Trial postponed as state seeks evaluation of teen in Montville double-homicide
The trial of a Montville teen accused of murdering his grandparents was postponed Wednesday because the state wants an independent psychiatric evaluation of Marcus Fisher.
The 18-year-old is seeking an insanity defense and was scheduled to go on trial before New London Superior Court Judges Hillary B. Strackbein, Arthur C. Hadden and Shari A. Murphy. Several family members were at the courthouse Wednesday morning.
Fisher is charged with fatally stabbing his grandparents, John and Gertrude Piscezek, 76 and 77, respectively, in their home at 26 Morgan St. in Uncasville on Jan. 28, 2019. He is charged with two counts of murder, second-degree arson and murder with special circumstances and is being held in lieu of $1 million at the Manson Youth Institution.
Fisher's attorneys, Kevin C. Barrs and M. Fred DeCaprio, notified the court in September that Fisher would be relying on the defense of mental disease or defect. They said they had Fisher evaluated by a psychiatrist who was expected to testify at the trial.
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Theresa Anne Ferryman said she and the prosecution team reviewed the case and decided they would like another opinion. Strackbein granted the state's motion for an evaluation and continued the case.
Fisher could be committed for up to 120 years at the Whiting Forensic Institute, the state's hospital for the criminally insane, if two out of the three judges rule he has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he lacked capacity, as a result of mental disease or defect, to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to control his conduct.
According to court records and testimony, he displayed signs of psychosis following his arrest but had no criminal history or diagnosed mental illness.
According to state and Montville police, Fisher called 911 at 4:46 a.m. to report two dead bodies. Police entered the home and found both victims on the kitchen floor, dead of multiple stab wounds. Fisher confessed he had killed his grandparents following an argument and had attempted to light the house on fire, police said.
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