Professor’s Attacker Is Found Mentally Ill

Jared Essig, accused of stabbing a Pomona College professor, was committed to a state mental institution Thursday after the court accepted his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, court officials said.

Essig, 22, was charged with attempted murder in the Oct. 30 attack on Frederick Sontag, 76, a philosophy professor. Sontag, who was stabbed in the neck, recovered.

Essig pleaded no contest to the charge of attempted murder but said he was not guilty because he was mentally ill at the time of the attack. In exchange for the plea, Deputy Dist. Atty. Christian Gullon agreed to drop a charge of petty theft.

Three psychiatrists examined Essig and determined he was mentally ill. Court Commissioner Wade Olson agreed and recommended that Essig be committed to Patton State Hospital near San Bernardino.

Essig faced up to 13 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, including enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and infliction of “great bodily injury.”

Essig has been treated for manic-depression in Los Angeles County Jail, Sontag said. He apologized to Sontag in a letter to the Pomona College student newspaper last month.