A three-member panel has until July 13 to examine a 24-year-old Kona man who is accused of stabbing four homeless people — two fatally — while they slept.

The panel will determine whether the man is mentally fit to proceed to trial and report its findings to a Kona judge.

Kona District Judge Joseph Florendo Jr. on June 13 ordered Chito Asuncion to undergo the review after his lawyer submitted a motion Sunday to suspend court proceedings for the examination. Asuncion is charged with one count of first- degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second- degree attempted murder.

A court document filed by Asuncion’s court-appointed attorney, Andrew Kennedy, says he was allegedly stabbing and, in some cases, killing, homeless people he did not know, nor was associated with.

Kennedy wrote he received discovery documents that allege Asuncion said the following: “Asuncion related that by killing homeless people he feels it helps them get to a better place whether it is heaven or hell.

“When asked if there was a reason that he chooses to do this while the people are sleeping, he related that it is more peaceful.”

Police conducted an hourlong interview of Asuncion and left him alone for brief periods. During one such period he was talking to himself in an indecipherable language.

Hawaii County police investigated the death of Boyd Maygra, 48, of Kailua-Kona, whose body was found June 7 at Hale Halawai County Park. They arrested Asuncion later that day on suspicion of second-degree murder.

Police said after they began investigating the first death, detectives linked Asuncion to three other stabbings: the May 17 fatal stabbing of Brian Macauley, 63, of Kailua-Kona, whose body was found near a Kailua-Kona intersection; the May 25 stabbing of Gary Nakagawa, 59, in Hilo; and the May 30 stabbing of Alice Coleman, 70, in Hilo.

The court appointed two psychiatrists and a state designate from the Adult Mental Health Division to serve on the panel.

Asuncion is being held at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center, and is ordered to appear July 20 in Kona District Court for a hearing on the fitness exam.

Deputy Prosecutor Charles Murray III also asked the judge to hold Asuncion without bail. A hearing on that motion is July 27.