Man ruled insane in Berkeley killing that exposed system failures

Andrea Cukor (right) hugs a supporter at Alameda County Superior Court after Daniel DeWitt was formally committed to Napa State Hospital in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, May 29, 2015. DeWitt was found to be mentally ill when he bludgeoned to death her husband Peter Cukor in front of their Berkeley hills home in 2012. less Andrea Cukor (right) hugs a supporter at Alameda County Superior Court after Daniel DeWitt was formally committed to Napa State Hospital in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, May 29, 2015. DeWitt was found to be ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Man ruled insane in Berkeley killing that exposed system failures 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

A mentally ill man who killed a stranger with a flower pot in the Berkeley hills after cycling in and out of psychiatric care for years was committed to a state mental hospital Friday for 33 years to life after he was deemed insane — and after the victim’s family blasted a chain of events that ended when a “ticking time bomb” exploded.

The decision to institutionalize Daniel DeWitt, 26, for what could be the rest of his life closes a case that cast a spotlight on the limits and failures of the mental health system and the debate over whether people with the most severe psychiatric issues should be compelled to take medication and undergo treatment.

The tragedy also spurred criticism of the Berkeley police force’s immediate response to the killing of 67-year-old Peter Cukor, which happened as officers prepared for an Occupy street protest.

In an Oakland courtroom Friday, the victim’s wife likened the loss of her husband to the “complete destruction” caused by an asteroid hitting Earth in the age of the dinosaurs. Andrea Cukor, 69, said the killing on Feb. 18, 2012, was “entirely preventable” and robbed her family of a “sweet and gentle” man.

She said her husband was dead because “so many people and systems had to fail: a family, the mental health system, the legal system and the police.”

DeWitt, an Alameda native who as a teenager began suffering from delusions brought on by schizophrenia, pleaded no contest this year to first-degree murder as well as assault for breaking the jaw of an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy at John George Psychiatric Hospital in San Leandro.

‘He wants to come in’

But Superior Court Judge Paul Delucchi, citing reports by doctors, found DeWitt not guilty by reason of insanity, meaning he could not distinguish right from wrong.

DeWitt had been restored to legal competency last year — meaning he could participate in his own defense — but in an unusual move remained at the hospital to continue treatment, said his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Brian Bloom.

“Unlike most individuals, once they’re restored to competency, they’re returned to county jail,” Bloom said. “There’s a provision (under state law) that allows individuals to stay at the hospital to maintain their competency. Everyone thought that was in Daniel’s interest.” Bloom said DeWitt is “still receiving treatment, psychotropic treatment and other therapies.”

On the day of the killing, Peter Cukor encountered DeWitt in his garage on Park Gate and called police about 8:45 p.m., saying an intruder was on his property.

“He’s looking for a someone named ‘Zoey.’ He’s pretty spacey,” the business management consultant told a dispatcher. “He says that he lives here. He wants to come in, which is very strange.” The dispatcher said she would try to send an officer.

After DeWitt left, Cukor walked down his driveway toward a nearby fire station, thinking police couldn’t find his house. But no officers showed up before DeWitt — who believed at the time that he was searching for his fiancee, not realizing “Zoey” was a delusion — bludgeoned him to death with a ceramic flower pot, authorities said.

Cukor’s wife watched in horror and called 911, and only then were officers sent to the home near Tilden Park. Police said they had been responding only to emergency calls while girding for what turned out to be a small Occupy Oakland march heading toward UC Berkeley.

Playing ‘Russian roulette’

Andrea Cukor, in court, referred to DeWitt’s long mental health record, which was detailed in a 2012 article in The Chronicle.

Nine times since 2007, the young man had been hospitalized involuntarily under Section 5150 of the state Welfare and Institutions Code, meaning he was deemed dangerous, suicidal or gravely disabled. His parents pushed for long-term treatment, saying he did not even comprehend he was ill, but he was typically stabilized and released within days.

Everyone in the system, Andrea Cukor said, believed they were “performing their roles to the letter of the law,” when in fact they were playing “Russian roulette with public safety.”

“So my wonderful, brilliant husband was murdered in our driveway, when everyone who could have prevented it from happening did everything right?” she asked. “I say that proves that everything is wrong! All the sane people who repeatedly released someone who is known to be insane and violent must stop doing that. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?”

One of her two sons, Alexander Cukor, 37, agreed, while lacing his courtroom statement with humor, sadness and anger.

While growing up, he said, “I secretly felt sorry for other children, because it wasn’t possible that their dads were as robust, strong, brilliant, funny or as happy as mine.” He recalled that if anyone took too long going to the bathroom, his father would say, in Latin, “How much longer will you continue to abuse our patience?”

He drew tears from friends in the audience when he re-enacted the shock he felt when his mother called and said his father had been attacked. “Is he OK?” he yelled. “What do you mean you don’t know? Well, how much blood is ‘a lot’? Well, is he alive? You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know?”

Ordering treatment

The killing drew attention to one of the fiercest debates in mental health, with the families of both DeWitt and Cukor saying the bloodshed could have been averted if DeWitt had been compelled to accept treatment instead of being set loose. They said they support Laura’s Law, which allows court-ordered, involuntary outpatient treatment of people with a serious record of mental health hospitalizations and violence.

DeWitt’s last hospitalization had been two months before the killing. Alameda police initiated a three-day hold, and a physician at the county-run psychiatric center in San Leandro said he needed two more weeks. But DeWitt asserted his legal right to fight the hold, and he was released in December 2011 after a special hearing.

A handful of counties recently voted to build Laura’s Law programs, including San Francisco and Contra Costa. California passed the law in 2002, but it has been slow to gain traction, largely because of concerns that it infringes upon the rights of the mentally ill. DeWitt’s mother, Candy DeWitt, emerged after the killing as a leading voice in a movement to spread Laura’s Law.

Candy DeWitt said she and her husband, Al DeWitt, did not attend Friday’s hearing out of respect for the Cukor family.

“I understand there’s some blame from some of the family members, and I want them to know that we never stopped trying to get help for our son. But the current law makes it impossible for some family members to get sustained help or treatment,” she said. “Our hearts go out to the Cukor family and to their great loss and suffering. This never should have happened.”

Family sues Berkeley

Cukor’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Berkeley, saying police were partially to blame for the killing because a dispatcher had falsely promised that an officer would respond to the victim’s call about an intruder. Police officials have said Cukor’s call was properly classified as a “suspicious circumstance” and not an emergency. They said Cukor sounded calm and that what he described did not amount to an immediate threat.

An officer on patrol volunteered to respond to several lower-priority calls, including the one from Peter Cukor, several minutes before officers were told of Andrea Cukor’s 911 call. The dispatcher told the officer that police weren’t being sent to nonemergency calls, dispatch tapes show.

The Cukor family resolved its suit after police agreed to tell citizens calling for help that officers might be delayed “due to high-priority calls in progress or the current volume of calls,” said the family’s attorney, R. Lewis Van Blois.

Henry K. Lee is a San

Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee