Schizophrenic son who brutally murdered and disemboweled his mom appears in court in a wheelchair and metal halo

Robert Rankin awoke the day after Christmas last year intent on murdering his mother in their Connecticut home

He told police he sliced his mother from the belly button up before pulling out her intestines 'to see if there was a baby in her stomach'

Margaret Rohner, 45, was found naked and stabbed in the abdomen at the bottom of the stairs in her home

Rankin was put on suicide watch, but last month he managed to jump over a second-floor railing and almost killed himself

He appeared in court on Tuesday in a wheelchair, wearing a metal halo on his head and a cast on his right arm

His father has questioned how this could have happened when he was supposed to be on suicide watch



The father of a Connecticut man who admitted to killing his mother at Christmastime has questioned how his emotionally troubled son was able to seriously harm himself while he was supposed to be on suicide watch.



Robert Rankin said state officials told him last month that his 23-year-old son Robert Owen Rankin - known as Bobby - had an ‘accident’ and jumped over a second-floor railing last month.



Dennis McMahon, the young Rankin’s attorney, said officials told him it was a suicide attempt.

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Rankin, pictured in a previous court appearance, was put on suicide watch, but last month he managed to jump over a second-floor railing and almost killed himself

A 2012 file photo of Margaret Rohner and her son Bobby Rankin, who the day after Christmas 2013 viciously killed her with a fireplace poker

‘I’m very concerned with the fact he was on suicide watch and how he ended up in this situation,’ the elder Rankin said on Tuesday, following his son’s latest court appearance.



Bobby Rankin, who is diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia, appeared in Middletown Superior Court in a wheelchair, wearing a metal halo on his head and a cast on his right arm.



McMahon said his client damaged three cervical discs in the fall, which he said could have killed his client.

McMahon said Bobby Rankin told him that he attempted to kill himself because he wanted to see his late mother, 45-year-old Margaret Rohner.



Bobby Rankin is facing a murder charge but has yet to enter a plea. His case was postponed on Tuesday until June 3.



McMahon said he wants to get his client independently evaluated by a psychiatrist, adding how he didn’t think his client understands what is happening to him.

Robert Rankin, 23, confessed to police that he awoke the morning after Christmas Day and then viciously slaughtered his own mother. This is the last picture of the Connecticut man, posted to Facebook on Christmas Day

Slaughtered: Margaret Rohner was allegedly disemboweled by her own son on the day after Christmas and found naked and sliced open at the bottom of the stairs of her own Deep River, Connecticut home

McMahon said his client is being housed at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, where he is being treated in the prison hospital and receiving ‘very good medical care.’



During Tuesday’s court appearance, Bobby Rankin softly answered yes to a couple of the judge’s questions. He no longer has the bushy beard he wore at his arraignment.



Police have said Bobby Rankin admitted to viciously attacking Rohner on Dec. 26 with a fireplace poker and knife, leaving her eviscerated body in the living room of her Deep River home.

‘I don't know exactly what the stuff was, like octopus tentacles,’ he would coolly recount to police. ‘I killed my mother because she is pretty much responsible for everything that has gone wrong in my life.’

Rankin said he woke up with a plan to snap his mother’s neck, reports NBC Connecticut.



He said she began to scream as soon as he'd wrapped his arms around her throat.







Police swarmed the home Deep River, Connecticut home after 1pm on December 26 and encountered a grisly scene

'I don't know exactly what the stuff was, like octopus tentacles': Police asked Rankin what he'd pulled from his mother after slicing her open and his response was chilling

Shocking: Rankin (left) said he disemboweled his mother (right) because she 'is pretty much responsible for everything that has gone wrong in my life.' At left, a photo of Rankin was posted to Rohner's Facebook wall with the caption, 'My great kid Bobby Rankin and I had a good day today!'



When that didn’t work, he said he fetched a fire poker and hit or stabbed her in the neck before continuing to choke her.

She still clung to life, however. Before continuing the slaughter, Rankin said he removed his clothes to ‘gain additional strength.’



Rankin described to police his mother’s ‘fighting, punching and screaming’ during the attack and as he returned to his bedroom to get a knife and finish her off.

He said he stabbed her at the belly button with a buck knife and sliced upwards.



Once she 'stopped screaming,' Rankin said he then removed his mother's clothes.



‘I just want you to know that she put up a damn good fight,’ court documents say Rankin told his father. ‘ She is a strong woman. I give her credit for that.’

Bizarre: Rankin said he pulled out his mother's intestines and stomach 'see if there was a baby'

Police say Rankin coolly recounted the gruesome tale after first confessing to his father Robert Rankin Sr, who then called Connecticut State Troopers

Disgusting: Rohner was found naked and disemboweled at the bottom of the stairs of her home

Along with blood thirsty rage came a bizarre curiosity. Rankin said he pulled out his mother’s intestines ‘like octopus tentacles’ in order to ‘see if there was a baby.’

After he killed her, he told police, he took a shower and walked the dog.

Police would later find Rohner’s carved up naked body and the bottom of some stairs. Her entrails were found in a wood stove in the home and in a bucket beside the stove, according to court documents.



After hearing the confession, Rankin’s father Robert Rankin Jr. called 911 around 1pm.



‘My son killed my ex-wife,’ the father said according to courant.com. '[She has a] big hole in her gut.'

Scary: Police found intestines in the home's wood stove and in a bucket beside the stove



‘I used the knife to kill my mother’: Police arrested Rankin at his home and took the buck knife he confesses he used to kill his mother



Rankin would soon back up his father’s story.



‘I used the knife to kill my mother,’ he told police, who then confiscated the buck knife.



The trooper asked Rankin if anyone else had been involved.



'It was all me,' he said.



According to courant.com, Rankin remained emotionless as he was questioned by police.



'I will tell you anything you want to know,' he said. 'I tried to make my mother responsible for the terrible things she has done.'



Rankin was arrested and charged with murder.



'You were a beautiful loving caring person you will be truly missed fly with the angels,' reads a touching note posted along with the Facebook photo during an inconceivable tragedy Friends of Rohner have described how the divorced mother struggled to find appropriate mental health care for her only son, who developed psychiatric problems about four years ago.

Friends also said Rohner had told officials at River Valley Services, a state-run voluntary respite program for adults, that her son was not taking his psychiatric medications and had asked that he be hospitalized. The friends said River Valley staff told Rohner that they wanted to wait until after Christmas to address the issues.

Robert Rankin picked up the couple’s son a couple days before Christmas to take him home for the holidays. He said he wasn’t warned by staff about any issues concerning Bobby Rankin.

Bobby Rankin’s case comes as state lawmakers consider ways to improve mental health services for young adults.

A task force on Tuesday voted on a list of recommendations for the General Assembly to consider. But considering the legislature is set to adjourn on May 7, it’s unclear how many, if any, will be approved this year.