Topeka ? Despite questions about his mental health, a Topeka man is competent to stand trial for the 1989 stabbing of a woman outside a community center, a Shawnee County district judge has ruled.

Theodore D. Netherland, 37, faces one count of first-degree murder. A Topeka psychologist testified in court that Netherland’s grasp on reality was “tenuous and weak,” but a staff psychiatrist at Larned State Hospital concluded that Netherland did understand his own criminal case.

After a hearing lasting more than 2 1/2 hours Monday, Judge Evelyn Wilson agreed with the Larned psychiatrist, concluding Netherland could help with his own defense.

“Therefore, he is not incompetent to stand trial,” Wilson said.

The victim, Karen Estes, 42, was stabbed 10 times while leaving a southeast Topeka community center. The case went unsolved for more than 16 years, until the Shawnee County district attorney’s received two letters about it last year.

Then, a grand jury – impaneled to review whether sexually oriented businesses in the area were violating the state’s anti-obscenity law – indicted Netherland on the murder charge.

Netherland has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, in which a patient suffers hallucinations and has reduced functioning.

Psychologist Robert Schulman testified that during an interview, Netherland related personal information but responded with a “befuddled silence” to follow-up questions. Schulman said Netherland didn’t know why he was arrested, wasn’t sure how a jury worked, wasn’t sure what a prosecutor did and wasn’t sure how to help his defense.

The Larned psychiatrist, J.L.L. Fernando, acknowledged that Netherland suffered from delusions, including that he was pop star Michael Jackson, he was a woman, he was pregnant and that he had eight children. Netherland first told Fernando that he hadn’t heard voices since he was arrested. He later said he heard the voices intermittently but they didn’t bother him.

However, Fernando testified that he found that Netherland understood the criminal charge and the potential consequences and could help in his defense.