Ohio Nursing Home Resident Strangles Roommate, Faces Competency Hearing
Gregg Baurichter faces a competency hearing after he reportedly strangled his roommate, fifty-eight year old Gary Schlueter, on December 17, 2009 at Clermont Nursing Care Center in Millford, Ohio.
Baurichter was in the behavioral rehabilitation unit of the facility and reportedly suffers from mental illness.
Baurichter enter pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity on the murder charge he faces. He faces a competency hearing on April 12, 2010 before Judge Ken Zuk of the Common Pleas Court. If he is found incompetent and cannot attain proper mental health within one year, the murder case against him cannot proceed. If he's found competent to stand trial, he could face life in prison. Under Ohio law, an insanity defense cannot be used at trial unless a psychiatrist or psychologist is willing to testify that the defendant did not understand the act was wrong due to his/her mental illness.
