Whether Roger L. Schleicher knew what he was doing was wrong &045; that was the issue the defense and prosecution fought over in the second phase of his murder trial at the Steele County Court, which wrapped up Friday.

The defense team asserted the shooting Schleicher committed was the result of mental illness and he is not criminally responsible.

Schleicher is accused of killing his friend Jack Johannsen at Schleicher’s Ellendale residence on Dec. 29, 2000. Judge William A. Johnson had already found Schleicher guilty of the murder. Schleicher had pleaded not guilty by lack of probable cause.

&uot;Mr. Schleicher had acute paranoid schizophrenia and acted upon the mental illness,&uot; public defender Greg Colby said.

Schleicher had been in and out of a psychiatric institution since 1992. Colby asserted that toward the end of 2000, his mental condition was deteriorating. And he started thinking that Johannsen, his best friend, was imposing threats on him.

Schleicher’s depositions to the police and a psychiatrist indicate that he believed Johannsen was taking advantage of and stealing from him.

After being discharged from the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center in June 2000, Schleicher developed delusions that he was God and that Armageddon would happen on New Year’s Eve. He was also obsessed by the idea that the Chinese are the enemy of the God and were trying to harm him.

On Christmas morning, Schleicher showed up at United Hospital in Blue Earth, seeking medication help and psychiatric hospitalization. He was transported to Austin Medical Center where he stayed until Dec. 27. The record showed Schleicher was asking the hospital for a letter that would allow him to purchase a weapon.

The prosecutors agreed that Schleicher was mentally ill, but denied that the murder was the product of his delusion.

Steele County Attorney Douglas Ruth pointed out that Schleicher tried to evade responsibility for the murder by reporting it as a hunting accident to the police.

Schleicher also may have known the nature of his act. Prior to the shooting, Schleicher called the Sheriff’s Office and asked whether shooting an intruder to his property was legal.

Forensic psychiatrist Karen E. Bruggmeyer, who conducted a competency examination on Schleicher in the course of legal proceedings, testified that Schleicher had an argument with Johannsen over the phone before the shooting.

On the morning of Dec. 29, Schleicher asked Johannsen to visit his house to help his vehicle run. &uot;I just put out some bait and he took it,&uot; Schleicher said to an investigator. According to the deposition, Schleicher told Johannsen before discharging the sixth shot he fired, &uot;Jack, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.&uot;

Ruth also pointed out that a medical record shows that Schleicher had knowledge about the insanity defense and requested a definition during the treatment after the shooting.

&uot;He knew that it was wrong,&uot; Ruth said. &uot;He was capable of lying. It was not fear but anger.&uot;

Judge Johnson will issue a verdict at a later date.