By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Jury selection began Tuesday morning in the trial of a mentally ill man charged with murdering a psychiatrist at her Upper East Side office.
Alleged killer David Tarloff, 42, admitted to stabbing and beating Kathryn Faughey to death on Feb. 12, 2008 before trying to attack and rob her colleague Kent Shinbach, who was one of many doctors to have treated Tarloff in his life.
Tarloff, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and other afflictions, told investigators his plan was to mug Shinbach. Shinbach was attacked with a meat cleaver when he wandered into his lifeless colleague's office to check on her.
Tarloff planned to use the money to finance his mother's escape from a nursing home and claimed he was the "son of God" acting on orders from above when he confessed to investigators after his arrest.
Tarloff's lawyers plan to argue an insanity defense, using nearly 10,000 pages of medical records to prove he was too mentally unstable at the time to be held criminally accountable for the doctor's death.
The trial is expected to last five to six weeks after, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Edward McLaughlin told prospective jurors.
The jury selection process, which began late Tuesday morning, is expected to last about one week. Opening statements could begin early next week.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the top murder charge.
