Accused killer Adam Mau-Goffredo's competence based on his history of mental illness will play an important role at trial, according to his attorney Brook Hart.

"The issues of the case are related to Adam's mental illness," Hart said on the eve of Mau-Goffredo's initial appearance today at District Court, noting that his client has been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

Mau-Goffredo, 23, is charged with Thursday's shooting deaths of taxi driver Manh Nguyen, Jason Takamori and Takamori's wife, Colleen, at a Tantalus lookout.

In addition to four total charges related to the triple homicide, Mau-Goffredo also is accused of separate first-degree counts of robbery and burglary, three counts of kidnapping and one count of theft stemming from the robbery of Nguyen and a home invasion at 3703 Round Top Drive that followed the shootings.

Hart said today's court appearance will involve reading of the charges, which he'll likely waive, and a preliminary hearing date being set. Hart said he hasn't determined if his client is competent to enter a plea, after meeting with Mau-Goffredo on Friday and again Saturday night at the Honolulu Police Department's main station cellblock, where he is being held in lieu of $25 million bail.

Hart yesterday issued a statement to the grieving families of the shooting victims.

"On behalf of the Mau family, we extend our heartfelt condolences and prayers to the Nguyen family and the Takamori family," Hart said.

Mau-Goffredo, the grandson of prominent Waikiki developer and businessman William K.H. Mau, could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder for killing more than one person. Each of three second-degree murder charges carries a maximum life sentence with the possibility of parole.

According to court records, Family Court granted a petition on June 14 placing Mau-Goffredo under the guardianship of his mother, Lynette Mau, and caretaker, William Roy Carroll Jr., after they submitted a letter from a doctor stating:

"Such appointment is necessary because (Adam Mau-Goffredo) is unable to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions to such an extent that he lacks the ability to meet essential requirements for physical health, safety or self care, even with appropriate and reasonably available technological assistance."

The petition also stated Mau-Goffredo had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Hart declined comment on Mau-Goffredo's guardianship.

In previous high-profile Hawai'i criminal cases, Warren Miller, Randall Saito and Abraham Jordan, formerly known as Paul Luiz, were found not guilty by reason of insanity. All three have been at the Hawai'i State Hospital for more than 20 years but are eligible to petition the court to review their mental status for release each year.

In 1977, Miller was acquitted of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old visitor on Wai'alae Iki Ridge and throwing her off a cliff.

Saito was committed in 1981 after being acquitted in the 1979 murder of Sandra Yamashiro at Ala Moana Center.

Jordan was committed for killing Barbara Seibel, a 16-year-old Hawai'i Kai girl, in 1975.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.