An Anaheim man accused of murdering a 70-year-old man and assaulting another man in 2021 was found not guilty due to insanity in a Tuesday court ruling.
David Abbott, 33, is accused of fatally beating Rahmatolah “David” Yaghoubi, 70, on May 31, 2021 in an unprovoked attack outside the victim’s home.
Less than two hours before David’s murder, Abbott punched another man in the head after spotting him inside his home’s garage, according to court documents.
David’s loved ones, including his brother, John Yaghoubi, were unhappy with Tuesday’s ruling.
“He was truly a leader for our family,” John said. “He was a very gentle giant. He loved people. He loved humans. He loved animals. Never hurt anybody.”
Abbott, who had been released on bond from a previous assault case, was wandering around the victim’s Anaheim neighborhood on May 31, 2021. He had punched a 60-year-old man in his garage before the man was able to chase Abbott away and call the police.
The suspect left the first home and continued wandering around. David was standing in his front yard near the intersection of Catalpa Avenue and Falmouth Avenue when Abbott spotted him. For unknown reasons, Abbott approached David and suddenly began beating him, authorities said.
The suspect spent several minutes brutally beating David with his hands and feet.
“He took over my brother and, for seven long minutes, he mauled him to death,” John said.
According to court documents, witnesses said Abbott was making incoherent statements about religion and at one point yelled, “Get out of him!” as he continued beating David.
Arriving officers found David with severe head trauma at the scene. Police threatened to use a taser on Abbott before he eventually surrendered and was taken into custody.
In a post-arrest interview, Abbott reportedly made numerous nonsensical statements including that the victim had a “green light coming out of his eyes before the attack.” Abbott was also found with methamphetamine in his system at the time of the murder.
Abbott’s attorneys cited a history of mental illness dating back to his teenage years and said during the trial that he “appeared to think he could look into the eyes of people and determine if they were possessed by a demon,” according to the Orange County Register.
A deal was reached in which Abbott pled guilty to attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon along with the first-degree murder of David.
He was sentenced to eight years to life in prison, but due to being found legally insane, his prison sentence will be suspended and he’ll be committed to a mental-health facility indefinitely.
The Orange County Superior Court judge who confirmed the insanity finding said the ruling was what the law called for under the circumstances but said she understood why the victim’s loved ones were unhappy with the outcome.
“The only issue I bring up is people go out and kill somebody and claim insanity,” the victim’s brother said. “I’m not sure if that’s really a good cause of going to kill people and getting away with it. I’m just hoping that the system makes a decision where he won’t come out for a long time so that people can be secure and guys like him are kept away from society.”
The DA’s office said if Abbott is ever deemed mentally sane enough to be released from the mental hospital, he’ll be sent to prison to begin serving his sentence of eight years to life.
Due to the maximum sentence of life in prison, the victim’s attorneys can appear at any future parole hearing to argue why they believe Abbott shouldn’t be released.