A 30-year-old Hilo man accused of fatally stabbing an 81-year-old woman who lived next door to him will receive a mental examination.
Keoni Peter Tosie Brown pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of second-degree murder and first-degree terroristic threatening.
A Hilo grand jury indicted Brown on Wednesday for allegedly killing Lola Loebl on March 29 and for allegedly threatening an eyewitness to the stabbing, a 38-year-old woman who lives across Olu Street in the Waiakea Homestead Houselots subdivision.
Police say Brown repeatedly stabbed Loebl in face and mouth on the driveway of the home where she lived for 37 years. Loebl was recently widowed by the Dec. 23 death of her 81-year-old husband, Bob.
Brown’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Kenji Akamu, requested that a panel of three mental health professionals examine his client for his fitness to stand trial and his penal responsibility — which is his state of mind at the time of the incident and whether he had the ability to understand the wrongfulness of his alleged actions.
The prosecution chose psychiatrist Henry Yang, while the defense selected psychologist Marvin Acklin to examine Brown. The third doctor, the state designate, will be named later.
A hearing about the return of the doctors’ reports has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. June 20.
The court also has ordered a substance abuse assessment for Brown — who doesn’t have any prior felony convictions — and treatment, if prescribed.
According to the complaint, Brown, if convicted, is subject to a possible extended term of imprisonment — which, in the case of second-degree murder, would make a conviction a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, instead of the standard life with the possibility of parole.
The possibility of extended sentencing could come into effect in this case because Loebl was older than 60.
Brown remains incarcerated at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $2.02 million bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
