Man who allegedly killed his mom deemed fit for trial

A man accused of stabbing his mother to death last year outside her Kapoho home was found fit to stand trial.

Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara ordered Sean Alan Rutledge to appear for trial at 8:30 a.m. June 27. Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Hashizaki told the judge the trial will take about six weeks.

Rutledge is charged with second-degree murder for the slaying of 63-year-old Nadean Rutledge outside her Kapoho Kai Drive home the evening of Aug. 25. She was stabbed in the back, her nude body covered by a sheet, on the lawn outside her home. She was an information officer for the Wai‘opae Tide Pools in Kapoho.

Sean Rutledge is a former attorney who was disbarred in New York under the name Alan Frank. He was allowed to resign from the practice of law in California, where he was facing allegations of malpractice stemming from his representation of homeowners there and in other states who were in default on mortgage payments or facing foreclosure proceedings.

Rutledge, who was 40 when the stabbing occurred, appeared for this proceeding, although at least on one occasion, he refused to be removed from his cell to appear in court. He answered questions in a brief and coherent manner, displaying none of the odd mannerisms that marked previous court appearances, such as closing his eyes and then fluttering his eyelids rapidly.

A panel of three mental health professionals, psychologists Marvin Acklin and Frederic Manke and psychiatrist Martin Blinder, all found Rutledge fit to stand trial.

Rutledge remains in custody without bail at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.