Media Credit: Tri Vo Jackson Ngai prepares to take his seat after a short recess. Ngai´s trial continued on Thursday.

A former UT graduate student who killed his music professor in 2004 is not guilty by reason of insanity, a Travis County jury said late Thursday night.

Jackson Fan Chun Ngai, who suffers from schizophrenia, was accused of the first-degree murder of UT piano professor Danielle Martin. Ngai, who had a close relationship with Martin, stabbed her in her home more than 200 times and claimed she had a "computer chip" in her brain and wanted to kill him.

He admitted to killing Martin, but plead insanity - a defense that is rarely successful in Texas. A hearing on Wednesday will determine what happens next, Travis County District Judge Bob Perkins said.

"A lot of people would look at the details in this case and say 'no one in their right mind could do this,'" said Corby Holcomb, a prosecuting attorney.

Ngai will be involuntarily committed to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. Holcomb said he will likely be committed to a one-year stay that could be renewed every year.

Under the Texas Penal Code's definition of insanity, the defense had to prove Ngai was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect at the time of the murder, and that the disease prevented him from knowing his conduct was wrong.

Witnesses for the prosecution and the defense agreed that Ngai suffered from a severe illness, but the prosecution attempted to show that Ngai was able to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the murder.

Psychiatrist Richard Coons, a prosecutorial witness, said he believed Ngai was legally sane because he did not meet the second portion of the definition.

"He knew that society would see his conduct was wrong," Coons said.

Holcomb, in his closing argument, engaged in a reenactment of Ngai's actions the night of the murder. Holcomb sat down at the prosecuting table, acting as though he were sharing dinner with Marianne Powers, another prosecutor. He suggested, walking into the audience, that Ngai could have walked out or called the police if felt he was in danger. Then Holcomb pretended to walk into the kitchen saying that instead of leaving, Ngai chose to go into the kitchen and pick up the knife.

"He picked it up. He put it back down," he said, picking up the very meat cleaver found at the scene. "He picked it up again, and he put it back down again. Then he took that meat cleaver, and he proceeded to try to get that chip out of her head," Holcomb said, returning to the prosecutors' table and his imaginary dinner.

Holcomb said Ngai's hesitation proved he knew his actions were wrong.

But the defense argued, and the jury agreed, that Ngai was incapable of understanding his actions at the time.

During his closing argument, Ngai's attorney Jim Erickson showed parts of a video of the interview between Ngai and police the night of the murder. Ngai was shaking and repeating "Do you want to kill me?" and "computer chip," standing with his hands clasped in a corner of the small room.

"He is persisting in his fears. He was afraid of the police," Erickson said.

Four months before the incident, Ngai stopped taking the medication he was prescribed for bipolar disorder. Defense witness Daneen Milam, a psychologist, said Ngai stopped taking his medication after speaking with Martin and his father about the decision.

The lithium, commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder, was causing his hands to shake, a devastating side effect for a pianist.

Milam and Coons both testified that Ngai was wrongly diagnosed and is actually schizophrenic. Some symptoms of schizophrenia are similar to bipolar disorder.

Witnesses said in the weeks leading up to the murder, Ngai was increasingly paranoid.

Ngai told a friend, Harold Orozco, he was worried about hackers, spyware and people who knew his name, such as telemarketers. Ngai's brothers said he began asking them to offer a password when they called. His brother, Ricky, said Jackson believed his telephones were bugged.

The verdict in Ngai's trial was decided by only 11 jurors because one failed to appear after going to the emergency room early Wednesday morning.

- Additional reporting by Patrick George

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