Courier

George Wood Pigman IV

The same jury that convicted ex-student George Wood Pigman IV of first-degree murder has found that he was insane at the time he killed his girlfriend, Japanese exchange student Eimi Yamada.

"The jury did a good job," said Public Defender Jose Colon. "They thought about it."

Pigman will now be evaluated by a yet-to-be-identified Community Program Director, according to Judge Lisa B. Lench. The results of that evaluation will determine his status; whether he is confined to a state hospital or treated as an outpatient.

When asked if she was disappointed about the verdict, Deputy District Attorney Teresa Sullivan said, "Very."

Pigman will not be walking free any time soon, according to Colon, stressing that the restoration of his sanity is the determining factor in whether Pigman is released from custody.

"George has a serious mental illness," Colon said. "It has to be fully controlled before anybody would consider restoration. The possibility exists, but the probability does not."

A restoration of sanity hearing could go on for weeks, according to Colon.

Detective Joseph Sheehy, who initially investigated the murder, was disappointed.

"First [the jury found] him guilty of first-degree murder, then they find him insane? It doesn't fit," Sheehy said.

Pigman sat without moving while the verdict was read. His parents thanked Colon outside of the courtroom after Pigman was taken back into custody.

Yamada's family was not in court, having gone back to Japan several weeks earlier.

The trial lasted for approximately six weeks, with the prosecution laying out its case by calling on police officers, DNA experts, blood splatter experts and witnesses in the guilt phase of the trial.

The defense had almost no cross-examination for any of the witnesses the prosecution called. Co-counsel for Pigman, Public Defender Darby Williams, did not contest in her closing for the guilt phase the fact that Pigman had committed the crime.

"This is not a case of whodunit," Williams said.

In May 2005 Yamada was found in the bathroom of her San Gabriel apartment, naked and bloody with a pair of scalloped-edged salad tongs lying on her leg.

Pigman was discovered several blocks away, on the rooftop of a house, naked and with blood on his hands and genitals. It was revealed in the trial that after he killed Yamada he put his pants on, taking them off once he climbed up on the roof.

Deputy DA Sullivan contended in her closing that that fact proved he was aware of his surroundings and of social norms.

"It's not consistent at all with somebody in the throes of a psychotic episode," Sullivan said.

She reminded the jury of the statement Pigman had made to a police officer while en route to jail:

"'I shouldn't be telling you this, but the only way to fight this is to plead temporary insanity,'" Sullivan quoted.

The defense countered that moments of lucidity were not uncommon in mental illness.

"If George was making all this up, why suddenly reveal his plan to the authorities?" Colon asked the jury.

Pigman was remanded to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. without bail until the evaluation is presented to the court Mar. 30.

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