A convicted bank robber grabbed a butcher knife and plunged it repeatedly into the neck of an elderly fellow resident eating her breakfast at a county board and care home in Anaheim, a prosecutor told jurors as the defendant's attorney made a case for a conviction on a lesser charge than murder.
Michael Carl Hallgren, 69, is charged with second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a knife. He is accused of killing 70-year-old Lucinda Louise Palma on Nov. 20, 2018.
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"It was entirely unprovoked," Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue said, adding that the defendant later told a detective that he wanted to "put her out of her misery" and because the "devil" made him do it.
The victim had issues with incontinence and "needed too much help" in the view of the defendant, Orue said.
"He decided it was time for her to go, so he picks up a butcher knife and stabs her in the throat over and over and over again," Orue said.
Hallgren attacked her so violently that the handle of the knife came loose, Orue said.
Hallgren confessed to the attack during questioning in a clip of the interview played for jurors.
"I'm guilty," he said in the interview with police. "I did the wrong thing."
The two had rooms in a Older Adult Support and Intervention Services, or OASIS, board and care facility at 1268 N. Siesta St.
Another resident of the facility, Mojitaba "Mike" Mohebi, "heard a ruckus," prompting him to go over to the kitchen and attempt to stop the defendant, Orue said.
"He killed her because the devil told him to do it," Orue said.
The defendant told a detective, "I'll put her out of her misery and the devil is saying go for it," Orue said.
Hallgren, who robbed a bank in Los Angeles County in 1999, told the detective the "devil" also made him want to do the heist, Orue said. Hallgren pleaded guilty to the bank robbery and was sentenced to two years in federal prison in January 2001. He was ordered to pay $650 to Wells Fargo.
"You're going to learn the defendant didn't have a Hallmark movie life," Orue said.
Hallgren's mother died when he was 11, he has a low IQ and suffers from depression and anxiety, Orue said.
His sister was a primary caregiver to him and when she died in March 2018, "that set things in motion" for his decline, Orue said.
Hallgren's attorney, David Hammond of the Orange County Public Defender's Office, "I'm going to ask you to commit Michael Hallgren, just not for murder."
Hammond said he would ask jurors to consider involuntary manslaughter for his client.
Hallgren, who uses a wheelchair, was much more "able-bodied" at the time of the attack, but experts are expected to testify during the trial that he was still feeling the effects of dementia and Parkinson's disease, which were undiagnosed at the time, Hammond said.
Hallgren "was very dependent on his sister," Hammond said.
Hallgren lived with his sister in the home he was born into, Hammond said.
After she died he attempted to kill himself by setting the home on fire, Hammond said. But he didn't bank on how painful smoke inhalation and burns would be so he made his way out of the house, which landed him in a hospital on a psychiatric hold, Hammond said.
Hallgren had "difficulty" in a prior board and care, so he was moved to the one in Anaheim where the attack occurred, Hammond said.
On April 26, 2018, Hallgren made another suicide attempt by slashing his wrists, Hammond said.
In evaluations of him by the county he was found to be in "constant anxiety" and "unable to make life decisions," Hammond said. The goal was to place him in some sort of assisted-living facility, the attorney said.
"Michael is child-like, a scared kid who lost his parents," Hammond said.
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