HUDSON - Two key defense witnesses Wednesday provided an unsettling glimpse into the mind of accused killer William Demagall during the fifth day of his retrial in Columbia County Court.
Expert psychiatrists described Demagall, who has been accused of murdering 56-year-old retired teacher George Mancini, as a psychotic and delusional young man who believed he lived in the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
The fair-skinned, medium-built Stockbridge, Mass. resident even had his forehead tattooed with the zodiac sign of Mercury to symbolize he was Merlin, the mythical Arthurian magician. The marking was the result of a “vision quest” during Demagall’s many nights in the mountains near his home. There he envisioned he defeated “the white stag” and ate its heart to become Merlin, according to testimony.
Demagall, 27, had allegedly stabbed and bludgeoned Mancini in a Hillsdale apartment on Feb. 11, 2006 using a foldable knife and a glass ball stuffed in a sock. Demagall identified the sock weapon as a medieval mace, according to testimony Wednesday. The incident occurred only 36 hours after his escape from psychiatric treatment at Berkshire Medical Center.
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After his grisly death, Mancini’s body was then burned on the floor of his apartment, with a blanket wrapped up to his head, similar to a medieval funeral pyre, the doctors said.
After being convicted of second-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Demagall won a retrial after the appellate court deemed Columbia County Judge Paul Czajka erred in not admitting an expert’s psychiatric report. That expert, Dr. Stuart Kleinman, testified Tuesday before Columbia County Court Judge Jonathan Nichols that Demagall suffered from schizoaffective disorder and he did not believe what he did was wrong, or have the capacity to understand murder was against the law.
Defense attorney Richard Mott argued that Kleinman’s testimony, originally intended for the prosecution’s case in 2007, was pivotal to his insanity defense of Demagall, indiciating that “he had a mental disease or defect” preventing him from knowing he violated the law.
While he concedes that Demagall may have killed Mancini, Mott has argued he did not have the capacity to know it was wrong.
Sixth-century justice
Drs. Stephen Price and Thomas Qualtere, both expert forensic psychiatrists who have evaluated thousands of patients, testified Wednesday that Demagall was in the midst of an acute psychotic state when he bludgeoned and burned Mancini.
Both doctors claimed Demagall suffered from a “mental disease or defect” that deemed him not guilty of murder. (Price had diagnosed Demagall with paranoid schizophrenia, while Kleinman and Qualtere diagnosed him with schizoaffective disorder, a mental disorder characterized by violent mood swings together with delusions.)
Demagall believed he was on “a mission” to kill Mancini, who he described as a “snake” to authorities.
Mancini’s first encounter with his killer was on Jan. 25, 2006 when Demagall and his cousin, John Hobart, went to Mancini’s Hillsdale apartment. Hobart wanted heroin from Mancini, according to testimony, and Demagall had a “vision” of destroying the “snake” for giving out his “venom.”
Demagall envisioned Mancini turning to ash before his eyes during that Jan. 25 meeting, according to Price, and that Mancini’s “life would end with him.” Price said Demagall felt that, as a sixth-century righteous messenger of God, he was justified in ridding the world of the “snake.”
“Since he was centered in time as Merlin,” Price said, “he was centered in the whole jurisprudence of that environment.”
During cross examination, Columbia County Senior Assistant District AttorneyDavid Constanzo questioned whether Price knew what triggered the vision of Mancini turning to ash and if he knew Demagall had a history of drug use.
Price said neither fact would have changed his opinion about Demagall’s severe mental illness.
Scene of the crime
On Feb. 11, 2006, Demagall arrived at the Mancini home, on Breezy Hill Road in Hillsdale, to complete his “mission” — equipped with knife and “mace,” as well as specially-designed pants for the act, according to testimony.
He had withdrawn a playing card, a two of spades, according to testimony prior to knocking on the door.
Price said the playing card indicated that he would use two weapons in the killing.
At the door, Demagall asked Mancini if he had drugs. An 11-page police statement given by Demagall previously presented in court described that Mancini “crawled” to the door.
After Mancini said he didn’t have any drugs Demagall proceeded to stab him numerous times and bludgeoned him to death. He even pierced under his eye with the blade, which Dr. Qualtere said was the sign of a hunter ensuring the prey was dead.
Demagall first attempted to put Mancini’s body in the closet, which Price speculated could have been used as a “tomb,” but then opted to burn the body on the floor wrapped in a blanket, signifying a funeral pyre. Police reports indicated Demagall put syringes atop the body before burning it.
