bloodrayne
07-09-2006, 07:35 AM
Relatives Of Man Charged In Killing Of Detective Describe Mental Illness
Providence, Rhode Island -- In the two weeks before he killed a police detective with the officer's own gun, Esteban Carpio's behavior was by turns bizarre and frightening, according to his family members and girlfriend.
There was the talk of devils and the fear of being cursed; there was the paranoia, the sleeplessness, the random curse words repeated over and over again to ward off evil spirits.
Such peculiar conduct is at the heart of Carpio's insanity defense to the April 2005 killing of Detective Sgt. James Allen inside police headquarters.
A murder trial that had until now focused on the presentation of physical evidence shifted on Monday to a detailed discussion of Carpio's mental health as his uncle, mother and girlfriend took turns recounting his unsettling behavior in the days leading to the shooting.
Carpio was taken to police headquarters late on April 16, 2005, to be questioned about the stabbing of an 84-year-old woman earlier in the day. He is charged with grabbing Allen's own service weapon, shooting him twice at close range and then breaking out an adjacent office window to escape. He was captured on the street after a violent struggle with police and made his first court appearance with a badly bruised face partly covered by a protective mask.
Carpio's attorney, Robert Sheketoff, began presenting his insanity defense this week and is arguing that his client was too mentally ill at the time of the shooting to be held criminally responsible.
Relatives testified Monday that Carpio was preoccupied by fears that he was pursued by an evil force. He uttered curse words repeatedly to keep evil spirits away and even wore a string around his waist, given to him at a Buddhist temple, in hopes of staying safe.
"I heard him say that the devil's trying to get him. I heard him say that he's cursed. I heard him say 'What?' a couple of times when no one was speaking to him," said Yvonne Carpio, describing her son's demeanor during an April 2, 2005, car ride from Pawtucket to her home in Boston.
Carpio's girlfriend, Samein Phin, recalled Carpio that saying he was "the finest gold" and talking to himself and to his hand.
"He was telling me that somebody did voodoo on him and he was scared," Phin 24, the mother of Carpio's 4-year-old daughter, testified.
Both Carpio's mother and his girlfriend said they took Carpio to hospitals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for evaluation two weeks before the shooting. Yvonne Carpio said she called for an ambulance on April 2, 2005, and had her son taken to Boston's Faulkner Hospital, where he stayed for about four hours before being released with five prescription sleeping pills.
Phin said she warned detectives who were looking to question Carpio about the stabbing that he was in the throes of a nervous breakdown, had not slept recently and was not in his right mind. She said she gave Allen the same information at headquarters and asked him not to question Carpio without her present. She said Allen offered to get Carpio help if he needed it.
Prosecutor Paul Daly will have an opportunity to rebut Carpio's insanity defense.
He has tried to show that Carpio was keenly aware of his actions, saying he gave false information to detectives, seized an opportunity to be alone in the conference room with Allen, shot him in the chest and head with his own semi-automatic handgun and then shot out a nearby window in a semicircular pattern to escape.
Prosecutors plan to seek a punishment of life in prison without parole if Carpio is convicted of murder. He would be committed to the state mental hospital if acquitted by reason of insanity.
Stephen Heisel, a psychiatrist who interviewed Carpio in July 2005 and again last January, testified for the defense that Carpio was mentally ill at the time of the shooting and suffering from a psychosis characterized by distortions and misperceptions of reality.
Heisel said that someone suffering from a psychosis could still be able to walk, talk and perform other functions. He said Carpio suffered from delusions and had hallucinations.
He said Carpio suggested that he had inherited a curse from his father and was fearful of a devil or evil force that he thought could hurt trick him.
Heisel said Carpio, because of his mental illness, was unable to conform his behavior with the requirements of the law.
Providence, Rhode Island -- In the two weeks before he killed a police detective with the officer's own gun, Esteban Carpio's behavior was by turns bizarre and frightening, according to his family members and girlfriend.
There was the talk of devils and the fear of being cursed; there was the paranoia, the sleeplessness, the random curse words repeated over and over again to ward off evil spirits.
Such peculiar conduct is at the heart of Carpio's insanity defense to the April 2005 killing of Detective Sgt. James Allen inside police headquarters.
A murder trial that had until now focused on the presentation of physical evidence shifted on Monday to a detailed discussion of Carpio's mental health as his uncle, mother and girlfriend took turns recounting his unsettling behavior in the days leading to the shooting.
Carpio was taken to police headquarters late on April 16, 2005, to be questioned about the stabbing of an 84-year-old woman earlier in the day. He is charged with grabbing Allen's own service weapon, shooting him twice at close range and then breaking out an adjacent office window to escape. He was captured on the street after a violent struggle with police and made his first court appearance with a badly bruised face partly covered by a protective mask.
Carpio's attorney, Robert Sheketoff, began presenting his insanity defense this week and is arguing that his client was too mentally ill at the time of the shooting to be held criminally responsible.
Relatives testified Monday that Carpio was preoccupied by fears that he was pursued by an evil force. He uttered curse words repeatedly to keep evil spirits away and even wore a string around his waist, given to him at a Buddhist temple, in hopes of staying safe.
"I heard him say that the devil's trying to get him. I heard him say that he's cursed. I heard him say 'What?' a couple of times when no one was speaking to him," said Yvonne Carpio, describing her son's demeanor during an April 2, 2005, car ride from Pawtucket to her home in Boston.
Carpio's girlfriend, Samein Phin, recalled Carpio that saying he was "the finest gold" and talking to himself and to his hand.
"He was telling me that somebody did voodoo on him and he was scared," Phin 24, the mother of Carpio's 4-year-old daughter, testified.
Both Carpio's mother and his girlfriend said they took Carpio to hospitals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for evaluation two weeks before the shooting. Yvonne Carpio said she called for an ambulance on April 2, 2005, and had her son taken to Boston's Faulkner Hospital, where he stayed for about four hours before being released with five prescription sleeping pills.
Phin said she warned detectives who were looking to question Carpio about the stabbing that he was in the throes of a nervous breakdown, had not slept recently and was not in his right mind. She said she gave Allen the same information at headquarters and asked him not to question Carpio without her present. She said Allen offered to get Carpio help if he needed it.
Prosecutor Paul Daly will have an opportunity to rebut Carpio's insanity defense.
He has tried to show that Carpio was keenly aware of his actions, saying he gave false information to detectives, seized an opportunity to be alone in the conference room with Allen, shot him in the chest and head with his own semi-automatic handgun and then shot out a nearby window in a semicircular pattern to escape.
Prosecutors plan to seek a punishment of life in prison without parole if Carpio is convicted of murder. He would be committed to the state mental hospital if acquitted by reason of insanity.
Stephen Heisel, a psychiatrist who interviewed Carpio in July 2005 and again last January, testified for the defense that Carpio was mentally ill at the time of the shooting and suffering from a psychosis characterized by distortions and misperceptions of reality.
Heisel said that someone suffering from a psychosis could still be able to walk, talk and perform other functions. He said Carpio suffered from delusions and had hallucinations.
He said Carpio suggested that he had inherited a curse from his father and was fearful of a devil or evil force that he thought could hurt trick him.
Heisel said Carpio, because of his mental illness, was unable to conform his behavior with the requirements of the law.