Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Judge orders mental exam in neighbor shooting

By: Associated Press//July 10, 2013//

Judge orders mental exam in neighbor shooting

By: Associated Press//July 10, 2013//

Listen to this article

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) – A Rock County judge has ordered a competency hearing for a man charged with fatally shooting his neighbor.

According to a criminal complaint, 75-year-old Daniel Bellard confessed to killing Christine Gestrich because he feared she would take some of his property. Bellard made an initial appearance in court Tuesday.

Sheriff deputies responded to a rural property in the town of Plymouth last February and found Gestrich dead in a barn and Bellard with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in another outbuilding.

The Janesville Gazette says Judge James Daley ordered the exam for Bellard after his attorney raised the issue of competency. A hearing is scheduled Aug. 8.

Information from: The Janesville Gazette, http://www.gazetteextra.com

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests