Two New Orleans psychiatrists have found a man who stabbed his brother 93 times before placing his body under a burning mattress in 2013 “irrestorably incompetent” to stand trial and recommended he be committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Ian Broyard, 27, is accused of murder and tampering with evidence in the Nov. 6, 2013, stabbing death of 23-year-old Michael Broyard III, NOLA.com reported. Ian Broyard was 22 at the time of the crime.
Michael Broyard, a tattoo artist, was working on a degree in social work at Southern University at New Orleans.
The New Orleans Advocate reported in July 2014, when Broyard was indicted, that the brothers had been in several fights prior to the killing. Their sister arrived at the family home in the Gentilly section of New Orleans the morning of the stabbing to see smoke coming from the front door.
Firefighters found Michael Broyard dead inside but there was no sign of Ian Broyard, who had been home shortly before the fire broke out, the Advocate reported. While police officers and firefighters worked the scene, Ian Broyard showed up, with cuts on his forearms and holding his stomach in pain, the newspaper said.
A witness told police he saw a man, who was riding away from the Broyard home on a bicycle, toss something into a trash can nearby. Investigators found a bloodstained vest constructed out of book covers taped together.
The DNA from the blood on the vest matched that of Michael Broyard, the Advocate reported. Other DNA and fingerprints recovered from the vest matched Ian Broyard, NOLA.com said.
NOLA.com reported that Ian Broyard was diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic in June 2013, just five months before his brother's brutal slaying. Broyard's arrest warrant indicated that he sometimes became violent.
Broyard was initially found competent to stand trial in August 2014 but was found incompetent during another hearing almost three years later, the news site said. He was sent to Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in June 2017 and has been there since.
Two of the members of the court-appointed sanity panel who examined Broyard have found it unlikely that Broyard will ever become competent to stand trial for his brother's slaying. NOLA.com reported that Dr. Sarah DeLand testified Thursday that Broyard, who suffers from delusions and auditory hallucinations, would be unable to assist his lawyer at trial.
Broyard believes that the IRS and the FBI control him and those around him, DeLand said in court. He also believes that the federal agencies could influence his case based on his outstanding student loans.
A judge will decide next week if Broyard will be committed indefinitely, NOLA said.
Investigators said during Broyard's March 2014 preliminary hearing that it was possible he was connected to a second slaying 10 months before that of his brother. NOLA.com reported that a homicide detective testified at the hearing that Broyard was related to Edward Richardson, an 83-year-old retiree who was found stabbed to death New Year's Day 2013 in his apartment at a senior living community.
Like Michael Broyard, Richardson was found stabbed an excessive number of times -- more than 50 -- and his body was under a mattress that had been set on fire, NOLA.com reported in 2014. No physical evidence linked Ian Broyard to the scene.
WDSU in New Orleans reported in 2015 that cold case investigators were still seeking leads in the unsolved case.
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