Defense rests,
survivor speaks
NEVADA CITY (5/16/03) -- A wounded survivor of a Jan. 10, 2001, shooting spree recounted his terror Friday for the Nevada County judge who must rule on admitted killer Scott Thorpe's sanity.
Testifying for the prosecution, Richard Senuity, 35, Told Superior Court Judge Carl F. Bryan Jr. how he was while fleeing as Thorpe gunned down Michael Markle, 24, at a Lyons Restaurant.
The defense rested Thursday after calling psychiatric experts and family members to present evidence and background recollections of 43-year-old Thorpe's mental illness, Public Defender Thomas Anderson said.
District Attorney Michael Ferguson opened his case Thursday by calling key eyewitnesses to the shootings at the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department and the nearby restaurant where a total of three people were killed and two seriously wounded.
A fifth victim suffered multiple broken bones when she jumped from the second floor of the mental health clinic to escape Thorpe's delirious rage.
Doctors have testified Thorpe suffers from paranoid schizophrenia marked by intense delusions that the FBI is out to get him.
Thorpe has admitted all charges in connection with the case, but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He waived his right to a jury trial in favor of leaving it to Bryan to decide whether the evidence shows he was insane at the time of the crime.
"No one is disputing the facts, it's how they're interpreted," Ferguson said Friday.
Besides Senuity, Ferguson's remaining witnesses are deputies and other investigators who participated in the daylong manhunt for Thorpe.
Closing arguments are expected to begin Tuesday afternoon after the prosecution psychologist, Mark Malloy, concludes his testimony, Ferguson said.
Malloy's opinion regarding Thorpe's mental state at the time differs from those of four defense doctors who have evaluated Thorpe, Anderson said.
See Sacramento Bee version.
survivor speaks
NEVADA CITY (5/16/03) -- A wounded survivor of a Jan. 10, 2001, shooting spree recounted his terror Friday for the Nevada County judge who must rule on admitted killer Scott Thorpe's sanity.
Testifying for the prosecution, Richard Senuity, 35, Told Superior Court Judge Carl F. Bryan Jr. how he was while fleeing as Thorpe gunned down Michael Markle, 24, at a Lyons Restaurant.
The defense rested Thursday after calling psychiatric experts and family members to present evidence and background recollections of 43-year-old Thorpe's mental illness, Public Defender Thomas Anderson said.
District Attorney Michael Ferguson opened his case Thursday by calling key eyewitnesses to the shootings at the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department and the nearby restaurant where a total of three people were killed and two seriously wounded.
A fifth victim suffered multiple broken bones when she jumped from the second floor of the mental health clinic to escape Thorpe's delirious rage.
Doctors have testified Thorpe suffers from paranoid schizophrenia marked by intense delusions that the FBI is out to get him.
Thorpe has admitted all charges in connection with the case, but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He waived his right to a jury trial in favor of leaving it to Bryan to decide whether the evidence shows he was insane at the time of the crime.
"No one is disputing the facts, it's how they're interpreted," Ferguson said Friday.
Besides Senuity, Ferguson's remaining witnesses are deputies and other investigators who participated in the daylong manhunt for Thorpe.
Closing arguments are expected to begin Tuesday afternoon after the prosecution psychologist, Mark Malloy, concludes his testimony, Ferguson said.
Malloy's opinion regarding Thorpe's mental state at the time differs from those of four defense doctors who have evaluated Thorpe, Anderson said.
See Sacramento Bee version.
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