(KRON) — A jury trial began Wednesday for Mark Stephen Mechikoff, the Pacifica man who allegedly Facebook livestreamed himself stabbing a woman to death inside her San Mateo home. Prosecutors said 42-year-old Mechikoff posted the brutal killing on social media because he was “proud” of it.
Mechikoff, who pleaded “not guilty by reason of insanity” and has spent time in state mental hospitals, made a motion to represent himself at trial and dismiss his defense attorney, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said. Judge Kevin Dunleavy denied Mechikoff’s request in court Wednesday.
He is charged with murdering Claribel Estrella on July 26, 2023. “(Mechikoff) mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim’s life,” the San Mateo Police Department wrote. A Facebook user who watched the gruesome live video alerted law enforcement authorities, triggering a manhunt. Officers found Estrella deceased and covered in blood on the kitchen floor of her 37th Avenue apartment.
Officers later nabbed Mechikoff in San Jose and arrested him…