WASHINGTON – A Montgomery County judge has delayed a bond hearing for a Rockville woman charged with stabbing her roommate to death with a butcher knife.
Judge James Sarsfield ordered Rita Sanders-Campfield, 53, to undergo a mental evaluation, which was requested by her defense attorney. Since her arrest, Sanders-Campfield has been talking to herself and was described in court as “catatonic.”
She appeared in court via closed circuit television but did not look up at the camera or acknowledge the court proceedings in any way.
The bond review hearing was reset for next week. And a preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 7.
Sanders-Campfield has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Chong Park, 67.
Montgomery County police were called to the women’s White Flint Station apartment Tuesday morning after apartment management went to check on Park and found her dead. Park’s daughter, Connie Park, had called the complex worried about her mother, whom she had not heard from since Saturday.
Police found Park on her bedroom floor. She had been stabbed several times and a large butcher knife was still sticking out of Park’s back when investigators arrived.
Sanders-Campfield was found on her own bed with a second weapon, a bloody pair of scissors, next to her. She had bite marks on her arm. Police also found bloody clothes in a closet and blood on a dresser.
Investigators also found Sanders-Campfield’s journal, which included statements that Park was “evil” and that she practiced witchcraft, according to court documents.
Sanders-Campfield told Connie Park last week that she sought to be “perfected” during a conversation about religion, Connie Park told investigators.
WTOP’s Megan Cloherty contributed to this report from Rockville. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on WTOP Facebook page.
