Son not guilty by insanity in father’s death

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A judge has ruled a Wilmington man is not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2013 stabbing death of his father.

Judge Marvin Blount made the ruling for Corey Roberts after a three-day hearing last month where the court heard from three forensic psychiatry experts and multiple friends and members of the Roberts family, the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

In May 2013, investigators charged Roberts, then 20, with murder after they say he stabbed his Christopher, 52, at the family’s home on Nighthawk Drive. A 911 call from the home asked for help for Corey, who the caller said was trying to hurt himself. Christopher Roberts was pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to the DA’s Office, all of the experts at last month’s hearing agreed that Corey Roberts suffered from a diagnosed mental illness at the time of the murder, but the state’s experts contended that the defendant had acted out of anger and not under the delusion of his mental condition at the time of the stabbing.

Under North Carolina law, the DA’s Office says, once a judge makes the finding of insanity at the time of the offense the defendant is then ordered held through an involuntary commitment to Central Regional Hospital in Butner. This commitment is in effect an indefinite commitment until the defendant is found no longer to be a threat to himself or others. If that happens, a series of steps are taken to determine if he can be released from the commitment. The defendant may in fact ultimately be kept in confinement for a period of time that would exceed an actual sentence had he been convicted of the second degree murder or any lesser form of homicide.

“The Roberts family has suffered the loss of Chris Roberts a beloved husband and father, and will now suffer through the uncertainty of Corey Roberts’ indefinite commitment. The family did express their hopes that Corey Roberts would be placed in a hospital setting and that he continue to receive treatment for his mental illness rather than a term of imprisonment to a state prison,” the DA’s news release said. “The State of North Carolina views this outcome an appropriate one under the circumstances of this case and the complexities under our laws that the Judge was charged with.”