The Nation - News from Sept. 9, 1987

A former mental patient pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder for stabbing a Chinese comedian at the end of a performance Jan. 1 in New York. Rene Cordova, 42, of New York, will be sentenced to 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 29. The sentence was agreed upon in a plea bargain. He could have gotten a maximum sentence of 8 to 25 years in prison. Cordova admitted he had tried to kill Chiang Kuang-chao by stabbing him in the chest and told the judge he had used cocaine heavily in the months preceding the attack.