Judge Finds Killer Was Insane
A highly decorated Vietnam veteran has been found not guilty by reason of insanity in the June, 1988, killing of a man in an alley that preceded a bizarre shooting rampage.
James Arthur Afenasko, 39, of Santee, will have a commitment hearing Nov. 8 and could be sent to a state mental hospital for life.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of Joseph Ortiz, 54, and, on Wednesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak found that Afenasko was insane at the time of the shooting.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregg McClain said the judge’s decision was based on psychiatric reports submitted as evidence.
Ortiz was shot in the head June 14, 1988, in a Southeast San Diego alley while unloading linoleum from a truck.
Afenasko then went to Santee and Lakeside and, while driving, fired his weapon at cars and people.
His attorney, William Saunders, said Afenasko is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who had earned two Bronze stars. He suffers from “post traumatic stress disorder” compounded by a drug problem that began in Vietnam, the attorney said.
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