AUBURN – A 55-year-old woman charged with attempting to kill her mother with a hatchet last year has pleaded guilty to the charge and was confined to Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta for treatment.

Nancy Jean of Lewiston was sentenced to eight years in jail on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault in the Aug. 1, 2007, attack on her elderly mother, Rita Jean, at their home. All but 272 days of that sentence – representing the number of days Nancy Jean has already served in jail – were suspended provided she commit herself to Riverview for treatment until counselors there determine she can be released.

Jean, who had been ruled competent to stand trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court scheduled later this month, will serve a three-year probation, with the condition that she have no contact with her mother, maintain her psychiatric treatment and continue to take prescribed medications. In addition, upon her release from Riverview, her probation officer has authority to approve her choice of residence.

Nancy Jean confessed on the night of the attack, saying that she was “sick and tired of the way her mother treats her,” according to Lewiston Cpl. Kevin Camp. Nancy Jean told police that on the day of the attack she had gone to the store and, when she returned home, found money missing from her purse.

“Nancy Jean said she went down to the basement, retrieved the ax and went to the kitchen where Rita Jean was sitting in a chair,” according to Camp’s statement. “Nancy Jean told me that she struck her mother in the head with the ax . . . that she just grabbed the handle and swung it.”

Nancy Jean brought the hatchet down a second time, but her mother was able to deflect that blow, according to police. The two women struggled in the kitchen before Rita Jean got hold of the hatchet and left the house, driving herself to St. Mary’s hospital for treatment. She required six stitches in her head to close the wound.

When police arrived at the home the women shared at 4 Diamond Court, a dead-end road off Orange Street, Nancy Jean was eating a hot fudge sundae, and seemed confused to see the officers. Within minutes, though, she confessed to the crime, saying “I did it.”

Nancy Jean, who has a history of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, pleaded not guilty to the charges during her initial court appearance and later seemed agitated when she learned people thought she had injured her mother. She told her treating psychologist that her mother’s injuries were the result of an accident.