“Voices in my head told me to kill you.”
That’s what Charles Dean Clardy said to a man he allegedly stabbed in the victim’s apartment in Mission Beach on April 11, according to the victim’s testimony on Tuesday, July 23.
Clardy, 55, was identified by witnesses in the preliminary hearing of stabbing Ty Fickau in his Mission Beach apartment and dousing him with gasoline.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Parsky ordered Clardy to stand trial for attempted murder, assault with gasoline, attempted arson, and burglary.
Fickau testified Clardy, an acquaintance, got into his apartment somehow in the 700 block of Isthmus Court near Mission Boulevard and poured gasoline on him after stabbing him in the chest, back, and neck around 8 p.m.
Two neighbors heard Fickau’s screams and overpowered Clardy. Fickau then asked Clardy why did he attack him, and he testified he told him “voices in my head told me to kill you.”
Gasoline was poured “all over me,” said Fickau, adding that his clothing was cut off him in a hospital emergency room.
Fickau said he was in the hospital five days and suffered a collapsed lung among other injuries. He said he had previously stored his apartment key in a light fixture in the complex and noticed “it had gone missing” about a week before the attack.
San Diego Police Detective Andrew Scheidecker testified the missing key was found among a set of keys that Clardy left behind in the apartment.
Police officer Micah Van Esler testified he arrested Clardy and he told him he wanted to kill the victim and himself by setting both of them on fire.
“He said he was going to burn himself up,” said Esler.
Police officer Matthew Thomas told the judge he found three orange juice bottles that had been filled with gasoline that Clardy carried into the apartment. He said he found no lighter or matches with him.
Thomas said he found a paring knife with a 3-4-inch blade with blood that was found underneath some clothes.
Gabriel Vasquez, who identified himself as the victim’s friend and neighbor, testified he heard Fickau “screaming for help.”
Vasquez said the front door was locked, so another neighbor helped him through the window and saw Clardy on top of Fickau. He said he overpowered Clardy and held him until police arrived.
Vasquez said there was blood everywhere in the apartment. He said he couldn’t see a weapon.
The victim said he went downstairs after his neighbors intervened and waited for an ambulance. “I went outside and laid on the ground because I thought I was going to die,” said Fickau.
Deputy District Attorney Carrie Johnson and defense attorney Edmond Menchavez submitted the case to Parsky without any arguments at the end of the hearing.
Parksy ordered him to stand trial on all charges and a trial date will be set on August 6. Clardy has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bail.