Teen to be transferred to hospital

Following a judge's orders, Adam Sapikowski will be moved from his cell at the Orange County Jail.

The Chapel Hill teen charged with murdering his parents will be relocated and held in custody at a hospital due to concerns about his mental well-being.

Court officials did not provide further details about the hospital.

Sapikowski, 17, appeared in court Wednesday in a bright orange jumpsuit for a placement hearing.

The hearing followed a recent motion filed concerning the teenager's emotional state.

"There is evidence that he may suffer some mental illness and may be in danger of himself and in need of treatment," Superior Court Judge Wade Barber told the courtroom.

Barber noted the situation is unusual because Sapikowski still is a minor and is being held without bond.

Sapikowski's attorney, Public Defender James Williams, requested bond for the teen at a previous hearing in June.

District Court Judge Charles Anderson denied the request for several reasons, including evidence that he could be a flight risk.

A grand jury indicted Sapikowski this summer, and he faces two counts of first-degree murder.

He's been in the Orange County Jail for more than three months.

He was arrested in May after confessing to shooting his parents, James Sapikowski, 52, and Alison Sapikowski, 49, in their Chapel Hill home.

Investigators believe the shootings occurred near the end of April. The bodies were found May 14 wrapped in blankets inside the house.

During the two weeks before his parents' bodies were discovered by police, he checked in and out of a Durham Marriott hotel.

At a previous hearing, Williams said elements of both physical and emotional abuse might have provoked the shootings.

During Wednesday's hearing the court also addressed a motion for involuntary commitment filed by Sapikowski's legal guardian.

Barber said the motion would be handled in a closed civil proceeding with the clerk of court.

He ordered that the Orange County sheriff keep Sapikowski in the county jail for the hearing before transporting him to the hospital.

Barber also ordered that any petitions filed in the matter be sealed.

Sapikowski will remain in temporary custody at the hospital, and if released, will be in the custody of the sheriff.

Last week, evidence from the supplemental discovery in the case was turned over to Williams.

The list of evidence included:

A State Bureau of Investigations lab report;

Adam Sapikowski's bank account summary;

A LabCorp report;

Xeroxed photocopies of seized items and contents of spiral notebooks;

Sapikowski's first semester report card from Durham Academy;

A handwritten letter that appears to have been written by the defendant dated Aug. 28, 2003.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.