Talking cats, rambling letters: Woman found mentally incompetent in Summit Twp. killing

The letters, more than a dozen in all, appear to be evidence of mental instability.

The writer is Marisa J. Rodriguez, 35, accused of fatally shooting 66-year-old Summit Township resident Michael Maisner in the spring of 2023, when they lived together.

Rodriguez has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and says cats talk, according to court records.

The Pennsylvania State Police surmise that Rodriguez disposed of Maisner's body in a makeshift fire pit behind the garage of his house.

Rodriguez wrote the letters from the Erie County Prison to her lawyer in the homicide case, and the letters are part of the record in Erie County Common Pleas Court.

The letters are written in pencil.

Misspelled words and run-on sentences fill the pages.

One letter is written on pages torn from a copy of the Bible.

"This is a living nightmare," Rodriguez says in one letter. "Prison is not helping. I want to plea not guilty — self-defense b/c it was."

"I don't know why I acted the way I did with the body," she says in another letter. "TRAMITIZED. Still am."

And in another letter, Rodriguez writes of her desire to go to Lily Dale, the historic spiritual community in nearby Chautauqua County, New York.

"Only Lily Dale could possible help me and clear the rumors/of life up," she says in that letter.

Rodriguez will not be going to Lily Dale anytime soon. She also will not be going to trial in the near future.

An Erie County judge has ruled Rodriguez mentally incompetent to stand trial, and has ordered her to go to Torrance State Hospital, east of Pittsburgh, once a spot opens for her there.

The judge, Daniel Brabender, will review Rodriguez's mental status in several months after she undergoes treatment at Torrance.

"She is seriously mentally ill and has been deemed to be incompetent," Erie County Public Defender Nicole Sloane Kondrlik said in an interview.

Sloane Kondrlik represents Rodriguez in a 2022 harassment case. A court-appointed lawyer, Mark Del Duca, of Pittsburgh, represents her in the homicide case.

Victim in shooting, burning ruled legally dead

Rodriguez's mental health adds to a homicide case that is already highly unusual, based on evidence suggesting that Maisner's body was cut up and burned.

Rodriguez is accused of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse and six other counts.

Among the evidence are photos and videos that state police found on an iCloud account associated with Rodriguez. They include images of a revolver and of Maisner with bullet holes to the back of his head and his torso.

Maisner's body has not been found.

Police discovered small pieces of body tissue in a floor register of the front room of Maisner's house, at 7017 Crestview Drive, south of the Millcreek Mall and just west of upper Peach Street. Police also found burnt bone fragments in the fire pit.

Police used DNA to identify the remains as Maisner's. But with no body, Maisner's family had to go to court to have him declared legally dead for estate purposes. Maisner had no spouse or children. His survivors include a brother and sister and nieces and nephews.

After reviewing evidence of Maisner's demise, Erie County Judge Marshall Piccinini at a Jan. 17 hearing ruled that Maisner is deceased. He put the date of death as no later than April 12, 2023 — the date Maisner's family reported to state police that he had not been heard from since March 27, 2023.

"Mr. Maisner has unfortunately passed away," the lawyer for Maisner's family, Michael Musone, said at the hearing. "He was murdered."

Defendant in homicide case says she hears cats talking

In the homicide case against Rodriguez, court records show the Public Defender's Office became increasingly concerned about her mental health following her preliminary hearing, on Aug. 24.

Rodriguez repeatedly disrupted the hearing.

"Well, I'm guilty," she said.

"Then I cut him up," was another comment.

Rodriguez's unusual behavior continued at a psychiatric evaluation performed at the Erie County Prison on Oct. 2 — an exam that Sloane Kondrlik, the public defender, helped arrange.

A psychiatrist, Ingrid Renberg, diagnosed Rodriguez with schizophrenia, supporting a previous diagnosis of schizophrenia and autism, Sloane Kondrlik said in a court motion that summarized Renberg's report.

Renberg reported that Rodriguez made bizarre comments during the exam, including about the Bible "and how cats were her best friends."

Rodriguez also said, "The birds don't lie and the cats started talking," Sloane Kondrlik said in the motion.

Renberg, according to the motion, said Rodriguez has been hospitalized for mental health issues since she was 6 and has been prescribed antipsychotic medication.

Rodriguez, according to Renberg, has "a history of auditory hallucinations, depression, anxiety and racing thoughts."

Renberg found that Rodriguez was mentally incompetent to stand trial — that she is unable to understand the legal proceedings and meaningfully assist in her defense.

Judge Brabender used Renberg's findings to rule Rodriguez incompetent on Oct. 17, and he ordered her to Torrance.

While waiting on treatment, Rodriguez mailed the letters from the Erie County Prison.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Woman who says cats talk ruled mentally unfit in Summit Twp. slaying