Kauai man competent
to stand trial

LIHUE » A Kauai resident was found competent yesterday to stand trial for murder in the death of his former landlord, who he told police was Satan.

Circuit Judge George M. Masuoka said a three-member panel of mental health professionals found Raymond Earl Ard fit to participate in his own defense and set trial for Dec. 6.

Ard, 40, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and second-degree attempted murder in the death of his landlord, Dr. Jon Kerns, and the stabbing of Ard's 15-year-old developmentally disabled stepson in February. Ard's stepson suffered an injury to his shoulder and was treated and released.

According to statements made by Ard to the police in February obtained in court records, he believed "God told him that his neighbor Jon was Satan in the flesh, ... and when Satan is in the flesh he can be killed."

Yesterday, Masuoka stated the mental health panel also found Ard "lacked the volitional or cognitive capability" at the time of the murder to understand what he was doing.

County Prosecuting Attorney Craig De Costa said it's now up to a jury to decide whether he was suffering a mental illness at the time of the murder.

"As far as we're concerned, the examiners' opinions won't necessarily determine the case," De Costa said, adding that, in certain circumstances, psychiatrists have been known to change their opinions when presented with new evidence at trial.