---

AP, via The Town Talk, USA
Aug. 31. 2007
www.thetowntalk.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 19216 • Posted: Saturday September 1, 2007  

---

BATON ROUGE (AP) — A man accused of killing his wife and then going to a church and killing four of her relatives is clearly able to understand the charges and to help his attorneys, a state judge has ruled.

District Judge Todd Hernandez ruled after hearing one mental health expert testify that Anthony Bell is not competent for trial, and hearing two others testify that he is.

He said he also based his ruling on defense motions — including one in which Bell asks him to replace defense attorney Margaret Lagattuta — that “clearly articulate the facts.”

Bell’s wife, Erica, was shot in an apartment complex parking lot in May 2006. Her relatives were killed in the Ministry of Jesus Christ Church. Bell claims his wife killed them.

Psychiatrist John Thompson Jr. and psychologist Donald Hoppe testified that Bell was mentally competent to stand trial. Psychologist Marc Zimmerman testified that Bell has the mental ability of a young child and is unfit for trial.

Both Hoppe and Zimmerman have concluded Bell is mentally retarded.

All three experts said they suspect may have been trying to hide his intelligence and understanding of court proceedings, possibly to avoid the death penalty.

Hoppe testified last week that when he first evaluated Bell in January, Bell gave an account of the slayings identical to the police report, except for blaming his wife. He also accurately described the legal process and the roles of various court personnel.

But when Hoppe returned two months later for a competency exam, Bell appeared to have lost that understanding.

When Hoppe confronted Bell about the discrepancy, the psychologist testified that Bell became agitated, exclaiming: “You people are too nosy. I don’t know nothing about no court.”

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Anthony Bell Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Anthony Bell Read Another Article Previous entry: Court: Texas law intrudes on religious freedom Next entry: Jehovah’s Witness suit reinstated RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Anthony Bell Most Popular Today Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.