A year after Mathew Beck, a killer of two people, walked from the locked gates of Napa State Hospital into a Santa Rosa outpatient treatment program, he appears to be doing well, officials said this week.
The former Rohnert Park man - found not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of his uncle's fianc? and her mother in 2000 - is living in a group home, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and getting around town by way of the local bus system.
He doesn't have a job but is pursuing plans to enroll in barber school. He spent much of his dozen years in the mental hospital as the facility's official haircutter.
"I've had a very warm reception from the entire community," said Beck, 39, sporting a black shirt and thick sideburns, outside a Santa Rosa courtroom. "I feel very humbled."
He is in rare company. Few people involved in homicides in Sonoma County have been freed using the insanity defense.
Those who are found to have been suffering a psychotic break at the time of their crimes or deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial usually are institutionalized for many years, if not their entire lives.
But they can get out if doctors conclude they are no longer dangerous. And they won't be tried later for the killings because their mental condition impaired their ability to know right from wrong.
A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man on trial this month in the slaying of his father in 2011 could someday be in the same situation.
Houston Herczog maintains he was suffering delusions that Mark Herczog, 63, was possessed by an evil force when he stabbed him at least 60 times while in the kitchen of their Rincon Valley home. Jurors found Herczog guilty of first-degree murder and were expected to begin deliberations this week about his sanity.
Three psychiatrists testified he suffered from schizophrenia and one doctor said he acted in a drug-induced rage.
Another Sonoma County defendant, Julia Franzen, 24, of Sebastopol, could eventually find herself in a similar situation. Franzen, who is charged with stabbing her mother to death Feb. 4, has been found incompetent and likely will be placed in a hospital until her mental health is restored. She could then mount an insanity defense.
Like Beck, Herczog and Franzen could someday go free, although the chances are slim.
"Most people spend the rest of their lives in a hospital," said Beck's lawyer, Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi.
Beck's return to society came about 12 years after his violent attack on relatives in a Rohnert Park apartment. He had been living with his uncle after getting kicked out of the Air Force when he began hearing voices and suffering delusions.
Family members sought to have him committed the day before the killings but instead were given a prescription for psychotropic medication.
Before he could take the drugs, he grabbed a kitchen knife and killed Sandra Napier, 38, and her mother, Marcella Napier, 63, as they prepared dinner. He stabbed the younger woman 28 times and her mother 12 times.
Beck told arresting officers he was an angel of God who killed the women because they were evil spirits.
There was no trial because prosecutors agreed he was insane at the time. He was later diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and sent to Napa State Hospital for treatment.
Last year, he was granted entry into the county's conditional release program after being denied twice before. His 2004 bid was rejected in part because he was found to be having inappropriate sexual relationships with hospital staff members.
Now, Beck is living at a board and care facility in Santa Rosa after first spending time in a restrictive transitional facility in the Central Valley and then about seven months in a residential program near Sebastopol.
He takes medication, attends regular therapy sessions and participates in group meetings about his drug and alcohol addictions. Judge Gary Medvigy this week commended him on his progress.
Beck admits it's a challenge. He's not cured of his condition and he has to remain vigilant about recognizing signs of a relapse.
His uncle, Rodney Beck of Lake County, and other relatives have no contact with him. Unlike Herczog's family members, some of Beck's relatives think he should be in prison.
"I think it's absolutely absurd that they are letting him go," said Rodney Beck, who lost his fianc?. "He killed two innocent women."
But Mathew Beck is moving on with his life. He takes the bus or rides a bike to his appointments and is enrolling in training to be a barber.
He says he wants to be of service to others by sharing his story.
"It's not over yet," he said outside court. "I'm working on it every day."
(You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.)
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