Insanity verdict entered for suspect in fires

Kim Smith

Friday, March 17, 2000 | 11:53 a.m.

A 45-year-old Las Vegas man accused of trying to set a Mormon chapel on fire in July 1998 is mentally ill and will be sent to a federal mental institution indefinitely.

U.S. District Judge David Hagen entered a verdict of "not guilty by reason of insanity" on behalf of James Carbullido at a Thursday hearing.

Authorities believe that Carbullido, between July 1998 and June 1999, placed incendiary devices at nine facilities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an attempt to burn them down.

The devices were made of containers filled with gasoline and came with fuses attached, court records show. In some of the incidents, a window was broken out and the device was placed inside and in other cases, the device was left under vehicles or in the parking lot.

In two of the incidents, the device ignited, causing smoke and heat damage to a chapel and an office.

Carbullido was indicted in one of the incidents, but his mental status became an issue before further indictments were sought, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Connell said.

On Thursday, O'Connell and Carbullido's attorney, Shari Kaufman, together asked Hagen to enter the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, and Carbullido agreed to waive his trial.

According to court documents, two defense experts and one government expert evaluated Carbullido and found that he suffers from a mental illness.

"Mr. Carbullido did not possess the cognitive ability to understand his act of attempted arson on the LDS church with the use of a destructive device," neuropsychologist Dr. Lewis Etcoff wrote in his report. "His thinking was significantly distorted as a result of severe mental defect or disease, namely schizophrenia, paranoid type, precluding the use of logical thought, normal reasoning and adequate judgment."

O'Connell said Carbullido suffered from auditory hallucinations, prompting his actions.

O'Connell said Carbullido will undergo periodic evaluations at the institution in an attempt to determine his dangerousness to himself and others.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com