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Preliminary reports: Massena Wellness Center Director who thinks he killed Trump not competent to stand trial for murder

Posted 1/10/17

Justin Barkley, 38, is charged with second-degree murder. He is accused of killing 52-year-old William Schumacher on Dec. 8 in the Ithaca Walmart parking lot by shooting him with a .30-.06 rifle and …

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Preliminary reports: Massena Wellness Center Director who thinks he killed Trump not competent to stand trial for murder

Posted

Justin Barkley, 38, is charged with second-degree murder. He is accused of killing 52-year-old William Schumacher on Dec. 8 in the Ithaca Walmart parking lot by shooting him with a .30-.06 rifle and running him over with his car. He is also charged with menacing a police officer for firing a shot near police after they chased Barkley to his Dryden home following Schumacher’s death.

“Based upon the preliminary written reports, he is not competent to assist in his own defense,” Tompkins County District Attorney Matt Van Houten said Tuesday afternoon.

Barkley appeared in Tompkins County Court on Friday for a hearing on the psychiatric evaluations. County Court Judge John Rowley had ordered them after Barkley professed to have killed President-elect Trump during his Dec. 19 arraignment.

Van Houten said there is a Jan. 19 hearing scheduled where the judge will decide to accept or reject the psychiatrists’ findings.

“If the judge agrees with the reports, the order of confinement will be issued and he’ll be taken to an institution to undergo further evaluation and for monitoring. He won’t have his freedom. In the event he is at some point competent to stand trial, it will pick up and continue,” Van Houten said. “If he is found to be competent, we will continue with the prosecution.

“The important thing is no matter which course he (the judge) takes, he (Barkley) is going to be in a secure facility and will not have his freedom. In terms of public safety, I think that’s important.”

Until recently, the court was seeking a third psychiatric opinion of Barkley because they thought the two psychiatrists who evaluated him disagreed with each other.

“What we learned shortly after the hearing is the psychologists had agreed with each other, but filled out the report in a sloppy way,” Van Houten said. “When we found the missing part of the second evaluation, it was clear both psychiatrists agreed.”

Barkley, who is represented by attorney James Baker of Ithaca, is being held at the Tompkins County jail without bail, pending the Jan. 19 hearing.

The New York State Office of Mental Health said Barkley, a Madrid-Waddington High School graduate, had resigned his position at the Massena Wellness Center prior to the murder.

“Justin Barkley was not employed by the state of New York at the time of this incident. This former employee was a licensed master social worker from September 2008 until May 2016 at St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, where his final position was program director of the Massena Wellness Center,” according to Ben Rosen, OMH Public Information Office director. “In May 2016, he voluntarily left St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center for a position with the Office of Children and Family Services.”

He began working at The Office of Children and Family Services’ Finger Lakes Residential Center on May 4 and resigned effective Aug. 8, said Monica Mahaffey, New York State Office of Children & Family Services assistant commissioner for communications.