Howard Simmons/New York Daily News
Carlos Diaz, an ex-mechanic who has been charged with setting his estranged wife on fire using accelerant and a blowtorch, and with attempting to do the same to his former boss, is shown at his arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom in February.
A judge ordered a psychiatric exam Wednesday for a disturbed former mechanic who admitted to cops that he blowtorched his estranged wife out of jealousy, and tried but failed to do the same to his ex-boss.
Carlos Diaz, 36, was charged with setting his estranged wife, Cathy Zapata, ablaze in an Inwood lot on Jan. 16 after she dropped their 5-year-old son off at school.
He drenched her in accelerant and used a blowtorch to set her hands, face and neck on fire, prosecutors said. He then allegedly went to the auto-repair shop where he formerly worked and tried to torch his ex-boss, Gerson Marchena, in like fashion, but Marchena fought him off.
In Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday, Diaz’s attorney, Erin Darcy, requested a psychiatric exam be conducted to determine whether Diaz is mentally fit to stand trial. The lawyer said the request was “based on a review of medical records as well as recent conversations” she had with Diaz.
Justice Gregory Carro ordered the exam and adjourned the case to next month.
“We’ll look for results on October 23,” Carro told the court.
Diaz told the Daily News in a jailhouse interview after his arrest that he believed his estranged wife needed to “learn a lesson” after getting romantically involved with another man.
“Now she can worry about our kid and get serious instead of focusing on going out and other men,” he told The News.
Diaz faces up to life in prison if convicted.
sjacobs@nydailynews.com
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