PORT ANGELES — A Seattle psychologist took the stand Wednesday in Thomas Martin Roberts’ murder trial, confirming what the defense team hopes to prove — Roberts’ insanity.
“I do think he was (insane),” Kenneth Muscatel said of Roberts’ mental state when he shot deputy Wallace E. “Wally” Davis in the head Aug. 5, 2000.
“I think he has an underlying chronic mental illness,” Muscatel testified. “And I think he’s going to have it the rest of his life.”
Muscatel’s two-hour, 20-minute testimony came in the seventh day of trial for Roberts, charged with aggravated first-degree murder for killing Davis with a shotgun blast on the front porch of Roberts’ Ennis Creek Road home.
Roberts, 56, has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity and has undergone several mental evaluations since he was arrested after a 26-hour standoff with police.
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