Judge to Rule on Hospital Release of Man Who Killed Two Women in 2000

A Sonoma County Superior Court Judge will rule Tuesday on whether a former Rohnert Park man found not guilty of two 2000 murders by reason of insanity should be released from Napa State Hospital and into transitional housing.

After a daylong hearing on Friday, Judge Gary Medvigy said he wants to review reports and documents regarding whether 38-year-old Mathew Shawn Beck still poses a danger to himself and others.

Beck fatally stabbed his uncle's fiancee, 36-year-old Sandra Lorraine Napier, and her mother, Marcella Yvonne Napier, 63, in their Rohnert Park home on Feb. 10, 2000, during a psychotic episode.

Beck told police investigators that the women were evil spirits and that he was sent by God to kill them. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in March 2001 and has been in Napa State Hospital since.

Sonoma County Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi presented four witnesses on Friday, including three psychiatrists who testified that Beck is mentally stable on his medications and should be moved to community outpatient treatment housing.

He would spend at least a year under strict supervision in such housing before living alone or with his family.

Pozzi said Beck has been a model patient at Napa State Hospital, works as a barber there, and is no longer a danger to himself or the community.

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Brockley said Beck should remain at Napa State Hospital because he has violated rules there, including by having sex with hospital nursing students and at least one patient.

Brockley said Beck refuses to take medication to prevent another psychotic episode, and is in danger or relapsing if he smokes marijuana, one of the triggers of his psychosis.

Pozzi's witnesses said Beck's sexual encounters and rule violations happened shortly after he arrived at the hospital, and that Beck is now ready for conditional release.

Brockley cited several conflicting patient progress reports between 2001 and 2011 that alternately concluded that Beck remained a danger to society and should remain at the hospital or recommended his release to conditional housing.

Medvigy will issue his ruling Tuesday morning in Sonoma County Superior Court.

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