LEBANON — Convicted killer Timothy Hancock told police and psychologists that he “wasn't crazy” when he strangled his cellmate in Warren Correctional Institution's protective custody unit on Nov. 13, 2000.

        But prison medical records presented Friday in Warren County Common Pleas Court portrayed him as a man who struggled with and was treated for schizophrenia, paranoia and a psychotic disorder since his incarceration in 1990.

        He talked to an imaginary friend who was an “angel from God” and of a “miniature world of military forces of which he has command.” He sometimes threatened to kill himself and fellow inmates. He cut himself at least twice, and on one occasion inserted wire smeared with feces into his abdomen, according to testimony.

        Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty in the killing of convicted child molester Jason Wagner, suggested that Mr. Hancock, 31, faked mental illness to gain transfers to better prisons and opportunities to escape.

        But a psychiatrist who is the central witness for the defense said it was unlikely Mr. Hancock could have feigned his mental illness for more than a decade.

        “He's not putting it on. This is real,” Dr. Glenn Weaver told a jury.

        Prison records show that in April 2000, seven months before Mr. Wagner's death, Mr. Hancock was being treated for a psychotic disorder and was receiving an antidepressant and Risperdol, a psychiatric drug that controls hallucinations and emotional difficulties.

        By July, prison doctors had implemented a treatment plan that included continuing Mr. Hancock on his medication and teaching him coping skills to “block out voices,” documents showed.

        Doctors increased the dose of Risperdol three days after the killing.

        The case may go to a jury as early as Monday after testimony from Dr. Douglas Lehrer, a psychiatrist hired by the prosecution. Prison therapists also may testify after a judge ruled that they could give limited testimony.

        In other testimony on Friday, a former WCI corrections sergeant said Mr. Wagner objected to being celled with another inmate on the night he died, and had refused to come out of his cell so that he could be placed with Mr. Hancock.

        Joseph Gross' testimony contradicted earlier statements from guards that Mr. Hancock and Mr. Wagner had agreed to cell together.

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