SHEFFIELD LAKE, Ohio, March 5 -- Ricardo Punsalan, 21, who admitted to stabbing his father, Dr. Ernesto Punsalan, told a forensic psychiatrist that he had a vision six years ago during which he heard voices saying he is Jesus.
Punsalan, the brother of Olympic ice skater Elizabeth Punsalan, has pleaded not guilty to the Feb. 4 murder of his father, a surgeon who was stabbed to death while sleeping in his bed. His death occurred a week before he was scheduled to go to Norway to watch his daughter and son- in-law skate in the Olympics.
Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist hired by Punsalan's family to make a preliminary examination, filed a report Friday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court stating, 'Mr. Punsalan described his father as an evil man who was Satan. He said he came to know that his father was Satan when he was 17 or 18.'
Louis Henderson, Punsalan's lawyer, Friday requested his client be declared mentally unfit to stand trial on a charge of aggravated murder.
Resnick supported that request, concluding Punsalan suffers from chronic schizophrenia and is mentally incompetent to stand trial. He estimated it could take about a year to restore Punsalan to competency.
Resnick's report said Punsalan began abusing alcohol and drugs when he was 12, and by age 13 he began substance abuse therapy and has been in psychiatric treatment ever since.
Punsalan reportedly told Resnick he realized he was Jesus when he was 15 years-old, but he and his father had gotten along despite that belief on his part.
Resnick said Punsalan's thought process was confused and that he smiled at inappropriate times during the interview.
'When I asked whether he believed he was guilty, he replied it was 'up to the people and the judge,'' said Resnick. 'He said, 'I may have to pay for it because a lot of powerful people will go up against God.''
Resnick was ordered by Judge Thomas Janas to re-evaluate Punsalan and issue a final report to the court.
Gregory White, a Lorain County prosecutor, said he would wait for the results of the re-evaluation before determining what strategy prosecutors will pursue in the case.
