Current:Home > InvestJudge cites ‘hyper-religious’ belief in ruling man incompetent for trial in Minnesota killings-LoTradeCoin
Judge cites ‘hyper-religious’ belief in ruling man incompetent for trial in Minnesota killings
View Date:2024-12-23 22:44:51
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has ruled that a man accused in the deaths of three relatives is incompetent to stand trial, citing the man’s “hyper-religious” belief that God is telling him to plead guilty.
David Ekers, 38, was charged with three counts of second-degree intentional murder for pipe wrench attacks in July 2020 in suburban Minneapolis that killed his sister, mother and grandmother.
But last week, Hennepin County Judge Julia Dayton Klein ordered Ekers to remain in a state security hospital indefinitely, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The commitment order said Ekers told a doctor he planned to plead guilty “because I think Matthew 5 says, ‘you should settle with your accuser quickly.’ … It’s not that I want to go to prison or anything. It’s that I’m trying to follow what God says.”
The doctor determined that Ekers “was unable to consider what is in his best interest in light of his hyper-religious delusional rigidity, illogical and disorganized thought process and confusion, all of which are reflective of psychotic symptoms,” the order read.
Ekers was previously committed to the state institution on a court order that said he was schizophrenic in part because of years of consuming high-caffeine energy drinks.
veryGood! (46197)
Related
- Sister Wives’ Kody Brown Explains His Stance on His Daughter Gwendlyn Brown’s Sexuality
- Twitter's new data access rules will make social media research harder
- Q&A: With Climate Change-Fueled Hurricanes and Wildfire on the Horizon, a Trauma Expert Offers Ways to Protect Your Mental Health
- Inside Clean Energy: Four Charts Tell the Story of the Post-Covid Energy Transition
- Powell says Fed will likely cut rates cautiously given persistent inflation pressures
- Mission: Impossible co-star Simon Pegg talks watching Tom Cruise's stunt: We were all a bit hysterical
- The U.S. needs more affordable housing — where to put it is a bigger battle
- Compare the election-fraud claims Fox News aired with what its stars knew
- Texas mother sentenced to 50 years for leaving kids in dire conditions as son’s body decomposed
- Inside Clean Energy: The New Hummer Is Big and Bad and Runs on Electricity
Ranking
- Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn Coming Out of Retirement at 40
- Looking for a New Everyday Tote? Save 58% On This Bag From Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James
- World Meteorological Organization Sharpens Warnings About Both Too Much and Too Little Water
- One of the most violent and aggressive Jan. 6 rioters sentenced to more than 7 years
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- Appeals court rejects FTC's request to pause Microsoft-Activision deal
- André Leon Talley's belongings, including capes and art, net $3.5 million at auction
- The TVA’s Slower Pace Toward Renewable Energy Weakens Nashville’s Future
Recommendation
-
Full House Star Dave Coulier Shares Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Diagnosis
-
A deal's a deal...unless it's a 'yo-yo' car sale
-
Missing Sub Passenger Stockton Rush's Titanic Connection Will Give You Chills
-
Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte and Wife Kayla Welcome Baby No. 3
-
Deebo Samuel explains 'out of character' sideline altercation with 49ers long snapper, kicker
-
The EPA Calls an Old Creosote Works in Pensacola an Uncontrolled Threat to Human Health. Why Is There No Money to Clean it Up?
-
Google shares drop $100 billion after its new AI chatbot makes a mistake
-
One of the Country’s 10 Largest Coal Plants Just Got a Retirement Date. What About the Rest?