Sanity Trial Begins for Convicted Killer

The sanity trial of convicted murderer Alfred Pohlmeier began Monday as his defense attorney told jurors that the 92-year-old Fillmore man was suffering from mental defects when he strangled his wife more than a year ago.

The jury convicted Pohlmeier of second-degree murder Feb. 26 for killing his 86-year-old wife, Lidwina. Now, the same panel must decide whether Pohlmeier was sane at the time.

Specifically, the jury must decide whether Pohlmeier was suffering from a mental disease or defect that made him incapable of knowing right from wrong or from understanding the nature of his actions.

“In our society, we have decided that there are certain people who may need treatment rather than punishment,” Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson explained in her opening statement.

She told the jury that Pohlmeier was suffering from two brain defects at the time of his wife’s death that impacted his decision-making capacity.

Pohlmeier had frontal lobe syndrome, lesions caused by a lack of blood to the brain, as well as a blood clot that was pushing on the reasoning or decision-making part of his brain, Olson said.

The injuries had probably been caused by an earlier stroke, she said.

Olson told the jury that two doctors, including a UCLA neurologist, would testify about Pohlmeier’s condition and tell the panel that he could not have known right from wrong when he killed his wife.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn told the jury that he plans to call two other doctors who will testify to the contrary.

“I will ask you at the end of this trial,” Glynn said, “to find that Mr. Pohlmeier knew right from wrong and knew the nature of his actions when he murdered his wife.”

During the criminal trial, the jury learned that Lidwina Pohlmeier suffered from a number of ailments, including a chronic cough that her husband told authorities was making him “nuts.”

The sanity phase is expected to finish later this week.