MOORPARK : Judge Rules Man in Killing Insane
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A Ventura County judge ruled Friday that a 23-year-old Moorpark man was suffering from schizophrenia and was insane when he killed his roommate earlier this year.
Michael Philip Baity admitted stabbing to death Fernando Fierro, 54, in May. Baity and Fierro shared a house while Baity attended Moorpark College.
Baity, who was an honor student, was found two days after the slaying, wandering naked and bloody in a wooded area near Piru, claiming to be Jesus Christ.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. declared Baity insane after taking testimony from a psychiatrist and a psychologist Friday. Campbell scheduled a Dec. 18 hearing to determine where Baity will be sent.
Defense attorney Todd Howeth said it’s a “forgone conclusion” that Baity will be sent to a mental hospital, where he would remain until a group a doctors deem him sane.
“He could be hospitalized for the rest of his life,” Howeth said. “This is a tragic case for both families involved.”
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