Police: Enfield slashing victim reported trying to get psych help for suspect
Oct. 27—ENFIELD — The 63-year-old man who survived having his throat slashed in a local motel room Tuesday afternoon told police he had been trying to get mental-health treatment for the man accused of committing the attack, whom he believed to be suicidal.
That information comes from a report by local police Detective Brian Callaghan on the incident that led to the arrest of Alexander Arslanian, 29, of Agawam on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault.
Callaghan's report includes no psychiatric diagnosis for Arslanian. But it contains extensive information pointing to the possibility that he was having a psychiatric episode at the time of the attack, which occurred several minutes before 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Motel 6 at 11 Hazard Ave.
SLASHING
DEFENDANT: Alexander Arslanian, 29, of Agawam
CHARGES: Attempted murder, first-degree assault
EARLY INDICATION: Mental health problems involved
The detective quotes Arslanian as initially telling another officer that he was Alex but later denying it and giving another name.
He also quotes Arslanian as saying the victim cut his own throat. The victim's identity is blacked out of the copy of the report made public in Hartford Superior Court because of a Connecticut law making the identities of domestic violence victims confidential,
Callaghan quotes Arslanian as saying during a brief conversation in a motel stairway, recorded with a body-worn camera, that "his family has been making him hallucinate lately. ... He feels that God is controlling his phone. He also said his blood family is planning a strategic attack on him."
In another interview with Callaghan outside the motel room, Arslanian said "everything was a blur," the detective reported. As Callaghan walked away, Arslanian said the victim "has been telling him untrue things," the detective reported.
As soon as Arslanian was brought into a Hartford courtroom Wednesday afternoon, he said, "I also choose to represent myself."
Judge Robyn Stewart Johnson replied that she would appoint a public defender for him but that he could also represent himself.
In a brief argument, public defender Gabriela Sandoval asked the judge to set the lowest bond possible and to direct prison officials to provide Arslanian with detoxification. She also said he has served in the Marine Corps, has family in Connecticut, and has a daughter.
When Arslanian's turn to speak came, he said he thought Sandoval had done well.
The judge reduced Arslanian's bond from the $1 million set by police to $750,000. She directed prison officials to provide him with mental health attention and detoxification and to place a suicide watch on him. She issued a family violence protective order forbidding him from having any contact with the victim.
Callaghan quoted the victim as saying after undergoing surgery at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield that Arslanian has been having mental health issues recently and that the victim had arranged an appointment for him with a mental health provider. The detective went on to recount the following:
The victim said Arslanian left his job last week, telling his boss he wasn't mentally stable. He said he had stayed with Arslanian at the motel the previous night because he thought Arslanian was suicidal.
As they waited in the motel room for Arslanian's mental health appointment Tuesday, the victim said, he got up to go to the bathroom. He said Arslanian grabbed him from behind and slit his throat. He said they struggled and fell to the ground and that he managed to get away and run to the motel lobby for help.
The victim "described the attack as unprovoked," Callaghan reported. "He said the accused has never been violent in the past. He believes he snapped. He stated the accused has been believing he is God recently."
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