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Tag: Michael Keith Spell

  • Montana Murder Case: Is Suspect Mentally Competent?

    In a Montana murder case that has compelled the attention of the national media corps, the fate of a man accused of murdering a school teacher hinges on more than if he committed the act—it’s whether he is mentally competent enough to stand trial.

    According to Boston.com via the Associated Press, a psychiatrist for the prosecutors said that Michael Keith Spell, 24, is mentally competent enough to stand trial, a sharp contrast from psychiatrists for the defense, which had portrayed Spell as having the intelligence level of an 11-year-old with a proneness to distort the past.

    Virginia Hill, the psychiatrist for the prosecutors, said Spell’s disability was mild and that he was observed playing video games, doing laundry, and even manipulating other patients during his two-month stay at Montana State Hospital.

    The case has taken place as crime rates have spiked in eastern Montana and parts of North Dakota due to the influx of people because of the oil boom. Spell is charged with killing Sherry Arnold in 2012, a high school teacher in the community.

    Spell could face the death penalty if convicted. A co-defendant has already pleaded guilty after making a deal with prosecutors to testify against Spell.

    Craig Beaver, a Boise, Idaho neuropsychologist, testified for the defense that Spell has a tendency to distort past events, which would make it difficult for him to mount a defense in court. He also said he was able to document Spell’s mental shortcomings dating back to when the defendant was five years old.

    Spell was declared incompetent to stand trial in Colorado during a 2010 drug case and in 2007 when he was a juvenile.

    Court documents, researched by Christian Science Monitor via the Associated Press, say the defendants arrived in Montana after a drug-fueled drive from Colorado when they spotted Sherry Arnold walking alongside the road. She died after being choked or otherwise asphyxiated in an abduction attempt.

    Image via YouTube

  • Montana Murder Case: Is Suspect Competent?

    Montana Murder Case: Is Suspect Competent?

    A Montana murder trial may not go forward if the suspect’s defense can show that he is mentally unfit to stand trial.

    The defense attorneys for 24-year-old Michael Keith Spell argue that his tendency to distort past events makes him unable to adequately defend himself in court. He is also alleged to have the mental intelligence of an 11-year-old boy.

    Expert witnesses were called by the defense to affirm this.

    Craig Beaver, a neuropsychologist based in Boise, Idaho, claimed that Spell’s mental problems are documented and that his troubles go back to 5 years of age.

    Though mental health experts testified that mental incompetence could be a possibility, they also stated that the Colorado man could be “faking” his symptoms.

    Spell is charged with the 2012 attempted kidnapping and murder of Sherry Arnold. The 43-year-old woman was last seen in Sidney, Montana ahead of her early morning jog.

    Arnold’s body was discovered in North Dakota two months after her disappearance, buried in a shallow grave.

    Two men were eventually arrested for her murder. During an FBI interrogation, co-defendant Lester Van Waters Jr. was blamed by Spell for killing Arnold.

    According to court documents, the two men arrived in Montana well under the influence of drugs. They saw Arnold on a Sidney street and decided to grab her.

    The documents state that Arnold died of asphyxiation during the attempted kidnapping. It is not clear what the exact manner of her death is. One scenario has Spell fatally choking her.

    Once Arnold was dead, Waters Jr. and Spell are alleged to have taken the body out of state in an effort to hide what they had done.

    Both men are seeking to avoid the death penalty however they can.

    Waters Jr. made a plea agreement with the prosecution to testify against co-defendant Spell, who he claims was the one who murdered Arnold.

    Spell’s defense is at the same time working hard to demonstrate that he lacks the mental competence to answer the charges against him.

    Whether or not Spell will stand trial for the attempted kidnapping and murder of Arnold will rest in Judge Richard Simonton’s hands.

    Simonton must decide if Spell is genuinely unable to stand trial or if this is a desperate ploy to avoid facing a death row sentence.

    Image via YouTube

  • Montana Murder Case Suspect Seeks to Avoid Trial

    Prosecutors are expected to call on doctors from the Montana state mental hospital Tuesday to support their claim that a Colorado man is fit to stand trial in the killing of a teacher in the heart of the Bakken oil patch.

