Accused killers lawyer raises mental competency issue
A man accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend, stuffing her body into a 50-gallon storage container and driving to Missouri may have mental competency problems, his defense attorney said Monday during a scheduling hearing in 3rd District Court. Michael J. Doyel has "a significant history of mental illness," said Michael Sikora, who added that he is looking into the issue. Judge Randall Skanchy scheduled an Aug.
21 preliminary hearing for Doyel, 47, who is charged with first-degree felony murder for the April slaying of 50-year-old Deborah Jones. Doyel had lived with the victim for about six months until they broke up in early April. Jones, a nurse, was last heard from the afternoon of April 18, when she spoke to an acquaintance on the phone, according to charging documents. Jones' body was discovered April 21 by authorities in Branson, Mo., who found evidence of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the back of her neck.
According to charging documents, Doyel told police Jones was strangled to death, but did not admit he strangled her. He also allegedly admitted purchasing a 50-gallon plastic storage container, a tarp and rope, and tying up the body, covering it with the tarp, placing it in the container and driving it to Missouri in the victim's car. Doyel also is accused of kidnapping Patricia Murray, 65, whom police found with Doyel in Branson. In court documents filed Monday, police wrote that Doyel had been living in Murray's home at Harmony Gardens senior apartment complex, in violation of her housing rules. The apartment manager said he had told Doyel he had to move out, and other residents said they had seen him with Murray.
Accused killers lawyer raises mental competency issue
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