A Fairbanks judge will soon rule if a man with a history of paranoid schizophrenia is competent enough to go on trial for murder.

Superior Court Judge Robert Downes heard testimony Monday from two mental health experts who said that when he was indicted last year, Brian Galbraith, 52, could understand the proceedings against him and help with his defense.

Brian Galbraith, 52, is accused of stabbing to death 32-year-old Genine Holznagel-Leary outside a south Fairbanks mental health facility in March 2007.

Downes first dismissed the case in April 2008, finding that prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence that Galbraith was competent to stand trial.

Galbraith voluntarily committed himself soon after the judge's decision, but a few weeks later he asked to be released from the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage, prompting prosecutors to re-file charges.

Psychiatrist Aron Wolf evaluated Galbraith in May 2008, shortly before Galbraith was re-indicted. He said Galbraith was cooperative during the interview at API and recognized the major players in his court case.

Wolf also said that Galbraith was unemotional throughout their hour-long conversation, typical of patients with a history of schizophrenia.

Galbraith showed no signs of unpredictable or violent behavior during this time, and Wolf wondered why API kept him under heavy surveillance.

However, Wolf said that since at least 1983, Galbraith has had a delusional fixation with

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"purple and green people" he claims to see around Fairbanks. The night Holznagel-Leary was murdered, Galbraith told psychiatrists that some 70 purple and green people were outside his apartment and the woman was trying to keep them out.

"He offered two explanations (for the murder)," Wolf said. "One is the cab driver he called might have done it or it might have been the purple and green people who harmed her."

Galbraith has some recollection of interacting with Holznagel-Leary but does not seem to remember how she died, Wolf said.

He also reportedly told Wolf that he believed it was possible for Holznagel-Leary to come back to life, in which case the charges against him would be reduced to assault.

A witness told authorities that Galbraith had made threats shortly before the stabbing, and after the stabbing he was overheard to have said "Death is life."

Despite his apparent delusions, Wolf said Galbraith could go to trial as long as he doesn't have hallucinations in the courtroom. He described Galbraith's condition as treatable, a direct contradiction of API experts who analyzed Galbraith in fall 2007 and said there was little hope he could ever be competent to stand trial without a medication that has serious side effects.

Galbraith, who showed no reaction to the testimony at Monday's three-hour hearing, appeared to be making improvements from 2007 and 2008 after he began participating in more group therapy, Wolf said.

Psychologist David Sterbeck did not evaluate Galbraith directly, but he reviewed his mental health records and agreed with Wolf's assessment.

"It's clear to me that he was just gradually improving," Sterbeck said. "It's almost unheard of for paranoid schizophrenics to be unrestorable to competency."

At one point, Judge Downes compared Galbraith's competency to launching the space shuttle, wondering if there are only certain windows of time when Galbraith could be tried. While Wolf and Sterbeck, both of whom were prosecution witnesses, said Galbraith's mental state is fluid, they said it does not change from day to day.

Despite the expert testimony, Michael Biderman, Galbraith's public defender, argued that Galbraith is incapable of helping in his defense.

"I cannot send my investigator to look for green and purple people," he said. "They don't exist. He is not tethered to reality."

Judge Downes said he will issue a ruling on the case in about two weeks. If Downes rules that Galbraith was competent at the time he was re-indicted, criminal proceedings will move forward, though Biderman could challenge that ruling if he argues that Galbraith has lost competency in the intervening year.

If the judge finds that Galbraith was incompetent last year, the state will have to have Galbraith involuntarily committed, which Wolf and Sterbeck said could be a difficult process.

Galbraith's violent past has led to several arrests but few convictions.

In 1983, a jury convicted Galbraith of attempted kidnapping after he put a hard, shiny object to a woman's neck and tried to force her into a car, according to court records. The woman fought him off. He received a five-year prison sentence.

In 1989, a jury convicted Galbraith of third-degree assault after he threatened a grocery store employee with a knife. His punishment was five years of suspended jail time and an order to comply with his mental health treatment plan, records stated.

Three other assault charges since 1982 were dismissed.

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