TACOMA, Wash. — The 27-year-old man charged for stabbing a woman multiple times at Point Defiance Park in February must undergo a competency hearing.
Tacoma Police officers were called to the park and found a woman with multiple stab wounds. Detectives identified the attacker as Nicolas Matthew and spent nearly seven weeks tracking him down - the manhunt almost ended overseas.
Court documents say detectives learned Matthew was in Georgia, but when they arrived, they found out that he was on a flight to San Francisco, hoping to flee the country.
Law enforcement officers were waiting to arrest him at the San Francisco airport before he could flee the country.
In court, prosecutors said Matthew was possibly diagnosed with mental illness in the past, including bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia.
“His mother indicated to law enforcement that the defendant had been prescribed medication to deal with his mental illness,” said Pierce County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Wagner. “He, however, refuses to take that and came to Washington specifically because he could access cannabis, which is his drug of choice to deal with his mental illness.”
Though Matthew was formally charged, he’ll have to undergo a competency hearing on May 9 before he can enter a plea. The outcome will determine if he can enter a plea to the charge of attempted first-degree murder.
“He was accusing the victim of being a pedophile, and as I indicated in my probable cause declaration, it’s simply not true,” Wagner said. “It’s not clear why he targeted this victim other than she was a solo female walking alone on a trail.”
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