ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A New Jersey man will be committed to a state hospital after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for a Northern Virginia slaying in which he said he thought his victim was a werewolf.
Earlier this year, a jury deadlocked at a murder trial in Alexandria, Virginia, for 35-year-old Pankaj Bhasin.
He was charged in the 2018 stabbing death of 65-year-old Bradford Jackson, who managed a window store in the city.
Prosecutors said Monday that they learned most jurors were willing to acquit at the first trial.
In addition, a court-appointed psychologist who examined Bhasin after the mistrial also concluded Bhasin was legally insane at the time of the killing.
As a result prosecutors agreed to accept an insanity plea at a court hearing Monday.
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