Accused Castrating Model May Take the Insanity Route

Accused castrating killer Renato Seabra in court today (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano).

The case of Renato Seabra, the Portuguese male model accused of killing his older lover Carlos Castro in a Times Square hotel in January, may not be open and shut. Despite a January 7 confession from Seabra that he stabbed and castrated Castro, a fashion writer and gay activist, before smashing a computer monitor over his head and stomping on his face, the young man's lawyers are now seriously mulling a psychiatric defense.

Seabra's lawyer David Touger argued in court today that the police had no probable cause to arrest the model in the first place ("There were no eye-witnesses to the crime, nor any statements or witnesses accusing the defendant of the crime at the time he was taken into custody and questioned."). Further, he is asking for more time to decide how to proceed until he can analyze the records from St. Luke's hospital, where Seabra was taken by a cabby after leaving the scene of the crime. "Until we get those records, we are not making any decisions," he said. "They were the first people who saw Renato—they're the most important."

Meanwhile the model himself, who appears to be taking care of himself in prison, sat silently throughout the hearing. His mother—who previously has told the press "my son was not Carlos Castro's lover" and "my son, being a golden boy, who is so good, he didn't do this"—sat quietly behind him.

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By Garth Johnston in News on March 4, 2011 3:34 PM

Comments [rss]

taracorinne

The insanity defense is so over-used. With all the info on the internet, it's a lot easier to fake and it's unfortunate when juries eat it up as people who commit these heinous crimes get much lighter punishment than they truly deserve.

kikas peixoto

To say that insanity can be faked shows ignorance. There are psychiatrists to evaluate these cases that should know more than us..

taracorinne

Did you know that both sides have psychiatrists to evaluate the accused? And that they don't always come to the same conclusion? I'm not saying there aren't true situations of insanity--- but it is not far off. The Jared Loughner case is another messed up situation that comes to mind where an insanity defense could be attempted. However, Loughner's computer showed he researched capital punishment before he commited the violence in Tucson. Acknowledgement of the crime and the punishment shows that one is not insane, despite how heinous the crime is.