More than four years after 52-year-old Anthony Michael Pennucci was stabbed to death in his Arcata apartment, his killer has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Hoopa resident Richard Villa Dean III, 22, entered the plea this morning before Judge Christopher Wilson. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 30 to a term of 15 years to life in state prison.

Dean.

Dean was 18 years old on Oct. 25, 2015, when he stabbed Pennucci, a stranger to him, multiple times in Pennucci’s apartment in the Valley West area. The older man managed to get outside, where he was found bleeding to death on the sidewalk.

This morning Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads, citing a factual basis for Dean’s plea, said he voluntarily confessed to the killing after he was arrested.     

Dean was captured in Hoopa three days after the stabbing. Sheriff Arcata detectives found Pennucci’s wallet and car keys when they searched the property where he had been staying.

Deputy Public Defender Ben McLaughlin, representing Dean, said Dean “was suffering from severe mental issues at the time.”

Dean’s aunt, Salisha Dean, told the judge the mental health system failed her nephew. He was in a local mental health facility before the killing, she said, and should never have been released.

“It’s really sad that something extreme had to happen,” she said. “If they would have helped him this wouldn’t have happened.”

Wilson said he would like to see more more resources “put toward mental health.”

“It would make my job easier,” the judge said.

At one point Dean entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent several months being treated at Napa State Hospital before eventually being declared competent to stand trial.

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CORRECTION: This post has been corrected to note that the Arcata Police Department led the investigation that located the victim’s items, not the Sheriff’s Office.

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