Suspect In Westport Stabbing Found Competent For 2nd Time

STAMFORD, CT — The Guilford teenager accused of attempted murder in Westport last year has been found to be competent and can stand trial, announced Superior Court Judge Gary White on Thursday.

Ellis Tibere has been found mentally competent for the second time in connection with the case, in which he is accused of stabbing a Greenwich woman in the leg multiple times during a January 2020 attack in the parking lot of a Westport salon. The victim suffered a severe leg injury in the incident, according to her attorney, Eugene Riccio.

In court on Thursday, White did not elaborate on the latest state competency report, which White had ordered after Tibere was arrested in December. Tibere, who was free on bond, removed the GPS monitoring device on his ankle, and was found not far from his home, but with a steak knife in his possession, according to police.

Tibere was first found to be mentally competent in February of last year, but then spent several weeks at Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown where he underwent further psychiatric evaluation and treatment. He was released from that facility in May.

He is currently in custody, held in lieu of bail of $2 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 25.

Patch reached out to Tibere's attorney, John Gulash, for comment on the latest finding of competence, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Tibere's parents, Denise Paley and Eric Tibere, told Patch last month that their son is mentally ill, but that the attack for which he is accused was an aberration and extreme deviation from how he typically behaves.

On Thursday, Paley was scheduled to testify during a hearing in Hartford on a proposed crisis intervention bill, which was sponsored by state Sen. Christine Cohen, a Democrat from Guilford.