MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) A schizophrenic Connecticut man who viciously killed his mother with a fireplace poker and knife has been found not guilty by reason of insanity and will be committed to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.

The Hartford Courant reports a three-judge panel in Middletown Superior Court reached the verdict Friday against 24-year-old Robert Rankin.

Rankin was charged with murder in the December 2013 killing of his 45-year-old mother, Margaret Rohner. Police said Rankin attacked Rohner with a fireplace poker and knife, leaving her eviscerated body in her Deep River home.

Rankin's lawyer said his client believed he had to hurt his mother because she was an alien and was taking power from him.

Rankin is being treated and evaluated at the state Whiting Forensic Division psychiatric hospital in Middletown.