Chiu's killer wins insanity
Christopher Hearn, 22, of Laguna Hills, Orange County, in California convicted in the racially
motivated killing of his Chinese-American neighbor was insane at the time of the attack and
should not go to prison, a judge ruled Thursday, September 25, Rachanee Srisavasdi reports.
Hearn, who can neither hear nor speak, probably will be committed to a mental hospital . In a
non-jury trial this month, he was found guilty of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing with a
kitchen knife Kenny Chiu, 17, outside their homes July 30, 2001. Hearn confessed to the crime,
but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A court-appointed psychologist testified that Hear
could not know the difference between right and wrong when he stabed Kenneth Chiu to death on
June 30, 3001. Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Carlisle-Raines disputed that assessment, saying
Hearn murdered Chiu because he disliked Asians. But Orange County Superior Court Judge
Kazuharu Makino said of the killing. "In his distorted world, that's what he thought." Makino
said he was persuaded by psychiatric experts that Hearn suffered from schizophrenia and believed
he had orders from the government to kill dangerous people. Kenny Chiu's father, Christopher
Chiu, 54, left the courtroom in silence and declined to comment. (Source: Rachanee Srisavasdi,
The Orange County Register; Daniel Yi, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 26, 2003. Supplied by Guy M.
Wong)
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