Treatment ordered for murder suspect

By Kevin O’Brien

An Abbotsford man accused of killing his two young daughters and injuring his wife in a knife attack has been deemed unfit to face trial at this time after a psychological evaluation determined him to be mentally incompetent.

Victor Manuel Gomez Acosta, 29, faces two counts of first degree intentional homicide in the July 5 deaths of his two daughters in Abbotsford. He has also been charged with attempted first degree homicide after allegedly stabbing his wife multiple times during the same July 5 incident.

In July, Clark County Judge Lyndsey Boon Brunette granted a motion for a mental competency evaluation, as requested by Gomez Acosta’s attorney, Joseph Kaupie. At a Sept. 4 competency hearing, Judge Boon Brunette ordered that Gomez Acosta be committed for treatment based on a doctor’s report. The “defendant can and will be restored to competency within the statutory time period of 12 months,” according to online court records. The court will be provided with progress reports on Gomez Acosta’s condition every three months and 30 days prior to the expiration of the 12-month limit.

Based on online records, Gomez Acosta had to be removed from the courtroom in July after he continually made comments that interrupted the proceedings. An interpreter was unable to understand what the defendant was saying, other than his name.

A criminal complaint filed on July 9 says officers responded to Gomez-Acosta’s home on Oak Street during the early morning hours of July 5 after a stabbing was reported. Officers met with a female victim who had suffered a total of 17 stab wounds to the arms and abdomen. She was transported to the emergency room and later underwent surgery. The wife said she and her daughters were asleep when they were attacked.

Gomez-Acosta was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment of cuts to his chest.

The bodies of the defendant’s two children were found inside the family’s home.

Victor Manuel Gomez Acosta