LIHUE — A man who stabbed his mother to death in the First Hawaiian Bank last year was found not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday and remanded to a state mental hospital.
Louis Landsman was acquitted of second-degree murder after Fifth Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano determined he was not responsible for his actions due to mental illness when he killed his mother, Charlene Landsman, in a busy bank lobby last May.
According to the judgment of acquittal filed Tuesday, Louis landsman was affected by a “physical or mental disease, disorder or defect that substantially impaired (his) capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness” of his conduct or to conform to the requirements of the law, “thus excluding penal responsibility.”
Landsman’s lawyer, Melinda Mendes, on Tuesday cited “extenuating circumstances” in defense of her client but said that Landsman does not dispute the charges against him, conceding that, “this was not a whodunit case.”
Landsman will be transferred to the Hawaii State Hospital on Oahu, where he will be held for an indeterminate amount of time. He may be eligible for release from the psychiatric institution, although that will not likely happen in the near future, according to Mendes.
Landsman’s potential discharge from custody is conditional upon a number of “checks and balances,” Mendes said, explaining his release requires approval from physicians, who must first determine he no longer poses a public safety threat, followed by an application to the court and a review hearing.
“The reality is, that’s not expected to happen anytime soon,” Mendes said.
Prosecutors had intended to seek an extended prison term for Landsman, according to a court filing last June, notifying the defendant that if convicted, he would be “subject to a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.”
A panel of mental health physicians found Landsman fit to proceed in September, following his request for a competency hearing a few months earlier.
His trial date was initially set for February, but that date was continued at the request of Landsman’s attorney. Kauai County Prosecutor Justin Kollar did not object to the request, saying the two parties “have reached a possible resolution,” according to court minutes.
Landsman later waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to a trial stipulation, essentially leaving his fate up to the judge’s discretion. Valenciano issued his acquittal after reviewing 33 pages of evidence submitted by prosecutors, as well as the testimonies of the three physicians who assessed Landsman’s mental status.
Landsman walked into the First Hawaiian Bank on Rice Street shortly after 1 p.m. on May 17, carrying “a large, hunting-type knife” that he used to stab his mother, who worked as a teller, according to a Kauai County press release issued the following day.
Witnesses at a preliminary hearing held just days after the murder said Landsman came in and out of the bank a few times that day, engaged in a prolonged and escalating disagreement with his mother.
On his third trip to the bank, Landsman stabbed his mother “multiple times” from behind, according to a witness who said the woman turned to face her son before falling from her chair, at which point Landsman, “stabbed her several more times, then left on foot.”
Charlene Landsman was transported to Wilcox Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
This really is a joke right? This “the devil made me do it” BS is just one more sign of the incompetency of our legal system. The way this murder went down, he should have been in for life, or given the death penalty. Justice has no vision because of a blindfold. In this case, and in Society today, she has no face at all. What a joke of a Society we have become!
Who trusts the judicial community on Kauai, the PA office, the police Dept, and the Judge involved?
Good luck if you do.
Trust and the judicial system on Kauai does not go in the same sentence.
How many people and families has they failed and how many crimes has been goofed up and covered up?
Kauai is known as the wild Wild West of the Hawaiian islands for a reason and this proves why that moniker is the truth and nothing but the truth.
So do you people trust the outcome?
You can’t trust the judge with a history of corrupt acts.
***Witnesses at a preliminary hearing held just days after the murder said Landsman came in and out of the bank a few times that day, engaged in a prolonged and escalating disagreement with his mother.***
This paragraph on TGI! To me as a bank teller, the Branch Manager should have called KPD the first time he came to the branch. Everyone knew how the relationship was, knowing that came in and out of the branch, HELLO!! Call KPD ! maybe the son was going to kill his mother, but at least he wouldn’t have killed her at her work place and mess up the coworkers life. I am sure that watching their coworker get killed like that was a nightmare, nightmare for their whole life.
I agree. Char was my friend since we were young, a wonderful mother, and she did not deserve to die this way. I hope he is never released.
I am reminded of a Dateline episode shortly after my sister was murdered, called The Other Side of Paradise. The father of the young woman murdered by her husband said, “If you want to commit murder, come to Kauai. It is a murderers’ paradise. They get away with it 80–90% of the time.
We never thought her son would get away with this as he never showed any signs of mental illness and was never diagnosed with anything. It was only after prolonged drug use, beginning in a serious way in the summer of 2017, and use of “cocaine”/meth? every day for a month prior to the killing, as he told the examiners and others, that he went crazy and had a psychotic break. Reminds me of the Twinkie defense of Dan White when he killed Mayor George Moscone in San Francisco in 1978. The “diminished capacity” defense was outlawed in California after that case. But for the drugs, this would not have happened.
I feel the decision to choose care for Louis Landsman was the best choice that could have been made. I feel very deeply that Charlene Landsman, was a good and loving women and a mother who wanted to do best by her son, I also feel deeply sad someone was not there to help her help her son . The Louis I knew 15 years ago would not have chosen such an action – I in no way condone his actions – at all in the least and it’s beyond concerning that this occurred – but for the heart and soul of Charlene -care feels like the right thing- my prayer is this choice leads to healing for Louis and that healing can extend in to prevention of such being actions taken by others how ?,I do not know . Why I do not know .Namo Guan Shri yin pu sa.Bless you Char for your love for your son,and Louis in a state of deep grief and remorse You pray to your mother’s spirit to bless you with deep healing and that her spirit is held by the holy angels as she passes over to the light . Let this be a lesson to us all – Louis is not the teacher here he committed a crime against the women who gave him life -tragic and atrocious – perhaps compassion for this lost boy and the wounding that lead to this illness within him can be a catalyst for healing and and begin to end the cycle of such violences . This does not make this action ok -in fact it is very much the opposite , how can understandings of the wounding of this young man lead to greater safety of others? How can he be integrated into wellness again , what’s saddest to me about this sad situation is that no one was there for Char to help her care for her son in a way he could hear , that was all she really wanted . Mano Guan Shri yin pu sa.
I met Louie in de hospital. I never cared to know what he did.
He was always beating himself up for it.