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.
