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 …
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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.
Tompkins County Court Judge John Rowley in December ordered Barkley to undergo evaluation by two psychiatrists after the defendant claimed to have killed President-elect Donald Trump during his Dec. 19 arraignment. Those two reports were the basis of Rowley’s ruling on Thursday to suspend court proceedings against Barkley and send him to a mental health facility for more evaluation and treatment.
“Competency is always determined as of the moment. Is he competent now? But he’s a young man with a long life. I think at some point he will be determined to be competent, but I’m not qualified to speak about it," said James Baker of Ithaca, Barkley’s defense attorney. “It’s fair to assume he probably will be competent at some point."
“It is our belief he is capable of assisting his own defense,” said Tompkins County DA Matt Van Houten. “The examiners determined he was capable of understanding the actors in the court process. He’s unwilling to participate and accept the advice of his attorney, which is different from being incapable.”
“There is a preliminary finding, based on the preliminary examination, that he is incapable of assisting in his own defense at this time.”
There is no timeframe for Barkley’s confinement to a state psychiatric facility. Baker said Rowley’s order from Thursday is good for one year. However, if medical professionals within that one year determine he is competent for trial, Barkley returns to court to face the charges.
“It’s in their hands now. If it’s within the next year, they will contact the court and say ‘he’s competent for trail now,’” Baker said. If after a year Barkley is still incompetent, the court will reconvene and the judge will decide how to proceed from there.
Van Houten said he guesses Barkley could be found fit for trial in the next several months.
“There’s no exact timeframe. I would guess it will be 2 to 4 months,” he said. “I think it’s important to remember he is not free. He doesn’t have his liberty and he won’t have it for the foreseeable future. My expectation is he will be tried later this year and will have to deal with the consequences of the criminal justice system. There is no risk to the community of him being free.”
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.