Judge to rule on whether Ricardo Punsalan should still be committed in father's 1994 killing

More than 31 years after he stabbed his father to death in their Sheffield Lake home, Ricardo Punsalan may soon hear from a Lorain County Common Pleas Court judge whether he will continue to be held in a mental health institution or be released back into society. Following an April 11 hearing in his courtroom, Judge Raymond Ewers ordered the defense and Lorain County Prosecutor's Office to submit written briefs to his office within two weeks on whether the now-51-year-old mentally ill man should be released from custody. Bailiff Bonnie Spencer said Thursday that Ewers asked both sides to submit briefs after the April 11 hearing and he would make a ruling at a later date. She said her judge had not set any further hearing dates. Prosecutor Tony Cillo said his office was told to put in writing "everything we wanted to say" about the case. Messages seeking comment on the case were left for several attorneys who previously represented Punsalan in court. Every two years since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for stabbing his father to death in their Sheffield Lake home in February 1994, Punsalan has gone before a court for a review hearing on his continued commitment. The last hearing was in January 2023, when Ewers ordered Punsalan to continue to be held at a Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare facility, according to court records. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Punsalan has been in custody in state mental institutions since at least 1996. He was 20 in 1994 when he stabbed his father, Dr. Ernesto Punsalan, twice with a 7-inch chef's knife, killing him. Ricardo Punsalan waived his right to a jury trial and asked a judge to rule from the bench. On Jan. 25, 1996, Common Pleas Judge Thomas Janas found Ricardo Punsalan not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of aggravated murder and murder. "Having considered the evidence submitted at trial, the court finds that, at the time of the commission of the offense, the (defendant) did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease, the wrongfulness of his acts," Janas wrote at the time, ordering Ricardo Punsalan to be hospitalized. Ricardo Punsalan has remained in custody ever since at a series of Ohio psychiatric hospitals, according to court records. The killing happened less than three hours after Dr. Punsalan came home from working a shift at Elyria Memorial Hospital Regional Medical Center — now known as University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. Ricardo Punsalan told police that he thought he was Jesus Christ and that the voice of God told him to stab his father, who in Ricardo Punsalan's mind was Satan. Just about every two years after his confinement, defense attorneys said that Ricardo Punsalan's mental health had improved thanks to medication and continued treatment. The two-year time frame is governed by state law for those involuntarily committed to mental institutions. Adding to the tragedy was that Elizabeth Punsalan, Ricardo's sister and Ernesto's daughter, was preparing to represent the U.S. as an ice dancer at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, when her brother killed her father. Elizabeth Punsalan and her husband/partner Jerod Swallow were the only Americans to compete in the ice dance competition at that Olympics that year, and they finished in 15th place. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com