DeHoyos Brain Disorder Asserted

A psychiatrist testified Thursday that child murderer Richard Lucio DeHoyos tried to persuade her that he was insane, but that she also found evidence of a brain disorder that he could not have faked.

Dr. Consuella M. Edwards, recently retired, said she knew DeHoyos was “malingering” during psychiatric evaluations she conducted in 1991 by claiming that he could not recall certain events and repeatedly telling her that others considered him crazy.

But DeHoyos also exhibited symptoms that pointed to a neurological disorder, including hallucinations and antisocial and compulsive behavior, such as shaving his head, pulling the hair from his forearms and severely biting his fingernails, she testified.

Edwards said DeHoyos also claimed he repeatedly heard the voice of his victim, 9-year-old Nadia Puente, saying, “Let’s go.”

The psychiatrist said that the symptoms, taken individually, may not seem like abnormal behavior, but taken together they show that DeHoyos is mentally disturbed. She testified that even physicians would have a hard time duplicating such symptoms.

DeHoyos was convicted Monday of kidnaping, raping and murdering Nadia on March 20, 1989, and leaving her body in a garbage can in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. DeHoyos has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jurors now must decide if DeHoyos was insane at the time of the crime. If so, prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty. A 1991 jury convicted DeHoyos of the same crimes and recommended that he be sentenced to death, but that verdict was overturned due to jury misconduct.

Defense attorney Milton C. Grimes told jurors Thursday that he will prove DeHoyos suffers from a brain disorder that causes irrational, violent behavior.

Edwards, the first of many witnesses expected to testify during the sanity phase of the trial, said she also reviewed extensive data about DeHoyos’ background, including severe beatings he suffered as a child, his learning disability and his history of becoming violent at the slightest provocation.