Institutionalized Man Wants Stand Trial for Teen's Murder

A Chester County man accused of fatally shooting a teenage neighbor in 1986 is asking to be declared competent to stand trial in the killing.

Stefan Szczesniuk has been institutionalized for more than a quarter century wants to stand trial in the death of 15-year-old Raymond Yoder Jr. as he waited for a school bus outside his Honey Brook home.

The Daily Local News of West Chester reports a prosecution psychiatrist testified Friday that Szczesniuk was no long delusional and could be tried.

Defense attorney Lidia Aperovich told Senior Judge Ronald Nagle Szczesniuk had told her he wished to be declared competent but she was challenging the psychiatrist's findings in his best interest.

“At this point, he does not express any delusions or hallucinations with respect to his ability to stand trial,” Dr. Barbara Ziv told Nagle. “He understands there are serious changes against him, and he does not want to continue to be caught in the limbo that is Norristown State Hospital.”

Nagle did not say when he would rule on the request.

In 2000, a Common Pleas judge ruled that Szczesniuk was incompetent to stand trial and would not likely regain competence, and the judge ordered the homicide charges against him dismissed. Thereafter, Szczesniuk was held in the hospital on an involuntary civil commitment, according to the Daily Local News