was discharged from the hospital May 1.
Muth, however, stated he would begin fasting again that day.
It’s unclear whether he has eaten since his return to the jail, or how the transfer will affect his pending trial on charges that he murdered his wife, Viola Drath, in 2011.
Muth’s latest hunger strike sparked weeks of status hearings during which prosecutors and Muth’s defense attorneys debated a way to bring Muth to court without risking his death.
At the last hearing April 25, Canan had asked for briefs outlining each side’s position on the legality of holding Muth’s trial while he appears from the hospital by video link.
The fast, which Muth said was religiously motivated, resulted in his original March trial date being vacated. Muth is now scheduled to go to trial in December.
The email from a United Medical Center doctor is below:
