The State of Texas attempted last week to convince a federal judge to allow the state to execute Scott Panetti, a confirmed schizophrenic and convicted killer of Joe and Amanda Alvarado in 1992.
In August 1992, Panetti and his wife, Sonja Alvarado, separated. Sonja took their 3-year-old daughter and fled to her parents’ house following several of Panetti’s delusional episodes, during which he buried the family furniture and feared Satan was living in the house.
On the morning of September 8, 1992, Panetti donned military camo and shot his in-laws, Joe and Amanda Alvarado, before holding his estranged wife and daughter hostage for hours. He surrendered to police officers wearing a business suit.
Panetti has a history of battling severe mental illness and paranoid delusions that spans more than four decades. Before he murdered his in-laws, he had been hospitalized 14 times for psychosis.
While the prosecutors conceded that Panetti was highly delusional, they alleged that he was still eligible for execution by the state under 18 U.S.C. § 17.
Federal law lays the burden of proof on the defense to establish that at the time of the murder, the defendant did not understand the wrongfulness of their acts.
In other words, mere “mental disease or defect” is not enough to prove innocence by way of insanity.
Furthermore, prosecutors argued that Supreme Court precedents dictate that all Panetti requires in order to be eligible for execution is a “rational understanding” of why he would be executed, meaning that if he is capable of understanding he is being put to death for murder, his other delusions are irrelevant.
Panetti’s defense team claimed that Panetti believed he was a prophet and that “Gillespie County officials and residents were targeting him to cover up a large conspiracy, including a pedophile ring in which he has long claimed his father-in-law was involved.”
Dr. Bhushan Agharkar, a forensic psychiatrist hired by Panetti’s legal team, told the judge, “He believes he’s being executed so he’ll stop preaching, it’s the devil, and to cover up this conspiracy he discovered about his town.”
Panetti’s legal team also alleged that he was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time in which he believed an evil spirit named “Sarge Ironhorse” overtook his body and forced him to commit the murders.
The most recent appeal by the Texas Attorney General’s Office represents just the latest in the 27-year legal battle. Panetti’s lawyers believe that Panetti’s lengthy history of mental health issues proves him unfit for execution and call the incessant appeals by the state to execute him “a mockery of the criminal justice system.”
In Panetti’s 1995 capital murder trial, he represented himself and wore a purple cowboy outfit. During the trial, he testified as “Sarge.” Furthermore, he attempted to subpoena Jesus Christ, the Pope, and John F. Kennedy.
In 2004, his legal team appealed the death sentence, claiming he was not fit to stand trial. The appeal made its way to the Supreme Court.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 5-4 opinion that “gross delusions” made it difficult to determine whether or not Panetti possessed a rational understanding when committing the murders.
The court ruled that Panetti deserved a rehearing of his mental competence.
After listening to the state’s three-day appeal, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman will rule next year on whether Panetti, 64, is fit for execution.
Minnie Ybarabo, Sonja’s sister, said in a 2016 interview that postponing Panetti’s execution was “very devastating … I was looking forward to having some type of closure.”
“He’s not as crazy as they think he is. He’s not as insane as they say he is,” added the Alvarados’ grandson, Junior Herrera.
“It’s still so fresh in my mind,” said Rowena Alvarado, another of the Alvarados’ daughters. “I do feel that the death penalty would be too good for him.”
