Update: Accused Kent Murderer Competent, Will Stand Trial

The Kent man accused of stabbing another Kent man to death this summer will stand trial for the crime.

Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., has been ruled sane and competent enough to stand trial in the stabbing death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was June 6.

At a hearing this morning, Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman confirmed the results of Armstrong's sanity evaluation with his attorney, Frank Beane, and Portage County Assistant Prosecutor Eugene Muldowney. Both attorneys agreed to the finding.

"The defendant did know the lawfulness of his acts on the day in question," Muldowney said.

Armstrong pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in July based on evidence that Armstrong is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and has been under psychiatric care since the age of 20 — for 29 years.

When he was arrested June 22, Armstrong was a client at Coleman Professional Services Behaviorial Health in Kent and Ravenna, which among its services provides mental health counseling to people with behaviorial problems or severe and persistent mental illness.

Paranoid schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by "mistaken beliefs (delusions) that one or more people are plotting against them or their loved ones. It is difficult or impossible for others to convince them that they are not the target of a plot," according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Prior to moving to Kent from New Jersey, Armstrong was a patient at two New Jersey mental health facilities, according to court records.

"The defendant is competent to stand trial," Pittman said.

Beane reiterated his plans to file motions to Armstrong made to Kent police investigators that were recorded on video.

His trial is scheduled to start Oct. 12, according to court records, but Pittman said Armstrong's case would be reset two to three weeks out for the motion to suppress.