State hospital staff have found that Jared Ravizza, who is facing charges of murder connected to a Connecticut homicide, is mentally competent, according to his defense attorney.
After a nearly six-week stint at Bridgewater State Hospital, where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, a judge has ordered Ravizza to be held at a county jail while his court hearings play out.
Judge Julie Bernard, who oversaw a status review hearing on Monday morning in Plymouth District Court, ordered Ravizza be held without bail at Norfolk County Correctional Center for the alleged stabbings in Plymouth. She came to the decision that Ravizza is dangerous based on the “nature” of the case, and the “clear and convincing” evidence provided by the state attorney’s office.
A defendant considered dangerous can be held without bail by a district court for up to 120 days, according to state laws. He is currently at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.
In total, 26-year-old Ravizza is facing 16 charges stretched over three separate courts relating to incidents that all took place on May 25. Most of the charges relate to stabbings in Braintree and Plymouth, but he’s also facing murder for allegedly stabbing his roomate in Deep River, Conn. On the Vineyard, he’s also facing charges related to an April domestic disturbance in West Tisbury.
During Monday’s review hearing, Ravizza’s defense attorney, Sean O’Neill, argued that his client should not be held without bail. He said the crimes he’s accused of from May 25 are all “isolated” and out of his client’s character, noting that Ravizza does not have a prior criminal record.
O’Neill said that staff at Bridgewater State Hospital diagnosed Ravizza with “substance-induced psychosis.” The diagnosis led the hospital to determine Ravizza as competent, O’Neill said. Additionally, the hospital had not reported ongoing psychotic behavior from Ravizza.
It was unclear during Monday’s hearing what substance caused the psychosis. O’Neill declined to comment. Bridgewater State Hospital administrator Emily Holmes was not immediately available for comment.
O’Neill also argued on Monday that Ravizza needed treatment, and was not a danger outside of the substance-induced psychosis. He added that his client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the alleged May 25 attacks.
On the other side of Monday’s hearing, prosecutor David Cutshall, a Plymouth County assistant district attorney, argued Ravizza should be held without bail because he’s a danger to the public. He said the alleged attack in Plymouth — at a McDonald’s restaurant — was not an isolated incident, noting the other attacks Ravizza is also accused of from May 25.
Cutshall also added more context to the investigation into Ravizza.
In Connecticut, the prosecutor said that the body of the 70-year-old victim was found at an embankment behind the defendant’s residence. On the property, police also found two dead poodles with numerous lacerations. Police had initially responded to the property after a complaint that Ravizza had smashed the window of a Deep River house late in the afternoon. The women who owned the house, who told police that they had been feuding with Ravizza, identified him as the suspect, which led police to his Connecticut residence.
While Cutshall did not name the man on Monday, Connecticut State Police had previously identified the victim as Bruce Feldman, who was Ravizza’s roommate. A May police report from Braintree stated the men owned two dogs.
According to Cutshall, the victim’s body had “multiple stab wounds” on his upper body. Additionally, Cutshall said surveillance cameras in Deep River show the victim was attacked and could be heard “begging for his life” as Ravizza stabbed him.
Cutshall said that Ravizza fled in his black Porsche before he allegedly stabbed four girls between the ages of 9 and 17 — three of whom were sisters — at an AMC movie theater in Braintree on the evening of May 25.
As for the stabbing at the Route 3 McDonald’s in Plymouth later that evening, Cutshall said that Ravizza attacked two employees with a “long kitchen knife.” He allegedly stabbed a male employee at the drive-through window in the left forearm, as well as a female employee behind the counter. The female employee suffered a five-centimeter-deep laceration in the upper left arm among her wounds.
Massachusetts State Troopers spotted Ravizza in Bourne traveling south, at one point allegedly speeding up to 70 mph in 30-mph zones, Cutshall said. Ravizza eventually lost control of the vehicle at a roundabout, with the Porsche bursting into flames. Cutshall said Ravizza resisted police orders to exit the vehicle, “verbally challenging troopers” to shoot him. Cutshall said police were able to arrest Ravizza after tasing him and getting him out of the vehicle, at which point he was still resisting. Police reported that they found a knife in the Porsche, suspected to have been the weapon used in the alleged attacks. The arrest was made in Sandwich.
Connecticut law enforcement are using the vehicle as evidence in their investigation of the Deep River murder, according to Cutshall.
Connecticut State Police previously told the Times Ravizza will need to be extradited to their state before he can be arraigned on charges related to murder, although when that will happen is uncertain.
Ravizza kept his eyes closed and kept his head down as Cutshall went through the timeline of alleged events.
Ravizza briefly spoke with O’Neill before he was escorted out of the courtroom by court officers.
His next court appearance is scheduled in Quincy District Court on July 11 for a detention hearing for the eight charges relating to the Braintree attack.
Based on Monday’s ruling, he will be held in custody until at least a probable cause hearing on August 6 in Plymouth District Court.
