Ex-Postal Worker Changes Plea in Killings : Courts: The switch sets the stage for insanity defense for Mark Hilbun, who has a history of mental illness.

Former Dana Point postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Friday to charges that he killed his mother and best friend and tried to kill seven others during a rampage last May.

Until now, Hilbun, 40, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The change in plea sets the stage for an insanity defense for Hilbun, who has a history of mental illness and tried to commit suicide while in jail, Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg said.

“The issue is going to be his mental illness at the time,” Gragg said. She does not plan to contest his role in the slayings, she said.

“The evidence is that he was sick for almost a year before this happened,” Gragg said. “I think all the facts only point to his insanity at the time.”

Gragg said Hilbun is taking anti-psychotic and antidepressant medication while in custody.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against Hilbun. Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick King said he disagrees with Gragg’s assessment of Hilbun’s mental state during the crimes.

“Our view of the facts and circumstances surrounding this two-day crime spree is that he did know the difference between right and wrong,” King said.

Hilbun faces two counts of murder, seven counts of attempted murder and one count each of robbery, attempted kidnaping, burglary and killing his mother’s dog, according to an Orange County Grand Jury indictment handed down in January.

Hilbun is accused of killing his mother, Frances, in her Corona del Mar home before opening fire at his former workplace during an attempt to kidnap Kim Springer, a postal worker with whom Hilbun had become infatuated. Springer was unharmed, but postal worker Charles T. Barbagallo, 42, Hilbun’s friend, was fatally wounded.

The change in plea also means that Hilbun’s trial will be broken into three parts. Jurors must first decide whether Hilbun is guilty, then consider his sanity in a separate proceeding before they could proceed to the penalty phase. If found guilty but insane, Hilbun would be placed in a state mental hospital and there would be no penalty phase, Gragg said.

She said she hopes that jurors will not fear Hilbun, even though the crime spree caused concern for many Orange County residents until he was captured.

“My greatest fear is that people will be afraid of him, which is something I understand because I was one of those people worrying” during the rampage, which ended when Hilbun was arrested in Huntington Beach. “I just hope they won’t feel like they have to kill someone who has a mental illness.”