A state judge found a man with a long history of mental illness guilty this morning of murder in the Feb. 27, 2009 stabbing death of popular Waianae High School teacher Asa Yamashita.

Tittleman Fauatea, 29, faces a mandatory life prison term with the possibility of release on parole at sentencing in June.

In finding Fauatea guilty, Circuit Judge Rom Trader rejected his insanity defense. Trader said even though all of the mental health experts who examined Fauatea agree that Fauatea experienced a psychotic episode on the day he stabbed Yamashita at the Ewa Town Center, he did not prove that he was impaired to the point that he couldn’t discern right from wrong and conform his actions to the law.