Sebastopol woman found not guilty of mother's fatal stabbing due to insanity

A judge on Friday found a Sebastopol woman who stabbed her mother to death last year to be not guilty by reason of insanity.

The ruling from Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite came after two doctors determined Julia Katherine Franzen, 26, was in a psychotic state and suffering delusions when she killed Nancy Franzen, 59, in her Tocchini Road home.

Prosecutors did not contest the finding.

Franzen is expected to be committed to Napa State Hospital for an indefinite term. She could be released if her sanity is restored and she is deemed no longer a danger to the public.

“It’s the right thing,” said her attorney, Tyler Hicks. “There is overwhelming evidence that she should be in a mental health facility.”

Nancy Franzen’s sister attended the hearing in Sonoma County Superior Court. She was allowed to speak privately with her niece, who smiled as she approached.

She declined to comment outside court.

The finding brings to a close a case that began Feb. 4, 2013 when neighbors reported seeing Julia Franzen outside her mother’s house carrying a knife in her bloody hands.

Deputies arrived and found the mother dead inside. They believed Julia Franzen chased her through the house, inflicting numerous stab wounds before she collapsed.

Julia Franzen was initially deemed mentally incompetent to assist in her own defense and treated for about six months at Napa State Hospital.

Upon her return, prosecutors charged her with first-degree murder.

But two doctors who analyzed her agreed she was insane at the time of the killing. Psychiatrist Robbin Broadman said Franzen was responding to internal voices and was schizophrenic. She ruled out any possibility Franzen was malingering.

Psychologist David Schneider said Franzen thought people were plotting against her and that she lacked the ability to tell right from wrong. He diagnosed her condition as paranoid schizophrenia.

Franzen, who has been on medication since shortly after her arrest, pleaded no contest Friday to second-degree murder, which carries a punishment of 15 years to life.

Based on the doctors’ reports, Thistlethwaite found that she was legally insane at the time of the killing and ordered her to be evaluated for placement in a state hospital.

Franzen will remain in the Sonoma County jail until after a report is presented at an Oct. 10 hearing.

Both prosecutor Brian Staebell and Franzen’s attorney said it would likely be a lifelong commitment.

But Franzen could someday be released if she meets three criteria. A judge must determine that her sanity is restored, that she can care for herself and that she is no longer a threat to others.

That happened most recently in the case of former Rohnert Park resident Mathew Beck, 40, who was freed from Napa State Hospital two years ago after he stabbed to death his uncle’s fiancée and her mother in 2000.

Doctors said he too heard voices in his head. He was never tried after prosecutors agreed he was insane at the time of the killing.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.