University of Hartford student charged with stabbing classmates while filming movie scene undergoing psych evaluation

Jake Wascher, the University of Hartford student accused of stabbing two classmates while filming a scene from the movie “The Butterfly Effect,” is undergoing an evaluation by a psychiatrist, his lawyer told a judge Monday.

Wascher, 20, of San Diego, made his first pre-trial appearance before Judge Laura F. Baldini. His lawyer, Richard Brown of Hartford, asked the judge to allow Wascher to hold off on entering a plea until his next court appearance, scheduled for May 2.

Brown told the judge he had not yet had time to talk extensively with Wascher, who is being held at the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown. Inmates with mental health issues are often held at Garner, where they also receive treatment. Outside court, Brown declined to comment.

The prosecutor on the case is Vicki Melchiorre, who handles many of the cases where there is a mental health defense.

Melchiorre said Monday the two students stabbed in the incident are recovering.

Wascher faces two counts of attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault for the March 31 incident in an apartment at Quad 2 on the University of Hartford campus.

In an interview with Hartford detectives, Wascher said he and the two other men were filming a scene from “The Butterfly Effect” when he stabbed both.

“I was not acting” at the time of the assault, Wascher said, according to a police report. He said he was curious about what it would be like to stab someone. He said he stabbed the men because he was “into his character” and “my emotions got the best of me, and I acted a little [too] hard.”

David Owens can be reached at dowens@courant.com.