After the incident, Demagall tied a gold shirt of Mancini’s to a nearby street sign, showing that the mission was complete, doctors said.
Investigators had also found a tarot card symbolizing death was connected to the incident. Demagall was later surprised to learn they found the card, asking if they had video surveillance in the apartment.
Cross-examination by Costanzo revealed the phrase “funeral pyre” was not used in any other statements given to police, but was referred to by Demagall during the extensive psychiatric evaluations.
When displaying the alleged murder weapons in the courtroom, Costanzo asked both doctors if it appeared they had been used to kill a human. Both said “no” and they may have been cleaned by Demagall, as a hunter would clean his weapons.
Re-direct examination by Mott to Qualtere questioned if interrogating police asked Demagall why he burned Mancini in such a way, why he referred to Mancini as a snake, what made his pants specially-designed, or what he meant by his “mission being completed.” The 11-page statement did not include any of those follow-up questions.
‘Spoils of war’
Both doctors testified to Demagall’s numerous possessions he had taken from the Mancini home after the “mission was complete.”
Soon after leaving the Mancini home following the murder, Demagall had appeared at a Rite-Aid pharmacy in Schodack to “barter” for medications he did not have a prescription for, Price testified. He attempted to haggle using hand-made jewelry he called “diamonds.”
With him in the pharmacy, he had several items that he told doctors were his “spoils of war,” including an oxygen machine for sleep apnea in a shoulder bag, a box of harmonicas — which he didn’t know how to play — and bandannas. He had also taken $270 in cash, a cell phone and a personal check from the apartment.
In a Rodeway Inn hotel room in Schodack, police later found the check, as well as the two of spades card ripped in half, which the doctors said was a symbol the “mission” was complete. He booked the room in the name of his cousin John Hobart.
The cell phone was thrown away shortly after the murder, according to testimony.
Malingering
Demagall had additionally filled out an application at Burger King in Schodack following the Rite-Aid incident, using Hobart’s name and a Social Security number of only zeros.
Police appeared at the Burger King in response to a tip and Demagall told them “you must be looking for me.” Price believed Demagall was referring to the Rite-Aid incident which drew some negative attention to him.
During cross-examination Costanzo asked where Demagall was when he saw police at the Burger King: he was in the bathroom, both doctors acknowledged, though adding he may not have been hiding.
Price said that the behavior of being forthcoming about police looking for him indicated he had nothing to hide — he believed he had not committed a crime.
That falls in line with his condition and the fact that he was not malingering (feigning a mental illness in order to receive a benefit).
Both doctors agreed that because Demagall had been off his medication for at least 36 hours leading up to the murder (follwing his escape from Berkshire Medical Center), and the fact that he initially denied he was mentally ill during preliminary psychiatric examinations, there were no indications he was malingering.
Malingerers typically are upfront about their illness and act irrational and aggressive, the doctors said, but this wasn’t the case.
Medical charts from a stay at the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center indicated he was calm, ate well, sleep well and got along with others — contrary to malingering behavior. The Center, however, indicated he may be malingering though trial doctors opposed that conclusion given his documented behavior.
While at the mental health center, he often said “I am, I am,” which Mott said was a biblical reference to God speaking to Moses.
Mott revealed in testimony that the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center was a court-appointed location for evaluation.
Doctors said his degraded mental state was additionally evident by the public signs that his “mission was complete” (golden shirt tied to street sign, funeral pyre in an apartment building, carrying “spoils of war”), furthering a delusional belief that he had accomplished a righteous task.
Qualtere said Demagall told him he had not killed Mancini but “slayed” him.
New evidence
A new piece of evidence was acquired by Mott midday Wednesday: a note allegedly hand written by Demagall and sent to his mother, Joan Hobart. Joan Hobart told Mott she found the note around Thanksgiving 2005, a few months before Mancini was killed.
Mott said the note was pivotal to the insanity defense because it showed Demagall’s state-of-mind leading up to the incident in Hillsdale.
Costanzo argued that since the note was undated, it was unclear when it was written and would be ambiguous to the jury.
The letter, Mott said, states: “I love you all, but my heart is God’s. My heart is with God and I do his will.”
The validity of the letter as evidence will be argued in court this afternoon. Testimony will continue Friday morning at 9 a.m. in the Columbia County Courthouse.
