A 71-year-old man suspected of stabbing a woman near Belmont Park in Mission Beach has been committed to a state mental hospital after a judge determined he was not mentally competent to stand trial.
Terrance Alphonce Behan will take medications at Patton State Hospital, and doctors will determine when and if he regains his mental competency. He will return before a San Diego judge and criminal proceedings will resume if he is deemed competent.
Behan is charged with stabbing a 54-year-old woman in the chest on July 18, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. in the 3000 block of Mission Boulevard. He is also accused of making a criminal threat to another woman that same day.
Earlier this month, San Diego Superior Court Judge Stephen Stone determined Behan was mentally incompetent. His lawyer suspected he was mentally incompetent as well, and proceedings were suspended Aug. 5 before any hearings were held. – Neal Putnam