A 22-year-old Orange, Connecticut man accused of killing his own mother is on suicide watch after a hearing on Tuesday morning.
Police said Timothy Granata killed his mother, Claudia Granata, 58, in their home on Wild Rose Drive in July. He has not entered a plea and his case was continued to Sept. 18.
Timothy Granata's new attorney, Hugh Keefe,said he is getting a mental health evaluation on his client, hence the lengthy delay until his next court appearance.
During his last court appearance, Granata wiped tears from his eyes. On Tuesday, he waved to his family as he entered the courtroom.
Authorities received a 911 call at 2:20 p.m on Thursday, July 24 from a man who said he'd just committed a murder, according to the incident report.
Emergency responders found Claudia Granata's body inside the house, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The state medical said she was beaten and stabbed to death. Her death has been ruled a homicide.
Police said they believe they have the murder weapons in custody, but haven't revealed any information about them.
Timothy Granata was found near the home, carrying a cell phone in his left hand and a Bible in his right, according to police. Police said he and other family members called 911.
"I killed her. I stabbed her," Timothy Granata said when police detained him, according to the probable cause statement.
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He was unarmed, police said, taken into custody, held overnight at police headquarters and charged with murder.
His previous attorney said that Timothy Granata, a heavyweight wrestler during his freshman year at Lehigh University, might have taken time off from college to be hospitalized, although he couldn't elaborate on the circumstances.
"I'm not positive," said attorney Charles Tiernan. "I think it was within the last six-to-eight months."
Judge Frank Iannotti has recused himself from further handling the case because he knows a member of the family.
The next court date was set for Aug. 5 and his mental health will be evaluated. His bond remains at $2 million and his case has been transferred to Milford Superior Court, police said.
When Timothy Granata was asked if he was on medication, he said, "I have joint pain and a bad lower back." He was a heavyweight wrestler his freshman year of college.
According to police, Timothy Granata lived at the home with his mother, father and two siblings.
The Yale School of Medicine Web site and other online records, including his LinkedIn page, list Dr. Attilio Granata, Timothy's father, as a professor who has spent 30 years teaching at the university and practicing medicine at hospitals along the shoreline.
A New York Times story published in 1984 to announce the marriage of Attilio and Dr. Claudia Dinan says both husband and wife graduated from the Yale School of Medicine. The couple married at Yale and said Claudia Granata would retain her maiden name professionally.
Granata is a former student at Lehigh University and was a member of their wrestling team during the 2010-2011 season, according to the Lehigh University student newspaper The Brown and White.
Tiernan called the incident "a horrible, horrible, devastating situation."
Orange police and the State Police Central District Major Crime Squad are investigating. It's the first homicide in Orange since 1992.
