A man accused of stabbing a coworker to death at a San Carlos vocational center in 2004 was found not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday after he pleaded no contest to a second degree murder charge, according to prosecutors.
Vitin Ajani Cruz, 38, has spent much of the past seven years at a state mental hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial on murder charges in 2005. He was returned to San Mateo County Superior Court to face charges in June this year.
He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, however, and doctors who evaluated him have concurred, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors have agreed to accept the doctors' findings.
Cruz was first arrested on Oct. 27, 2004, after he stabbed Alfonso Ruiz, 44, at San Mateo County's WorkCenter, a transitional work program run by the county's Human Service Agency.
The two men were doing packaging work at the WorkCenter's warehouse at 550 Quarry Road when Cruz stabbed Ruiz multiple times and attempted to flee the scene.
Ruiz underwent surgery for the stab wounds, but died the next day at Stanford Hospital.
Cruz will return to court on Nov. 16 at 9 a.m. for a placement report and order for placement at a state mental hospital, according to prosecutors.
--Bay City News
