Santa Monica : Student’s Release Denied

A Superior Court judge ruled last weekthat a Chinese graduate student who shot two people to death in 1988 is not ready for release from a mental hospital despite doctors’ testimony that he is no longer a danger to himself or others.

Although Bai Xiaodong has been making progress, an incident in which he allegedly spoke of “shooting Fascist pigs” 15 months ago was enough to show that he still may harbor the idea of solving his problems by gunfire, Judge David Perez said.

“I still feel he hasn’t shown sufficient time in Patton to convince me he’s not a danger to others if released to an outpatient program,” Perez said. “He’s getting close to it, but he’s not there yet.”

Bai, 35, a graduate student at UCLA at the time of the shootings, would most likely be deported to China upon release from the Patton State Hospital near San Bernardino. But, Perez said, the sexual confusion that was said to have been a factor in the violent outbreak of his paranoid schizophrenia five years ago could make things even harder for him in his homeland.

At a hearing in Santa Monica Superior Court, Bai said his angry comments came during a frustrating period when he was approved for transfer to a residential program in Los Angeles, only to learn that he would have to stay at Patton because of lack of funding.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1988 for the slaying of Rosa Molina, 54, a neighbor in his West Los Angeles apartment building, and Michael Kamf, 57, the manager of a nearby building.