A judge ruled Wednesday that a Long Beach man was insane at the time he murdered his fiance last year.
“The court has found the defendant insane at the time of the offense,” Superior Court Judge James D. Otto said shortly after Colin Chandler Wolters pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.
The judge said he based his finding on reports from two doctors who were appointed by the court to examine the 37-year-old defendant.
Wolters was charged with the March 16, 2020, killing of Chelsea Smith, 27, at the couple’s apartment in the 4600 block of Whitewood Avenue in the Lakewood Village area.
Long Beach police arrested Wolters that night after his mother called them to say her son had killed his fiancee, according to court documents. Wolters mother told detectives he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had been going through an “episode,” according to a search warrant detectives authored.
“Furthermore, her son was also having doubts about the pending marriage, which was set for August 2020,” they wrote.
Wolters’ mother and brother were worried about Smith’s safety and discovered her body when they went to check on Wolters, according to the search warrant.
Speaking just as the hearing came to a close, the defendant said he loved Smith “with all my heart” and that she “deserved all the joys that life has to bring.”
He said his fiancee knew about his history of mental illness.
“I am so sorry for your loss,” he told Smith’s family members.
Smith’s aunt, Susan Tate, said at the hearing, “Chelsea didn’t deserve this. We don’t deserve this nightmare.”
Speaking directly to the defendant, the victim’s aunt asked, “Why did you do that to her? She was nothing but nice to you. … You know you were perfectly sane when you brutally killed our sweet Chelsea.”
Wolters is due back in a Long Beach courtroom Jan. 14, with the judge expected to hear additional victim impact statements from other members of Smith’s family.
The judge noted that Wolters could potentially spend the rest of his life in a mental institution.
Deputy District Attorney Peggy Kane said after the hearing that what happened was a “horrible, horrible tragedy.”
Long Beach Post Breaking News Editor Jeremiah Dobruck contributed to this report.