On the radio this morning, I was asked whether Judge Brian Gain knew, during this July 23 hearing, that Isaiah M. Kalebu was a suspect in murder of Teresa Butz.

No.

Judge Gain couldn't have known that because Kalebu wasn't even known to Seattle Police, much less named as a suspect in the case, until the next day.

But there's a related question that's more difficult to answer: Did Judge Gain have a hunch that Kalebu might be the South Park killer?

The judge is not talking to reporters about the case, but listen to what he said during the July 23 hearing:

I need to see [the mental health update]... I need to be assured that he is in mental health treatment and is taking medication or I can't take the risk of having him out of custody... I need to have that. I need to have that. There are some other problems, and when I did not [hold him in custody] last time I indicated I needed that.

What "other problems" is Judge Gain talking about here?

Impossible to know for sure, but consider what had happened between July 13, when Judge Gain declined to hold Kalebu in custody, and July 23, when this hearing occurred:

Again, impossible to know.

It's worth pointing out that no one else who was in that courtroom on that day seems to have connected Kalebu to the widely-circulated police sketch. It's also worth pointing out that something else happened between July 13 and July 23: Theresa Griffin, Kalebu's defense attorney, told Judge Gain privately that she wanted to withdraw from the case and he agreed that should be done. We don't know why Griffin wanted out, though it's been reported that it wasn't because she was threatened or intimidated by Kalebu. Was it nothing big? Or was it something very big, like Kalebu telling her he'd committed a new crime? Could that be why she wanted to withdraw? Did she tell that to Judge Gain when she said she wanted out?

Impossible to know.

What's clear is that Judge Gain had Kalebu's "other problems" on his mind on July 23, and he wanted an update on Kalebu's mental health as soon as possible.