A man accused of using a samurai sword to behead his ex-girlfriend on a San Carlos street pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday.
Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta is charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend, 27-year-old Karina Castro, the mother of his daughter, during an argument outside her apartment in September last year. Police say he used a samurai sword to nearly behead her.
Landaeta also pleaded not guilty per the facts of the case, claiming the victim had threatened him and his family, and he was responding.
Robert Cummings, Landaeta's attorney, pointed out his client has a documented history of mental illness and claims he suffered temporary insanity at the time of the argument and for some time afterwards.
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"There was this period of time that he was completely mute and not moving at all," Cummings said. "Other times there was small expressions and stuff, and as they upped his medications he came out of it."
Castro’s family angrily scoffed at the claim.
"He’s just dragging this out as much as he can," Martin Castro Jr., Castro's father, said. "This insanity thing, there’s no way. There’s too much proof there for everybody to see. He isn’t insane. He wasn’t insane. He knew exactly what he was doing."
Legal analyst Dean Johnson said the criteria for being found not guilty by reason of insanity requires the defense to prove one critical point.
"The criteria is that he didn’t understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of the crime," Johnson said.
The court granted a defense request to have Landaeta go through a mental health evaluation by a court-appointed psychologist and psychiatrist.
The two sides will return to court July 27 to hear the result.
Prosecutor Josh Keckley Stauffer said if he’s not satisfied with the report, he is ready to have Landaeta reevaluated by their own experts.
