Jury Decides Man Who Suffocated His Mother Is Insane : Verdict: Clifford L. Burgess will be committed to Patton State Hospital for treatment, rather than prison.

A San Clemente man who contended he killed his mother so she would not be left alone in what he considered to be a deteriorating world was insane at the time of the crime, an Orange County Superior Court jury decided Tuesday.

The same jury found Clifford L. Burgess guilty of first-degree murder earlier this month in the 1992 suffocation of his 76-year-old mother, Mary Burgess.

With the jury’s finding that he was insane when he killed his mother, Burgess, 45, will be committed to Patton State Hospital for treatment, rather than prison.

Defense attorney Jack M. Earley said his client, who appeared disheveled but calm in court, is still depressed and will likely spend many years in therapy at the hospital. State law requires that a defendant found insane by a jury be held in a state hospital until he or she is deemed recovered by hospital and court officials.

“It’s a sad story all around,” Earley said. “It’s obvious he loved his mother and cared for her all his life.”

The prosecution disagreed.

“I felt the evidence supported a finding that he was sane, but I respect the jury’s finding,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Kirkwood said.

After killing his mother on Sept. 6, 1992, Burgess slashed his wrists, Earley said. Police quickly arrested Burgess but released him the next day for lack of evidence pending results of key blood tests.

Between the death and his second arrest 18 months later, Burgess was in and out of mental hospitals four times and has been found to have a major depressive disorder, including bouts of paranoia, Earley said.

Burgess, who had held various jobs, ranging from an office manager to a chef on a boat, experienced tragedy in his family from an early age, Earley said. His grandfather killed himself, and as a young teen-ager he found the body of his brother, who had also apparently committed suicide.

Burgess had lost his job and was increasingly depressed and despondent shortly before killing his mother, even stashing 40 pounds of dimes under the kitchen sink in the belief that the world was falling apart, his lawyer said.

“He couldn’t get himself out,” Earley said. “Things got worse and worse.”

A hearing will be held Feb. 3 before Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore to review Burgess’s placement in the state hospital system.