Trial of former student accused of murder continues | Campus

It's been nearly two years since former student Ji Min Sha allegedly stabbed his roommate Varun Chheda to death in a dorm room at McCutcheon Residence Hall, but the chances of the former student facing justice in the near future are still slim.

Judge Sean Persin ruled in June that Sha was mentally incompetent to defend himself in court – the third such ruling in a case that has dragged on for two years. He will continue to be treated at Logansport State Hospital through September, where he has been a patient since he was first found incompetent to stand trial in 2022.

Since Chheda's death, Sha's trial has been repeatedly delayed after lawyers expressed doubts about his mental competence to stand trial.

The first motion to determine Sha's sanity was filed in November 2022, according to online court records. Since then, the murder suspect has been repeatedly admitted to the state hospital.

During police questioning in the first weeks of his arrest, Sha reportedly referred to Purdue Pete, France and other international organizations and once referred to himself as “Peter Parker,” court-appointed psychologist Joanna Will said at the time.

At a court hearing in December, Sha's lawyers told Persin that Sha believed he was a former CIA agent “involved in international espionage.”

“He’s suffering from loss of touch with reality,” Will said.

After Will and another court-appointed psychologist diagnosed Sha with schizophrenia in March 2023, the judge again declared the murder defendant incompetent to stand trial and ordered Sha's transport to Logansport for treatment.

There, Sha was declared fit to stand trial by hospital doctors in 2023. In a written statement, hospital director Bethany Schoenradt told the court that he was fit to stand trial as long as he continued to take his medication.

But at the Tippecanoe County Jail, Sha reportedly stopped taking his medication and was again declared insane.

His proceedings will be stayed until he “gains the ability to understand the proceedings,” a court order states.

The court plans to review Sha's sanity every 90 days based on reports from Logansport until the man accused of murder is found competent to stand trial.