Teaneck murder defendant will be evaluated for mental competence
By Mary K. Miraglia
HACKENSACK, NJ (Monday, Jan. 23, 2017) — A Teaneck man accused in the stabbing deaths last October of his elderly mother and brother should be evaluated for mental competency, his attorney said Monday, Jan. 23.
Defense attorney Milagros Camacho told Presiding Criminal Courts Judge Susan Steele she plans to file a motion to have Keith Knight, 60, evaluated by psychiatrists, and said she is making plans to file a plea of “NGI” — not guilty by reason of insanity (mental incompetency).
The judge asked Camacho to make a formal petition to the court by February 13. Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Thomas Kearney said he needs “Something articulated more clearly than counsel’s personal feeling. This is a homicide.” Kearny also said there is no plea offer in the case.
Knight, 61, was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 after police responded to a 911 call that came in at 10:40 p.m. Dispatchers could only hear screaming. When officers arrived at 72 Ward Plaza, where Knight lived with his mother Victoria, 84 and brother Victor, 52 they found the pair had been stabbed multiple times. They were sent to hospitals and pronounced dead.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said at the time of his arrest that Knight had blood on his hands when he answered the door for police. There was a large amount of blood in the kitchen, living room and hallway, Molinelli had said.
He was arrested that night and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of his mother and brother.
The three lived together in the white brick house at 72 Ward Plaza. At the time of his arrest, friends and relatives said Knight was in a motorcycle accident in Teaneck a few years ago that threw him into a car and caused serious injuries. After that, they said, he changed. But he had never been aggressive, they said.
Knight was born in the United Kingdom but is a U.S. citizen. He had been working as a landscaper. Unable to raise 10 percent of $2 million bail, he is being held in the Bergen County Jail pending resolution of his case.
Photo caption: Keith Knight, 60, Teaneck
Mugshot courtesy Bergen County Sheriff
