A 37-year-old Laguna Beach man was committed to a state mental health institution indefinitely Friday for the fatal stabbing of his mother three years ago.
Matthew Bryson McDonald pleaded guilty Oct. 17, but following a non-jury trial, Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King ruled the defendant was found to have been insane at the time of the killing.
Police were called about 10:45 a.m. Aug. 18, 2019, to the Laguna Terrace Park mobile home community at 30802 S. Coast Highway after a friend arrived to pick up 61-year-old Megan Estes Hampton to go to church and found her dead.
Laguna Beach police said neighbors reported that they had seen McDonald back into a mailbox with his mother’s car, then speed off that morning, which they found unusual because she had not driven in several months. Police also said McDonald suffers from a mental disorder.
McDonald told police he killed his mother because she said she was suffering from medical ailments, according to court records.