An ‘evil’ alleged killer accused of stabbing a couple to death believed he was the Egyptian sun god Ra on a sacred mission, his lawyer said.
Zachary Penna, 28, used an insanity defense during the opening day of his double-murder trial in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday – but prosecutors say he is not mentally ill, just ‘brutally evil.’
Penna allegedly stabbed Wayne Dixon, 58, and Freddy Sanchez ,49, to death before stealing the couple’s SUV in November 2015 in Greenacres, Florida.
Prosecutors say them couple had been stabbed 32 times in total. Prosecutors say Penna, then 24, targeted the couple because he stole from his own aunt and needed a getaway car. ‘Zachary Penna believed that he was the reincarnation of the daughter of Ra, as in Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god,’ she said, adding that Penna targeted Sanchez and Dixon because of the whimsical decorations on their home, such as cherubs, dragonflies and fountains that he believed were signs.
After taking Dixon and Sanchez’s SUV, Penna drove to Boynton Beach, where he shoved an 86-year-old woman to the ground and took her purse and blouse, prosecutors said, according to the Herald-Tribune.
Penna then met up with an unknowing coworker and ordered him to drive at knife point, authorities said, but the coworker escaped as they ordered fast food.
Prosecutors said Penna then drove to Titusville, where he cut a weather station worker’s throat after trying to take his car. The man survived and escaped Penna.
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The sun god Ra, (left) was one of the most important gods of the ancient Egyptians. The most common representation of Ra is a man with the head of a falcon and a solar disk on top
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Police officers and a K9 unit eventually tracked Penna down, but when they approached Penna, he stabbed the dog. Officers then shot him four times in the chest. Penna survived was taken to the hospital where he reportedly confessed to the killings. Prosecutor Brian Fernandes quoted Penna’s confession in his opening statement to jurors on Monday. ‘He actually says, ‘I stabbed a couple of homosexuals and a damn dog,’ Fernandes said, later calling Penna ‘brutally evil.’
However, Penna’s lawyer, Elizabeth Ramsey offered a different description of her client, who she claimed was paranoid and mentally ill. ‘Unfortunately for Zachary Penna, he did not recognize mania from the schizophrenic-bipolar disaffective disorder that he had,’ Ramsey continued.
Penna is expected to have a lengthy trial with many witnesses to testify about Penna’s alleged crime spree, mental illness and whether it played a role in the murders.
