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Crime & Safety

Santa Rosa murder trial to start Monday

Houston Herczog, 22, is accused of murdering his father in late 2011.

Peter Fournier, Neighbor
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By Bay City News Service 

Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in the trial of a Santa Rosa man charged with stabbing his father to death.

Houston Herczog, 22, pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of his father, Mark Herczog, 63, in their home on Nov. 26, 2011.

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Santa Rosa police were called to the home on Parkhurst Drive in Rincon Valley around 1:30 a.m. by Herczog's sister. She was standing in the driveway and Herczog was in the kitchen, where his father was found with multiple stab wounds.

Herczog was found to be mentally competent to stand trial, but defense attorneys have said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

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Herczog's mother has stated that her son first showed symptoms of illness after he graduated from Santa Rosa High School in 2009, and suffered a psychotic break while attending Santa Rosa Junior High.

The trial is scheduled to take place in Dept. 1 in the Sonoma County Hall of Justice, beginning at about 10 a.m.

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