A man who allegedly killed another resident of the East Village apartment complex where he lived in an apparently unprovoked stabbing attack will stand trial on murder and other charges, it was announced Wednesday.
Maxwell Thomas Logan, 25, is accused of entering 38-year-old Andrew Holland’s 14th Street apartment through an open front door on Aug. 9, 2023 and stabbing him 40 to 50 times.
At a preliminary hearing held to determine whether Logan would go to trial on the charges, San Diego police Detective Christopher Murray testified that he spoke with Logan following his arrest.
Murray said Logan admitted to committing the homicide with a switchblade. When asked why he attacked Holland, Logan “alluded to the voices in his head,” Murray testified.
Upon questioning by defense attorney Jay Temple, Murray also confirmed that Logan said he was suffering from “psychosis” and described several other thoughts he had been having that indicated his mental health was deteriorating.
Those included beliefs that he was part of a digital simulation and that killing Holland would “break the digital simulation.”
Prosecutors said Holland’s front door was propped open and he was looking through his mail in the kitchen when Logan walked in and attacked him.
Deputy District Attorney Miriam Hurtado said Logan and Holland lived on separate floors of the same building, but they did not know one another.
Logan has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Along with murder, he faces counts of assault and false imprisonment involving his girlfriend.
Holland’s body was discovered by his roommate, who called police.
As officers were conducting an investigation in the area, Logan’s girlfriend tossed notes down to officers who were on the street below. The notes indicated she was seeking help and that Logan was being violent.
Logan was arrested inside the apartment where prosecutors said he forced his girlfriend into a bedroom, locked her inside, and made threats towards her and her pets.
Just before that occurred, Logan’s girlfriend could not locate him and left the apartment to look for him, according to testimony from San Diego police Detective Nina Derisio.
When she returned, she found him standing calmly inside the unit, with his pants soaked in blood and blood in his hair, the detective testified.
He is also charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly kicking a woman who was walking her dog near the apartment complex, which prosecutors said happened a few hours before Holland was killed.
Logan remains in custody without bail. He faces up to 28 years to life in state prison if convicted. Due to the insanity plea, he would undergo a second trial if convicted, which would determine if he was legally insane at the time of the crimes.
City News Service contributed to this report.
