OLYMPIA, Wash. - An attempted murder charge against an 83-year-old man has been dropped with a judge's ruling that he was insane, possibly because of a reaction to medication, when he stabbed his wife.

Prosecutors did not object to the conditional release of Eric Attwood of Yelm, whose trial was set to begin Monday in Thurston County Superior Court.

Judge Christine A. Pomeroy ordered that Attwood continue to receive mental health and medical treatment at Providence St. Peter Hospital, take medications as prescribed and accept monitoring by a probation officer who will report any changes in his activities to the court.

Defense lawyers said he stabbed his wife Margaret while she was asleep on Oct. 3 because of a bad reaction to a prescription antidepressant. He has been at a family group home since June, when he was released from Western State Hospital following a mental evaluation.

Pomeroy scheduled a hearing on whether Attwood can return home for Sept. 12.

He has been taking a different antidepressant and has been prescribed antipsychotics, and the difference is "night and day," defense lawyer Jeffery P. Robinson said.

The couple had been married for 60 years without any domestic violence before the attack, which Robinson blamed on a sample of the prescription medication Wellburtin that a doctor had prescribed for Attwood because his family was concerned about symptoms of depression.

In 2004 Wellbutrin was one of several antidepressants the Food and Drug Administration announced could increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in children or adolescents being treated for depression. The FDA issued a similar warning for adults last year but added that more study was needed.

Attwood had been taking Wellbutrin for 12 days when the attack occurred.