Mission Valley Triple Killing Defendant Ordered to State Hospital

The man accused of killing three people in connection with a Mission Valley mall shooting on Christmas Eve will be hospitalized, a judge ruled Monday.

Carlo Mercado is accused of killing brothers Sal and Gianni Belvedere and Gianni's fiancee, Ilona Flint.

On Monday, Judge Joseph P. Brannigan found Mercado not competent to stand trial and ordered he be treated at Patton State Hospital for three years or until he is found competent to assist in his own defense.

Last week, reports submitted by two psychiatrists and one psychologist diagnosed Mercado as schizophrenic, psychotic and suffering from catatonic depression, according to Mercado's attorney.

Flint and Salvatore were found shot in a parking lot outside the Macy’s department store at Westfield Mission Valley Mall in San Diego’s Mission Valley area on Dec. 24, 2013.

Flint was pronounced dead at the scene of the Christmas Eve shooting. Salvatore died at the hospital a few days later.

On Jan. 17, Gianni's body was found in the trunk of a car in Riverside County.

Mercado has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.

Search warrants obtained by NBC 7 reveal the exhaustive investigation into the triple homicide case, but still, no motive.
 

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