LAKE STEVENS — State psychologists say they want more time to treat a mentally ill man accused of killing a Lake Stevens woman in 2013.
A judge agreed last week to stay the criminal case against Anthony Garver for another six months while he gets additional treatment at Western State Hospital. Garver, 27, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and continues to show significant psychotic symptoms, according to a recent hospital report filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
His condition appears to be improving but he is still unable to assist his attorney to defend against a murder charge, state psychologists wrote.
Prosecutors allege that Garver stabbed Phillipa Evans-Lopez, 20. She was found tied to a bed on June 17, 2013 in her Lake Stevens home. The killer stabbed her two dozen times and slit her throat. Garver was allegedly connected to the homicide through genetic evidence found on the electrical cords used to bind Evans-Lopez.
Garver has denied killing the young mother.
Investigators have not released a motive. The pair may have met for the first time the day before at an Everett McDonald’s. Garver reportedly told police his DNA was in the house because he helped Evans-Lopez move some furniture.
He is charged with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Doctors are now recommending that Garver be given a new anti-psychotic medication to treat his symptoms.
In a recent evaluation, doctors concluded that Garver is unable to effectively communicate with his lawyer. He “appears to have a great difficulty differentiating reality from his perceived delusional experiences,” the evaluator wrote.
His attorney Jon Scott confirmed that his client’s disorganized thinking and delusions prevent them from discussing the case.
Garver doesn’t appear to understand the charge against him. When asked about the allegations he said, “I’ve been thinking they don’t exist. They’re saying I have them, but I don’t. I don’t have them because I didn’t do it.”
At the time of the homicide, Garver was wanted by state and federal authorities. He had been on the run since after he failed to report to his community corrections officer in Spokane. He’d been released from federal prison a month earlier after serving time for threats he made to blow up a government building in Spokane.
Court papers say Garver has ties to anarchist and domestic-terrorism causes.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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