Mental fitness tests ordered for man accused of killing wife | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

An Oahu Circuit Court judge Tuesday ordered that an 83-year-old Oxnard, Calif., man, accused in the 2022 bludgeoning death of his 76-year-old estranged wife in her Ala Moana apartment, undergo a neuropsychological evaluation to determine whether he has a mental health issue or a cognitive problem.

After a review of reports by a panel of three mental health experts, Judge Ronald Johnson found that Rogelio Canilao poses a moderate or greater risk to the community, and committed him to the continued custody and care of the Department of Health.

As did all three examiners, the judge found Canilao unfit to proceed to trial in the murder of Teresita “Tessie” Canilao, who was well known in the Filipino community and had been a
longtime secretary at the Philippine Consulate of
Honolulu.

Canilao, clad in orange, appeared at the hearing via Zoom from the Hawaii State Hospital and listened to the proceedings through a Tagalog interpreter in the courtroom.

The judge said, “There appears to be a mix of issues
occurring: psychosis, depressive disorder and potentially neurological issues.”

“It is the court’s intent to order the neuropsychological exam to determine what portion of disability, whether the disability may be as a result of cognitive deficit at this time rather than due to psychosis.”

As an example, he said it could be dementia rather than a major mental illness, and that an evaluation may be able to shed some light on the matter.

The state and the defense deferred to the judge’s
decision.

He ordered a one-month review of the matter and also ordered court proceedings in the second-degree murder case stopped.

Canilao, who was 81 at the time of the killing, was initially held without bail in the Oahu Community Correctional Center following his arrest on Oct. 6, 2022, when he reportedly told police, “I murdered my wife.”

Police said Canilao, whose socks were soaked in blood, allegedly used a wooden stool to beat his wife, police said.

The 83-year-old will remain at the Hawaii State Hospital, where he has been held since Oct. 6, when Johnson first found him unfit to proceed to trial.

Deputy Public Defender Sat Freedman first raised the issue of fitness in January 2023.

Judge Rowena Somerville ordered the defense’s retained expert to perform a mental examination of the defendant at OCCC. Freedman then requested a three-­person panel to determine fitness.