Skyline double murder suspect ruled mentally incompetent

The trial of a Skyline Boulevard double murder suspect has been put on indefinite hold after a judge ruled him mentally incompetent.

Pacifica resident Malik Dosouqi’s fate has been up in the air since July, when two courtappointed doctors were asked to evaluate the 26-year-old’s mental fitness to stand trial for two back-to-back June murders. In October, doctors concluded Dosouqi mentally unfit, a characterization San Mateo County Judge Robert Foiles backed on Friday.

The ruling clears the way for Dosouqi to be transferred to a state hospital for treatment and pushes off a trial indefinitely.

“He’s exhibited serious mental health problems, including hospitalizations, repeatedly in recent years,” said District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, who said the decision came after careful reviews of the doctors’ reports last week. “Hopefully not within too long we’ll have him restored to competency and can prosecute.”

The determination caps a dramatic case that began last summer on a quiet stretch of Woodside’s Skyline Boulevard. On June 18, taxi driver Abdulmalek Nagi Nasher, 32, was stabbed to death on the deserted road, followed the next evening by the stabbing death of John Sione Pekipaki, 31, a tow truck driver allegedly lured to the same area with a fake phone call for help.

Questions about Dosouqi’s mental fitness arose almost immediately when he laughed through parts of the trial and at one point requested to represent himself, prompting Foiles’ request for an evaluation.

Even after the results of the doctors’ evaluations came back several weeks ago, the prosecution considered ordering a third evaluation because it was “such a serious case,” Wagstaffe said at the time.

But the reports showed an in-depth history of mental illness, Wagstaffe said, rendering the third report unnecessary.

On Dec. 13, the court will decide which state hospital to send Dosouqi; he will remain in custody on no bail until then.

Of the San Mateo County defendants that are declared mentally unfit, Wagstaffe estimated that around two-thirds ultimately stand trial after receiving treatment and reversing the determination.

Family members for victims Nasher and Pekipaki could not immediately be reached via phone. Wagstaffe described their reaction to the determination as disappointed but accepting of the circumstances.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we will someday be able to bring him to justice,” Wagstaffe said.