A somber tone filled an El Paso County courtroom Friday after a nearly six-hour hearing about the mental state of a man who confessed to an attempted beheading of another he had no connection to.

“He was a walking zombie. A robot of some sort,” Officer Brandon Lowe said of the suspect, Osemeke Uwadibie. “He didn’t appear like he was on a rampage or was trying to hurt people. He just had a blank face.”

The officer made the comments during an interview with a detective after allegedly being assaulted by Uwadibie following the murder.

Uwadibie, 36, was arrested in May 2022 in connection with the death of 59-year-old Charles Slabaugh. Colorado Springs police found Slabaugh’s body inside his bedroom the night of May 13 at Meadows Pointe Apartments with several stab wounds to the neck, eye, stomach and chest.

While the defendant’s mental health history wasn’t fully explored, the hearing indicated he had been examined at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo four times in the past six years. Two of those exams happened after his arrest. In both cases, mental health evaluators found him incompetent to proceed in his own defense, dragging out a case that has required Uwadibie to be restored twice now.

He has yet to be diagnosed, his defense counsel told the court.

“This whole case is very sad,” said El Paso County Judge Jessica Curtis. With a crestfallen face, she ultimately ruled that the case could continue for now, though she acknowledged that Uwadibie’s mental health issues would likely be revisited.

The murder escalated into a crime spree when a man authorities say was Uwadibie climbed out of Slabaugh’s bedroom and allegedly assaulted a witness and Officer Brandon Lowe before stealing his patrol car. Lowe fired several rounds at the cruiser, striking Uwadibie’s hand, as it sped off before eventually crashing into a guardrail after causing at least two crashes that led to injuries along Interstate 25.

Friday’s hearing covered four witness statements. The witnesses, some of whom were officers, described Uwadibie as oddly calm and expressionless amid an otherwise chaotic situation.

Former homicide detective Jerry Schiffelbein said concerns about Uwadibie’s mental health were raised early on in the investigation.

An interview between Schiffelbein and the defendant in the days after the murder was played in court. Defense Attorney Austin Vos said it showed several of Uwadibie’s delusions.

In the video, Uwadibie describes being shot “96,000 times” because of who he is — the “good Lord.” He told the detective that people can’t die because they will come back after 10 minutes. Though he did say, “I can kill people,” implying it was because he was a divine being.

Uwadibie told Schiffelbein that the killing was motivated because nobody “respects him out there,” and that Slabaugh raped his nonexistent children. He described the killing in “significant” detail, which Curtis noted during her ruling.

Before the killing, Uwadibie told Schiffelbein that he had done a “gang” of meth earlier in the day. He arrived at the apartment building that night to meet Scarlett Johansson and her sister, who lived on the third floor of the apartment building. The three, Uwadibie said, were going to Slabaugh’s unit to do meth with popular rappers Lil Wayne and Quavo.

Schiffelbein testified in court that a witness to the killing told police that Uwadibie was speaking to himself during the murder, noting that his behavior made it seem like “he was there but wasn’t there.”

Throughout the hearing, Uwadibie’s face was mostly deadpan as he stared off into space, sometimes with his mouth open. At times, it was unclear if he understood what was happening.

“Mr. Uwadibie did not know what he was doing that night,” Vos said as he gestured to the defendant.

He also mentioned that Uwadibie’s mental status was noted on at least two occasions before the killing.

Days before the murder, Colorado Springs placed a “be on the lookout,” or a BOLO, for Uwadibie because he was a “disturbed person.” Over a month earlier, Vos said Uwadibie was released from Concord Hospital. In a letter obtained by the defense counsel, hospital officials write that he started to hallucinate after he stopped taking his meds. The letter notes that Uwadibie could not understand the consequences of his actions.

After a couple minutes of silence, Curtis decided to leave any rulings on insanity and competency for a later date. Legally, Colorado’s definition of insanity means that a person is “diseased or defective in mind” at the time of a criminal act, leading to them being incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.

Judging from the interview with Schiffelbein, Curtis said it appeared Uwadibie was at least somewhat cognizant of his actions when he talked about killing Slabaugh because he said he knew that he was going to jail for it.

However, Vos noted this conversation occurred 36 hours after the incident, adding that Uwadibie had been medicated during that time period. He also said Uwadibie’s delusions were present “all over that conversation.”

“This conversation is not as simple as, ‘Mr. Uwadibie showed up, and he told you everything that he did … there are many layers to this conversation,” Vos said during his closing arguments.

Uwadibie has yet to enter a plea for his 14 charges, which include first-degree murder and assault of a peace officer. His defense counsel strongly implied that they would be entering a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

He is scheduled to enter his plea during his arraignment hearing on May 11.

In the meantime, records show he is being held at the El Paso County jail on a no-bond hold.