FREEHOLD – The attorney for a Howell man charged with murder in the stabbing death of his mother told a judge Wednesday that he will explore a psychiatric defense for his client, who has had worsening mental health problems since a dirt bike accident put him in a coma. nine years ago.
Attorney Michael Pappa, who represents 24-year-old Robert Parody, said his client has agreed to be held in the Monmouth County Jail pending trial for the murder last week of his 61-year-old mother, Loretta Parody.
Authorities allege the son fatally stabbed his mother in her bed around 1 a.m. on June 3 at the family’s home on Porter Road in Howell.
During what would be a hearing to determine whether Parody would remain in jail without bail, Matthew Bogner, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, asked Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O’Malley to order the suspect’s incarceration because he said he was a danger to the community. .
Dad concluded the hearing by saying his client had agreed to be held. The lawyer said he wanted to show the other side of the story.
“The circumstances are without a doubt the saddest I have had to deal with in my 40 years as a lawyer,” Pappa told the judge.
“There is a deep sense of sadness and mental anguish in the Parody family, including Robert,” Pappa told the judge, saying the defendant’s father and sister wanted to send a message to the defendant “of love and deep concern for his well-being’. -being.”
Dad went on to say that while his client has no record of violent acts, he does have a history of mental illness that began about nine years ago when a dirt bike accident left him in a coma for a few days.
“Since then, his family would say he’s no longer the same,” Pappa said. “He was no longer his normal self.”
Pappa said he heard his client’s mental condition worsened as time went on, despite efforts by mental health professionals to treat him.
Parody has been treated by psychiatrists, psychologists, infectious disease specialists, neurologists and specialists, Pappa said.
“Doctors have experimented with different combinations of medications over the years, looking for improvement, but nothing has worked for an extended period of time,” Pappa said.
“We will explore a psychiatric defense once we have collected and reviewed Robert’s treatment records over the past nine years,” the attorney said.
Parody seemed almost catatonic during the hearing.
The proceedings began virtually, with the suspect appearing in court via a Zoom link.
As the hearing took place on the Zoom platform, the judge repeatedly explained Parody’s rights and asked him if he understood them.
Parody hung his head and offered no response except incomprehensible mumbling after much hesitation.
After repeated attempts to elicit understandable answers from the defendant, O’Malley ordered that he be personally brought to her courtroom to continue the proceedings.
Once he arrived and the judge asked him again if he understood his rights, Parody shook his head and hesitated again for a while before answering, “Sure.”
Police documents show that someone identified as “Witness 1” called 911 the morning of the stabbing and reported that she had been awakened by the victim’s screams and then saw the victim and Robert Parody struggling for a knife.
On Wednesday it was announced in court that Witness 1 is the sister of the suspect.
She told police she saw her mother bleeding before her mother took the knife into the kitchen and then collapsed on the foyer floor, according to an affidavit accusing Robert Parody of killing his mother.
When police arrived, the victim was still alive and told officers that her son told her he was sorry before stabbing her in the chest, the affidavit said.
The victim, a real estate agent at Century 21 in Brick, was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she succumbed to the stab wound at 4:44 a.m. the same day.
O’Malley scheduled a pre-indictment conference for Parody on August 1.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Howell man’s mental illness is an issue in his mother’s murder – attorney
