WOODLAND — A Yolo County murder suspect has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, and will be hospitalized and medicated until his condition improves.
Thomas Phillip Leae sat with his shoulders hunched and head hung throughout his court appearance Friday, where Yolo Superior Court Judge David Reed issued his ruling in light of a psychologist’s evaluation that found Leae unable to understand the nature of the court proceedings or assist his attorney in preparing his defense.
He’s expected to be admitted to Napa State Hospital or another appropriate facility. Reed scheduled a March 28 review date for the case, which stems from a high-speed pursuit and crash on Interstate 5 that killed Leae’s passenger.
Leae, a 21-year-old Washington resident, is accused of leading California Highway Patrol officers on a 40-mile high-speed chase from Glenn County to Yolo County on Nov. 30, driving the wrong way on Interstate 5 at one point until he lost control of the stolen Honda Accord and crashed near the Dunnigan rest area.
Leae’s passenger, 18-year-old Ailiana Fualilia Siufanua, died at the scene. She was a suspect in the Nov. 25 homicide of a Vancouver, Wash., pawn shop employee, and Leae is a person of interest in the crime because he was seen with Siufanua in the days surrounding the murder, police said.
In addition to second-degree murder — a count based on his allegedly reckless driving prior to the crash — Leae is charged with evading a peace officer causing injury or death, evading a peace officer with reckless driving, vehicle theft, driving under the influence of drugs causing injury and receiving stolen property.
The latter charge alleges that Leae unlawfully received “miscellaneous pawn shop property, which had been stolen, knowing that said property had been stolen,” according to his criminal complaint.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene