The New York Post reports that an illegal immigrant who was found guilty of beheading his girlfriend has now had his conviction reversed.
That's right: the accused was found guilty of decapitating his girlfriend. Yet, a judge has just reversed that conviction, finding that that individual is not guilty due to mental illness.
The illegal immigrant - a 42-year-old from Cuba - is Alexis Saborit.
He was initially, back in May, found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.
Saborit's attack on his girlfriend - a 55-year-old American woman named Mafalda Thayer - was witnessed by multiple individuals. Some parts of what happened were even captured on camera.
The incident occurred back on July 28, 2021, in Shakopee, Minnesota. At the time, Saborit and Thayer - who had been together for over a decade - were driving to court to make an appearance after being charged with a felony for allegedly setting their apartment on fire during a confrontation with police officers. Thayer, during the car ride, told Saborit that she wanted to end their relationship.
This is when Saborit snapped. He took an 8-pound dumbbell out of his car and struck Thayer with it. Then, he put the dumbbell down, picked up a machete, and proceeded to decapitate Thayer with it.
Subsequently, Saborit left the scene and proceeded to dispose of the evidence in several different locations.
After being declared mentally competent to stand trial, the judge found that there was enough evidence to convict Saborit of first-degree premeditated murder.
Now, however, Saborit's conviction has been reversed.
Earlier this month, after Saborit was found guilty, his team of defense lawyers filed a motion in which they argued that Saborit ought to have his conviction reversed because he has a mental illness.
Fox9 reports, "The defense filed a motion in court on July 12 stating Saborit should be found not guilty by reason of mental illness because both the court-appointed and state-issued psychologist determined '[Saborit's] mental illness prevented him from understanding his actions were morally wrong.'"
The outlet adds, "The order discusses Saborit's history of mental illness, including his hospitalizations for 'bizarre delusions' as early as March 2013. He suffered a traumatic brain injury after being in a coma from a car crash in 2017 and began experiencing auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions."
Judge Caroline Lennon has now granted the defense's motion, reversing Saborit's conviction. Fox reports that the ruling is "not sitting well with the victim’s family."
