David Jonathan Brown, the former USC grad student who pled not guilty by reason of insanity in the fatal stabbing of Professor Bosco Tjan, will be confined to Patton State Hospital, a judge ruled Tuesday. Brown could stay at the "locked-down" mental health facility, near San Bernardino, for the remainder of his life.
Brown, 29, was pursuing a Ph.D. in brain and cognitive science at USC and worked under Tjan's guidance. On Dec. 2, 2016, the last day of classes before fall finals, Tjan was stabbed in his office on USC's campus. Brown was arrested by campus security within minutes.
"This is yet another somber reminder that our university continues to mourn the loss of the beloved professor and brilliant researcher Bosco Tjan," Provost Michael Quick said on Tuesday in response to the ruling. "We continue to remember him not only for his impact on the science of vision, but for how much of himself he gave to his colleagues and students."
USC Professor Irving Biederman was a close colleague and longtime friend of Tjan. He said the professor was "an absolute angel and brilliant researcher, a combination, which one thinks would ordinarily be in conflict".
"I miss interactions with Bosco in my life. He really made lives better in his day-to-day interactions," said Biederman.
Brown's public defender said he has severe mental illness and was delusional when he stabbed Tjan. The public defender said Brown thought Tjan was "conducting human experiments" on him and other USC students. The public defender also said that when Brown was arrested, he "wanted to make a statement to warn USC students" about the experiments they were being subjected to.
Updates on Brown's condition while at Patton State Hospital will be forwarded to his public defender every six months. He could potentially be released to a lower level care facility and eventually into the community if his condition improves. In order for Brown to be released back in to the community, an additional proceeding would need to take place.
This story was updated on March 21 to include more details about Bosco Tjan and a video element.