Written by Nick Grube, The Triplicate June 01, 2010 12:00 am
Jarrod Wyatt, who is accused of torturing and killing Crescent City resident Taylor Powell in Klamath on March 21, did not enter a plea at his arraignment last week.
Wyatt’s attorney, James Fallman, said in court Friday that he wanted to have his client first undergo an evaluation by a doctor to determine if there is a reason for him to enter a “certain kind of plea.”
After the proceeding, Fallman declined would not specifically say what plea he was considering to enter on behalf of Wyatt, 26.
“There are only four pleas that exist that I’m aware of,” Fallman said, noting that those are guilty, not guilty, no contest and not guilty by reason of insanity. “It’s definitely not the word ‘guilty.’”
He added: “Doctors are important when you’re talking about pharmacology, and this is a case that has to do with that.”
Wyatt, a local mixed martial arts fighter, is accused of murder, aggravated mayhem and torture, in addition to special allegations related to each count for using a deadly weapon that is described as a sharp-bladed object.
During his preliminary hearing May 26, two Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office deputies testified that when they were called to a house on Fizer Road off P.J. Murphy Memorial Drive in Klamath in the early morning hours of March 21 for a reported stabbing, they found Wyatt naked and covered in blood near Powell’s mutilated corpse.
One of the deputies said Wyatt was mumbling in the living room, and had made the comment that he believed the two men to be “God coming to save him.” That deputy also said Wyatt admitted to killing his friend Powell and that when he looked in his face he “saw the devil.”
Testimony from two other people — including a Sheriff’s Office investigator, who interviewed Wyatt after he was arrested, and the suspect’s ex-girlfriend, who was in the house at the time of the murder — indicated that much of what led up to the incident was the result of the consumption of psychedelic “mushroom tea” that caused everyone in the residence to hallucinate.
While on the witness stand, both individuals described a chaotic, and sometimes confusing, series of events in which Wyatt at one point believed a tidal wave was coming and the world was going to end. They also said they believed Powell and Wyatt got into some sort of altercation that might have involved the two wrestling in the kitchen. Wyatt’s ex-girlfriend said the fight might have started due to Powell’s aggressive behavior toward her, and him putting “pressure” on her legs while she was lying on a couch with a hood pulled up around her face.
According to his death certificate, Powell, 21, died as a result of blood loss from having his heart cut out. He also suffered from blunt force trauma to his head and neck, external compression to his neck and facial disfigurement.
Wyatt is scheduled to be in Del Norte Superior Court on June 11 for an entry of plea.
Reach Nick Grube at ngrube@triplicate.com
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