Doctor can’t say whether Joliet casino murder defendant was insane

A psychiatrist called by defense attorneys for a man charged with murder could not say whether he was sane or insane when he allegedly stabbed a hotel guest to death in 2019 at Harrah’s casino in Joliet.

Attorneys for Robert Watson, 29, who’s charged with the slaying of Emanuel Burgarino, 76, began their defense on Tuesday with the testimony of psychiatrist Monica Argumedo, who diagnosed Watson with untreated schizophrenia.

Watson’s attorneys plan to use Argumedo’s testimony for their insanity defense in the case.

Argumedo was apparently unable to come to conclusion as to whether Watson was insane at the time of Burgarino’s slaying.

She reviewed hospital records, police reports on Watson’s arrests in multiple states, videos and interviewed Watson for about four hours. Argumedo also considered statements from Watson’s mother on his background although she did not interview the mother herself.

At first, when Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Slazyk asked Argumedo that she can’t tell the jury that Watson was insane at the time of the incident, she said that was “partially correct.”

When Slazyk asked her if she can’t say within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Watson could not appreciate the criminality of his conduct, she said her opinions “on that issue are inconclusive.”

Ultimately, when Slayzk asked Argumedo that she can’t tell the jury if Watson is sane or insane, she said, “Yes, that’s correct.”

While Argumedo diagnosed Watson with schizophrenia, she acknowledged that he would make statements on having suicidal thoughts to receive shelter at hospitals.

Still, Argumedo said she found it impossible that Watson was faking the symptoms of the disease to avoid prosecution because of the many years he’s spent displaying those symptoms in jail, a place where he was under the delusion that he was being poisoned.

Although Argumedo was able to diagnose the mental disorder afflicting Watson, she said she could not reach a conclusion on his sanity at the time of the 2019 incident because he was uncooperative in his interview with her and did not tell her about his mental state at the time.

“I can’t read his mind,” she said.

Argumedo said a diagnosis of schizophrenia is “tricky” and requires looking at a “constellation of symptoms,” such as delusions, hallucinations, a lack of emotional expression and poor hygiene.

She said she reviewed a video of Watson at the Joliet Police Department following his arrest in 2019, and he was staring in the camera for hours.

The jury was shown a short clip of that video where Watson is sitting inside of an interview room completely still with his hands resting on his lap. At one point he mumbles and waves one of his arms.

Argumedo said sitting “that still is a very difficult thing” and couldn’t be faked.

When Slazyk asked Argumedo about the police records she reviewed regarding Watson, she said she didn’t specifically recall one from Nevada where he was reportedly detained after he had another person’s credit cards in his possession. Slazyk asked Argumedo about one arrest record from Texas where he had been accused of choking another person, she said she didn’t review it or know the specifics.

In Slazyk’s cross examination, he cited records from another psychiatrist who examined Watson when he first came to jail in 2019. That doctor indicated Watson was “malingering,” or exaggerating his symptoms, and that Watson would claim he was suicidal so as to avoid leaving the medical unit at the jail.