A 51-year-old Kapahulu man was under the delusion that the devil was in his wife when he repeatedly struck her with a hammer last year and killed her, a court-appointed psychiatrist has reported.

Tan Lam said voices told him to kill the devil, psychiatrist Edward Furukawa's report said.

"He described how he kept hitting the devil's head and how when he stopped, he saw some spots on the window above the bed and when he moved to touch them, he discovered that the spots were blood," Furukawa said. "He showed me his hands and indicated how he was horrified to see blood on them and then realized it was his wife's blood."

Lam, a real estate agent also known as Danny Lam, collapsed when he first appeared in court last year, charged with murder. His lawyer, Howard Luke, indicated at the time that he would consider the insanity defense.

Furukawa's report found Lam to be suffering from a psychotic disorder that renders him unfit to stand trial. Furukawa also concluded Lam was legally insane at the time of the June 11 killing.

Lam is charged with striking his 41-year-old wife, Melody, while their 6-year-old son was asleep in the room.

Two other court-appointed experts, however, disagree with Furukawa. Their reports were not available yesterday, but city Deputy Prosecutor Rom Trader said the two found Lam fit to stand trial. They also concluded that he could tell the difference between right and wrong and conform his conduct to the law.

Luke said a fourth mental health expert hired by the defense concluded Lam was legally insane.

A hearing is scheduled for April 4 on whether Lam, who is being held on $500,000 bail, is competent to stand trial.

Furukawa's three-page report said Lam portrayed himself as being born and raised in Vietnam and experiencing "fearful and gruesome incidents" during the war there. He married his wife, also Vietnamese and a real estate agent, in 1990, Furukawa said.

Lam was treated by a psychologist before his wife's death for depression and insomnia, Furukawa said. Lam also mentioned having "some difficulty" with his wife, who began staying out late at night and would not tell him what she was doing, Furukawa said.

Furukawa said when he asked Lam about his wife's death, he became upset and began to wail and hyperventilate.

Lam talked about his mother who died in Vietnam when he was about 10 and how the devil took over her body, Furukawa said. The mother kept asking him to cut her head open with a knife to let the devil out, Furukawa said.

As he described his wife's death, Lam knelt to the floor and his voice sounded like "a small boy's voice," Furukawa said.

"It was quite apparent that he was equating what happened with his mother in Vietnam when he was 10 years old with what happened with him and his wife on 6-11-05," Furukawa said.

If convicted of murder, Lam faces a mandatory life term in prison with the possibility of parole. If acquitted by reason of insanity and found to be dangerous, he would be committed to the Hawai'i State Hospital.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.