Doctor: Westmont son insane when accused of killing dad

A Westmont man with a history of mental illness was legally insane when prosecutors said he stabbed his father to death, a psychiatrist's report revealed Thursday.

The findings of Dr. Syed Ali came during a pretrial court hearing for Rostyslav Demtsyo, 29, who faces first-degree murder charges.

At 9:15 p.m. Nov. 19, police rushed to an altercation between Demtsyo and his 53-year-old father, Oleg, outside their home on the 200 block of North Wilmette Avenue in Westmont.

The first police officer arrived within minutes, but authorities said the son had fled. The elder Demtsyo suffered more than 30 stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Police caught up with the younger Demtsyo's Dodge Stratus after spotting him traveling south near Cass Avenue and 55th Street. Shortly thereafter, Demtsyo struck a southbound SUV on Cass Avenue at 73rd Street. The SUV hit a northbound motorist. The Stratus then crashed into a tree.

Rescuers rushed five people from the three cars, including Demtsyo, to area hospitals. Initially, Demtsyo's injuries were considered severe. He was put into a drug-induced coma to stabilize him. An arrest warrant was issued Jan. 13, and he was released from the hospital into police custody one day later.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Dr. Ali found Demtsyo could not appreciate the criminality of his conduct that day because of his mental disease. Demtsyo suffers from major depression with psychotic features.

It was his mother, Irina, who called 911 Nov. 19 after witnessing the violent dispute between her son and husband in the family driveway. Authorities said she told them her son, who had run out of his medication, attacked her husband after growing increasingly paranoid and delusional.

After the slaying, prosecutors said, the son demanded his mother give him his car keys. Prosecutors alleged he threatened his mother with the knife, but fled without harming her.

Irina Demtsyo has attended most of her son's court hearings.

"She's heartbroken for her husband, but she is extremely supportive of her son," said his attorney, Michael Mara, a senior DuPage County public defender. "She's already lost her husband. She doesn't want to lose her son, too. She's believed from the beginning that he is very sick."

Demtsyo, who is being held in a medical unit of DuPage County jail without bond, is due back in court Aug. 19.

Prosecutor Mary K. Cronin is expected to report back by then whether she's challenging Ali's report with a second expert opinion.

If not, DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell will preside over a stipulated trial with three possible verdicts - not guilty by reason of insanity, guilty but mentally ill, or guilty.

If Demtsyo is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be treated and confined to a high-security state mental institution. He would have to get a judge's approval before being released into society again.

State law requires his period of detainment in the institution to be based on prison sentencing guidelines for the crime. So, he cannot be held more than 60 years.

Demtsyo, who worked as an ATM repair man, did not have a prior violent criminal history.