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Siblings Testify Balbir Singh's Shooter Mentally Ill
09/12/2003
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=72937#storytop
Siblings testify Sikh shooter mentally ill
By ANANDA SHOREY
Associated Press Writer
09/12/2003
MESA -- The brother of a man accused of fatally shooting an Indian immigrant in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks testified his sibling said on the day of the crime that the devil had to be stopped and that he was hearing voices.
Howard Roque was among the witnesses called to testify Thursday as public defenders began putting on their case in the murder trial of Frank Roque.
Prosecutors accuse Roque of targeting Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, because of the way he looked. Sodhi wore a turban and long beard as part of his Sikh faith.
Howard Roque testified he had several phone conversations with Frank on Sept. 15, 2001 -- the day Sodhi, 49, was killed at his gas station in Mesa.
"He said his head was going to explode. 'I am going to die; I am going to die. The voices, the voices; I am going to die,"' Howard said. "He said, 'The devil is out there; we have to stop him."
Roque's attorneys are presenting a guilty except insane defense. Attorney Daniel Patterson said Roque's mental illnesses caused him to hear voices and that he didn't have a history of racial or ethnic hatred before Sept. 11.
Police reports quoted Roque as saying "I'm a patriot" and that he was "standing up for his brothers and sisters" in New York after his arrest on the day he is accused of shooting Sodhi at his gas station.
Roque's sister, Anna Keneston, 54, also described her brother as delusional.
Roque was loving, caring and obedient when he was young. But as he grew up he became a rebellious loner who often argued with their physically abusive father, Keneston said.
Roque's siblings described their family's traumatic history, which included dealing with their mother's acute schizophrenia and breast cancer, the mother and father's separations and their brother's disturbing behavior and lack of ability to deal with situations.
At their father's wake, Keneston said Frank Roque threw himself on the casket sobbing and said, "You're not dead."
Prosecutor Vince Imbordino tried to show that Frank's behavior -- being distant and rebellious as a teenager -- was normal behavior for traumatic childhood experiences and was not the result of a mental illness.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Roque.
If the jury finds Roque was insane, however, he wouldn't be subject to the death penalty. Rather, he would be confined to a state hospital until doctors determine he is no longer a threat.
The trial is expected to last until the beginning of October
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