    Defense experts testified Monday that 24-year-old Michael Keith Spell is not fit to stand trial because he is prone to distort the past and he displays the intelligence of an 11-year-old, and that he is not capable of understanding a case against him. Testimony also revealed that doctors suspected Keith was “pretending” when he could not answer some questions during a recent mental fitness evaluation.

    Richland County Attorney Mike Weber said he plans to call psychiatrist Virginia Hill and psychologist Timothy Casey to the stand Tuesday as a competency hearing for Spell continues in Sidney. The two evaluated Spell during a two-month stay at the hospital in Warm Springs.

    Judge Richard Simonton will have to determine from the competing claims if Spell is incompetent to stand trial because of mental disability, as his lawyers argue.

    Spell is charged with the attempted kidnapping and murder of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold, a Sidney High School math teacher. Arnold disappeared in January 2012 after going out for a morning jog, and her body was found more than two months later, buried in a shallow grave in a rural area of neighboring North Dakota.

    Craig Beaver, a Boise, Idaho-based neuropsychologist testifying for the defense, said Spell was prone to distort past events, which would interfere with any criminal defense he may mount in his case.

    “Everyone that has evaluated Mr. Michael Spell, up until the Montana State Hospital, has found that he had intellectual limitations,” Beaver said.

    Beaver indicated that there is documented evidence of Spell’s mental shortcomings dating back to when Spell was five years old, undercutting the idea that Spell was exaggerating his condition in order to avoid trial.

    The defendant was declared incompetent to proceed by courts in Colorado twice before, during a 2010 drug case and 2007 case, when he was a juvenile.

    Spell implicated co-defendant Lester Van Waters Jr. as Arnold’s killer in an interview with FBI after his arrest.

    According to Court documents, which include law enforcement affidavits and  Waters, the defendants arrived in Montana after a drive from Parachute, Colo., in search of drugs. They spotted Arnold on a Sidney street. The victim died after Spell asphyxiated her while he attempted to abduct her, the documents state.

    Spell could face the death penalty if he is convicted. If Simonton agrees with the defense’s claim that Spell is unfit to stand trial, Spell could avoid trial and be sent to a state institution, where he could become eligible for eventual release.

    Image via Twitter

  • Montana Murder Case: Colorado Man Suspected Of Murder Seeks To Avoid Trial

    Michael Keith Spell, 24, was charged with the attempted kidnapping and murder of Sherry Arnold, a 43-year-old high school teacher who was found in a shallow grave. On January 2012, Arnold never came back from her morning jog. Her body was discovered two months after her disappearance.

    On Monday, the defense testified that Spell is not fit for trial, as he is suffering from a mental condition wherein he tends to twist the past. They also said that he has the intelligence of an 11-year-old child, and will not be able to comprehend the case brought against him.

    However, testimonies from doctors at the Montana State Hospital said that Spell was only “pretending” not to understand questions during his mental fitness evaluation.

    Judge Richard Simonton will have to decide if the defense claims hold true.

    Co-defendant  Lester Vann Waters Jr. has already pleaded guilty to the charges in exchange for a plea deal. Prosecutors dismissed the attempted kidnapping charge and instead will push for a 100-year prison sentence, instead of the death penalty. This, however, may result in the death sentence for Spell, if he is convicted. On the other hand, if he is able to avoid trial due to his supposed mental condition, he will be avoiding the death sentence and will instead be housed in a state institution.

    Greg Olley, a clinical professor and psychologist, is testifying for the defense. He said that he has already interviewed Spell two times and according to those interviews, he found that Spell is “mentally retarded,” as he was capable of answering routine questions, but failed to answer fundamental ones. Olley also stated that Spell is not a smart person, and that he has a bad memory that is not capable of retaining a lot of information.

    Prosecutors say that Olley’s testimony should not be taken into consideration, as there was no written report submitted.

    Craig Beaver, a neuropsychologist based in Idaho also testified that Spell’s condition can be proven to exist since he was 5 years old.

    Spell’s competency is more difficult to determine, as his case is not severe. Spell has functioned in society, fathering a child and even having worked at different jobs. However, his representatives say that he always scored below 75 on various IQ tests.

    Sherry Arnold went for a jog and never returned home

    Image via Denver Channel, Twitter