Irvine man ruled insane when he killed mother, brother in the family home

An Orange County Superior Court judge Tuesday convicted a 45-year-old man of fatally shooting his mother and brother in their family home in Irvine, but ruled he met the legal definition for insanity at the time.

Instead of a prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole, Nolan Pascal Pillay is facing a commitment to a state mental hospital for an indefinite period. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer is scheduled to rule on Aug. 8 how long Pillay will be committed to a state mental health facility.

Pillay killed his mother, 58-year-old Gloria Pillay, and his brother, 36-year-old Arlyn Pillay, on Jan. 31, 2017, in their home at 14972 Crystal Circle. On Monday he waived his rights to a jury trial, opting to have Paer determine his guilt or innocence and whether he was legally sane when the murders were committed.

Pillay was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances allegations of multiple murders with two sentencing enhancements for gun use. His attorney, Jacqueline Goodman, argued for second-degree murder, but Paer explained on Tuesday that there was too much evidence of Pillay’s planning for the killings for several months.

“There’s a truckload of evidence to find for first-degree murder,” Paer said. “The list is pretty long.”

The defendant began planning to kill his family in October 2016 and bought a gun in January, the judge said.

“He asked a friend how to shoot a gun,” Paer said, adding Pillay went to a gun range to practice.

He also made multiple videos on his phone discussing his intent as well as posting about it on social media, Paer said.

It was his reasoning for the killings that was delusional, Paer said.

Pillay wanted “to protect them from financial catastrophe... It was a delusional reason,” Paer said, as Pillay’s father was gainfully employed as a pharmacist.

Goodman noted on Monday, the first day of Pillay’s trial, that her client had gotten into an argument with his mother before the shootings as the attorney made the case for a second-degree “heat of passion” murder. But Paer noted there was a “break” between that conflict when he spoke with an Irvine police officer who had been in touch with him for mental health issues.

Pillay had also made it clear he wanted to kill his father as well, Paer said. And the defendant had pocketed the gun before the shootings and had the weapon in the house without anyone else knowing about it, Paer said.

Dr. Kris Mohandie wrote in his report that Pillay had a “pre-existing delusion to protect his family from suffering,” according to Paer.

“That was a common theme’’ among the other two doctors who examined him, Drs. Roberto Flores de Apodaca and Richard Lettieri, Paer said.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Moore told Paer that he did not believe he could carry his burden as a prosecutor to prove beyond the preponderance of the evidence that the defendant was legally sane at the time.

“I struggled with this case personally,” Moore said, “based on the statements he made in Miranda. But overall the weight of the evidence points to his being insane at the time.”

Moore said even if Goodman hadn’t hired Mohandie to evaluate the defendant he said his office would have.

“This is obviously a tragic event with a horrific outcome,” Paer said.

The judge said it was a vivid example of the “consequences of mental health issues not being adequately treated or managed.’’

Pillay will be evaluated by state mental health professionals who will recommend where to place the defendant. Pillay may petition at some point for release, triggering a trial on whether his sanity has been restored and it is safe for him to be out on his own.

In October 2016, Irvine police received “suspicious rambling and incoherent letters” from Pillay claiming he “created Google, eBay, Amazon.com, and to have written the ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Matrix’ movies,” Moore said in his trial brief.

Pillay also claimed he planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was responsible for the Rwandan genocide, according to Moore.

Goodman said Pillay “loved his family deeply,” but he had been struggling with schizophrenia, which was first diagnosed in 2007. Because Pillay felt his family was on the path to financial ruin he began cutting his antipsychotic medicine in half, Goodman said.

An Irvine police officer specializing in mental health issues began meeting with the defendant to discuss the bizarre letters in fall 2016. Moore said Pillay did not meet the requirements for a mandatory mental health hospital hold when Irvine police met with him in November 2016.

Pillay’s argument with his mother was sparked by her criticizing him for “being lazy and sabotaging his own career,” Moore said. Pillay told her she had a “personality disorder” and was a “narcissist” and accused her of “traumatizing him as a child,” the prosecutor said.

Goodman noted in court papers that his mother’s statement that she intended to move out of the country sparked the conflict.

Pillay called the Irvine police officer and told her what had happened and when she asked him why he was crying he minimized the argument and said he just wanted to say hello, Moore said. The officer offered to meet him for a coffee but he said he couldn’t at that time.

Pillay told the officer he would call her later and she said she would be available anytime, Moore said.

Just before 1 p.m. that day, the defendant shot his mother and brother as they were eating at the kitchen table in their home, Moore said. He shot both multiple times in the head back and forth, Moore said.

The defendant’s father rushed into the kitchen and wrestled with his son over the weapon, which fired again but no one was struck, Moore said. The Irvine officer called as the two were struggling over the gun and a breathless Pillay exclaimed he had shot the victims, Moore said.

The officer convinced Pillay to put the gun down, Moore said. Pillay’s father hid the gun before officers arrived and the defendant was arrested without incident, Moore said.

Pillay told police he had planned to turn the gun on himself as well, Moore said.