VENTURA : Judge Will Rule on Kolodziej’s Sanity

A Ventura County judge is scheduled to rule today whether Kevin Kolodziej, a drifter with a history of mental illness, was legally sane when he fatally stabbed a 90-year-old Ventura woman.

Superior Court Judge James M. McNally heard closing arguments Thursday in Kolodziej’s sanity trial. McNally, who heard the case without a jury, already has found Kolodziej guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Velasta Johnson.

The issue in the sanity phase of the trial is whether Kolodziej was capable of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the crime and whether he was able to understand what he was doing.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn noted that several doctors have concluded that Kolodziej has schizophrenia and that he was too ill to know what he was doing.

Quinn recounted Kolodziej’s years-long slide into mental illness and his suicide attempts, one of which occurred days before the Johnson killing, when Kolodziej stabbed himself 13 times.

Taken to Ventura County Medical Center, Kolodziej was combative, ripping intravenous tubes and oxygen lines out of his body. Quinn said two psychiatrists at the hospital determined that Kolodziej had acute schizophrenia.

The day of the murder, Kolodziej walked away from the hospital in pajamas and asked strangers if he could shower at their homes. Quinn said there was no rational reason for Kolodziej to stab Johnson.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Kossoris contending that Kolodziej stabbed Johnson out of fear when she caught him in her kitchen. He said it was a rational response, as was Kolodziej’s decision to hide the knife.

“If that doesn’t show sanity, I don’t know what does,” Kossoris said.

Kolodziej later asked police if he would be held responsible for the killing, Kossoris said. “He bent over and appeared to cry,” Kossoris said. “He knew what he did, he knew it was wrong, and he was upset about it.”

If Kolodziej is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be confined to a state institution indefinitely. If he is judged sane, he faces 15 years to life.