Zachary Thomas Neiman, 27, was indefinitely committed to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup - where he has spent most of the past two years - after he pleaded guilty to the July 8, 2006, second-degree murder of his 54-year-old mother, Rae Neiman Bajus, and the attempted second-degree killing of his stepfather, David Bajus.

Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner ruled yesterday that Neiman was not criminally responsible, the legal equivalent of "insane," for his actions that summer night.

According to court documents, doctors have diagnosed Neiman with schizophrenia and a non-specific paranoid-type mood disorder. He suffers from auditory hallucinations, hyper-religious and grandiose delusions, depression, suicidal ideation and hopelessness, according to court documents.

Neiman had been hearing voices in the weeks leading up to the attack on his mother and stepfather, said Assistant State's Attorney Pamela Alban.

Mrs. Bajus' sisters, who attended yesterday's hearing, told attorneys they'd seen their nephew at summer get-togethers and that Neiman was acting "erratically" and talking to himself and the voices in his head.

Mrs. Alban said Neiman had become "delusional" and the voices were telling him that Mr. Bajus was abusing his mother.

Neiman told investigators he killed his mother to free her from the "abuse" - which never actually took place. He believed killing her would "free her from the pain" and that she'd go to Heaven and "send God down to save him."

He said killing his stepfather would "punish him" for the hallucinated abuse, Mrs. Alban said.

Mr. and Mrs. Bajus were attempting to get Neiman help before the killing. They had taken him to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, but were told Neiman couldn't be committed unless he did something violent, Mrs. Alban said.

Wearing heather-gray sweatpants, a gray button-up shirt and blue slide-on tennis shoes, Neiman politely answered "Yes, sir" as he pleaded guilty to both crimes and told the judge he understood what that meant.

Mr. Bajus rested his hand on his chin and a woman in a bright pink shirt sympathetically rubbed his back as Mrs. Alban described the night Neiman attacked the couple as they watched a movie in their living room.

The couple had attended a church picnic that afternoon and returned to their Pasadena home on Beacrane Road about 7:30 p.m., she said. When they got home, Neiman told them he was going to ride his bicycle down the street to buy a newspaper. After two hours, Neiman returned and went to the kitchen to get some food, Mrs. Alban said. He sat on the couch with his parents and ate as they watched a movie on the Hallmark Channel, then got up to clean his dishes and take out the trash.

"Zachary seemed civil and not impaired," Mrs. Alban said. There was no fighting, and no exchange of words.

About 10 p.m., Neiman went upstairs to use the computer. A short time later, he returned downstairs with a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun, and without a word, fired two rounds at his mother, who was still on the couch.

Upon being shot, Mrs. Bajus slumped against her husband.

Mr. Bajus shouted "What are you doing!" and fought off Neiman as the man swung at him with the shotgun, Mrs. Alban said. After being struck in the shoulder, Mr. Bajus ran to the kitchen to call for help. Neiman ran after his stepfather and grabbed his neck, trying to strangle him over the kitchen sink.

"Zachary just lost it," Mrs. Alban said. "He was mumbling unintelligible things to David."

Mr. Bajus struggled with his stepson before he was able to break free and run down the street for help. As Mr. Bajus pounded on a neighbor's door, Neiman ran to the wooded area behind the home, where he was later found by county police. He was muddy and out of breath.

Neiman pulled a crumpled tissue out of his pocket and wiped his eyes and nose yesterday as Mrs. Alban wrapped up the details.

Not responsible

In November 2006, defense attorneys filed paperwork claiming Neiman was "not criminally responsible" for what he did the night of the shooting.

Over the next eight months, state doctors conducted two psychiatric evaluations of the man. The first, completed in February 2007, found Neiman competent and criminally responsible. The second, completed in June, found him incompetent to stand trial.

A jury reversed that ruling in April, and state doctors redid mental evaluations. They found Neiman was not criminally responsible for his actions because he suffered from severe mental illness and was not on any treatment during the killing, Mrs. Alban said.

"He appeared to have some logic that night, but that behavior was overridden by the voices," she said.

Judge Hackner said Neiman could not "appreciate his actions" that night because of his mental disorder.

He signed the order declaring Neiman "insane" at the time of the killing and apologized to the Bajus family.

"I have in my own family some experience with some of the issues that Mr. Neiman is dealing with," he said. "Unfortunately, in this case, it turned into such a sad story and I feel very badly for you."

Mr. Bajus stood alone at the back of the empty courtroom after the hearing. With his hands in his suit pockets, he watched as deputies put his stepson in handcuffs and escorted him out of the courtroom. After Neiman was gone, Mr. Bajus took a step out of the door, put his head in his hands, and wept.