A man accused of murdering his mother claimed she was a robot in court papers and was deemed unfit for trial on Tuesday, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
Joseph Garcia, 31, has been charged with murdering his 52-year-old mother Joan Viau, who was reported missing on January 23, 2017 and later found in Washington Heights with a fatal stab wound to her neck. He told police soon after her disappearance that Viau was not actually his mother.
“She is not my biological mother. My mother came down from the sky to give birth to me, and then she died,” he said, according to court papers. “She is a robot and not my real mother.”
Garcia had initially just been charged with possession of stolen property after he was caught using his mother’s car and credit card, but he was later arraigned on murder and manslaughter charges in her death as well.
He was declared unfit for trial on Tuesday and is being sent to a state psychiatric facility, the Bronx DA’s Office said.
Garcia’s defense attorney Jason Foy said that he “couldn’t communicate with him at all” due to his mental health, which has rendered him “definitely unable to understand and participate in his defense.”
In a written statement to police, Garcia maintained that he had nothing to do with his mother’s disappearance and could not confess to anything apart from her being addicted to drugs.
“She would do anything she can for me and my brother, and [I] hope to God that she is in good hands,” he wrote. “I have no further confession.”