The murder case over the death of Lee Rogers, the homeless painter who was a familiar figure to Central Park’s birders, came to a stop in a Manhattan courtroom this week before the man charged with killing her could be arraigned.
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Jonathan Robles, 36, was due in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 10, to be arraigned on a second-degree murder charge. Just before the proceeding began, his attorney, Mitchell Schuman, objected and told Justice Althea Drysdale that Robles wasn’t fit, saying he had failed his mental health evaluation, the New York Post reported.Rogers, 63, had lived in and around the park for about three decades, as we reported in September. She painted the birds of the Ramble, looked after feeders she’d hung there, and sold hundreds of her works, mostly by word of mouth among local birders. She also went by Elise Bainbridge Hill.
Her body was found on the morning of September 27 in the wooden gazebo near the Boathouse, close to East Drive and East 74th Street, where she spent her nights. Prosecutors have said a stick was found there, broken into pieces and covered in blood. The city’s medical examiner determined that she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Robles, who is homeless, walked into the Central Park Precinct shortly after the attack. Prosecutors have said he admitted to the killing and told police that Rogers hit him with a stick first and that he took it from her. “I hit her with it more than 20 times,” he told police, according to the criminal complaint.
The fitness question goes back to Robles’ first arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in October. At that hearing, a judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation known as a 730 exam. Prosecutors said the results came back only on Monday, and they asked for three weeks to review them before deciding how to proceed. Drysdale ordered Robles held in custody and set the next court date for December 2.
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Tuesday was Robles’ first time appearing in court in person since his arrest. He wore a tan jail jumpsuit and stayed quiet during the brief hearing. If he’s convicted, he faces up to life in prison. Schuman had previously told the Post that his client has a serious mental health issue.Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
