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The Ridgefield man accused of
brutally killing his 83-year-old father and confessing to the crime was found competent to stand trial Wednesday. Steven Uricchio, 31, appeared in Danbury Superior Court for a hearing on the competency review done after his arraignment last month. Uricchio had to be carried into that initial court appearance and spent much of it slumped over the defense table. His behavior led both the Danbury State's Attorney and Uricchio's attorney at the time to
request an evaluation , which the judge ordered. On Wednesday afternoon, Uricchio walked into the hearing on his own and didn’t cause any disturbance. He appeared calm and showed no emotion as both sides questioned a member of the three-person mental health team that evaluated him. Dr. Eileen McEvoy, from the Office of Forensic Evaluations, testified virtually and said she and the rest of the team spoke with Uricchio for 90 minutes to determine if he understood the proceedings against him and if he could assist in his own defense—the two prongs necessary for competency. The interview and police reports were used to come to their conclusions. “Were you and the members of the team able to have a discussion where the defendant participated in a relevant and meaningful way regarding his legal situation,” asked State’s Attorney David Applegate, to which McEvoy said that they were. “In fact, would you agree he actually gave pretty specific descriptions about the role of the judge, the prosecutor and the defense attorney that would show some sort of previous knowledge about the court process?” “Yes. In our opinion, he was actually quite knowledgeable about court proceedings and the roles of the major personnel,” McEvoy answered. McEvoy also testified the team unanimously found Uricchio was able to assist in his own defense. Uricchio is charged with murder in the stabbing death of his father, Marc Uricchio. It’s the first homicide in Ridgefield since 2003. On Aug. 3, police responded to their home on Powderhorn Drive around 1 a.m. after police said Uricchio called police and reported he'd hurt his father. When police arrived, "Uricchio stated, 'I murdered him.' Uricchio then paused and stated, 'really, really badly,'" according to the arraignment report and affidavit. Police said they found blood on the stairs and wall before discovering Uricchio's father dead on the floor in an upstairs bedroom. "The victim's face, lower torso/abdomen, and groin were mutilated. What appeared to be internal organs from the above-mentioned areas were on the outside of the body," the report said. A filet-style knife, with blood on the blade, was found nearby, according to the report. Police said Uricchio was taken into custody without incident. It marked the first homicide in Ridgefield since 2003. During the hearing on Uricchio’s competency, McEvoy shared that while Uricchio didn’t want to talk about certain things, like his childhood, he was very open about his past mental health struggles and treatment, including being diagnosed with schizophrenia. McEvoy said Uricchio was currently on medications for schizophrenia while incarcerated at Garner Correctional Institution, and she described his demeanor during the evaluation. “He was able to engage with us. If he needed a question repeated, he asked us to repeat it. When we gave him what we considered new information, he was able to recall it. He denied hearing voices, and we did not see evidence that he was experiencing auditory hallucinations,” McEvoy explained Despite the testimony and five-page report submitted to the court about the evaluation, public defender Thomas Leaf said he wouldn’t stipulate to his client’s competency because the report’s conclusion lacked information from clinicians who previously treated Uricchio. “My concerns are based primarily that the entirety of the conclusions reached by the team are based purely upon reviewing of police documentation and self-reporting from my client. Alleged in the report is that my client self-reported very significant and substantial diagnoses of mental health with a history of treatment, and no collateral sources were ever even attempted to be located to at least corroborate, let alone refute, anything my client may or may not have said,” Leaf argued. “This conclusion was reached on very limited information.” Applegate said while he understood Leaf’s point, the role of a competency evaluation is limited. “It’s not to diagnose or treat a person. It’s simply to answer those specific questions about whether a defendant is in fact able to understand their legal situation and assist in their own defense,” Applegate stated. Judge Thomas Saadi found Uricchio competent but noted “competency is not static,” leaving the door open for future competency reviews if needed throughout the course of the case. Uricchio returns to court Oct. 23. "
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