Therapist Slaying Spotlights Risks As Trial Nears

NEW YORK (AP) -- A murder case against a schizophrenic man charged with killing a New York City psychologist with a meat cleaver is headed to trial.

Jury selection was due to start Tuesday in the case against David Tarloff. He's accused of slashing therapist Kathryn Faughey to death and seriously injuring her officemate in February 2008.

Tarloff was planning an insanity defense. That entails persuading jurors that his mental illness was so profound that he didn't know what he was doing was wrong.

The case has highlighted the rare but sometimes grave dangers of a profession dedicated to helping unstable people. It also reflects the difficulties of assessing and treating serious mental illness, and the legal challenges of mounting an insanity defense.

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