The same psychiatrist who testified 10 years ago that racist ideology -- not mental problems -- motivated Richard Baumhammers' shooting spree defended that position Tuesday during the killer's bid for a new trial.

Nationally known psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner testified for more than an hour during contentious questioning from Baumhammers' new attorney, Caroline Roberto.

"This was a hate crime. It was a hate crime when I testified in 2001, and it's a hate crime now," Welner said after the hearing. "Richard Baumhammers killed those people because he was a white supremacist who happened to be treated for a delusional disorder."

Welner's testimony occurred on the second day of a post-conviction hearing for Baumhammers, 46, of Mt. Lebanon. He is seeking a new trial, claiming that his attorneys were ineffective during the 2001 proceeding. The jury gave him five death sentences for the April 28, 2000, shooting spree through the South Hills into Beaver County that left five people dead. A sixth victim died in 2007.

At trial, Welner testified for the prosecution and said Baumhammers had a delusional disorder. He rejected the defense's position that Baumhammers was a schizophrenic and that he didn't know right from wrong.

Roberto confronted Welner about three published reports -- including one from ABC News in 2007 -- in which he said Baumhammers had schizophrenia, which contradicted his trial testimony.

"Based on your passionate display here today about psychiatry, you of all people, Dr. Welner, getting the diagnosis wrong in a public forum is surprising," Roberto said.

"I was under the mistaken impression that I had diagnosed him with schizophrenia," Welner said. "Again, I had not reviewed the records since 2001."

Under cross-examination from Assistant District Attorney Ronald Wabby, Welner reiterated his position that his diagnosis from 2001 had not changed and that he had taken steps to correct the media stories.

If Baumhammers was a schizophrenic, it could have made a difference in the jurors' minds who handed down the death sentence, Roberto has argued.

The hearing is scheduled to continue today before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning.

One of Baumhammers' trial attorneys, James Wymard, testified that it would have been helpful had he called a psychologist during the penalty phase to describe the upbringing of Baumhammers' parents, who were refugees from Latvia after World War II, and how they handled their son's illness.

But Wymard also said he didn't know whether it would have made a difference in the jury's verdict.

"The jury may not have been able to get beyond five dead (victims)," he said.

Killed in the shootings were Baumhammers' neighbor, Anita Gordon, 63, of Mt. Lebanon; Ji-Ye Sun, 34, of Churchill; Anil Thukar, 31, of Bihar, India; Thao Q. Pham, 27, of Castle Shannon; and Garry Lee, 22, of Aliquippa. A sixth victim, Sandip Patel, 32, of Plum, paralyzed by his wounds, died of complications from pneumonia on Feb. 3, 2007.

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