A Windham man accused of killing his 11-year-old brother with a sword more than two years ago has been ruled to have been sane at the time of the killing.
During a sanity evaluation hearing Monday for Nathan A. McAtee , 21, his attorney said he agrees with contents of a sanity evaluation report from Youngstown-based Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio but not with its conclusion that McAtee is sane.
Attorney James Foltz requested that Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie J. Pittman either order a second evaluation or schedule a trial.
Prosecutor Sean Scahill objected to a second evaluation, stating McAtee is not entitled to it under state law because the evaluation was done by an individual requested by the defense.
Pittman then denied Foltz's request for a second evaluation and said she would schedule a trial date. She also ordered that McAtee's $2 million bond will continue.
Windham Police said they found Joseph McAtee dead inside a Cloverleaf Road apartment after receiving 911 calls of a stabbing there early on April 19, 2022. Nathan McAtee was taken into custody at the apartment.
Charges against McAtee in a grand jury indictment include aggravated murder and two counts each of murder and assault. For the aggravated murder charge, it is specified that the victim was younger than 13, and for one of the murder charges, it is specified that the offense was committed in conjunction with felony assault. For one of the assault charges, it is specified that it was committed with a deadly weapon, a sword.
McAtee twice was found not competent to stand trial, in July and December 2022, and ordered committed for treatment to restore him to competency. He was found competent and the sanity evaluation was ordered this past January.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Windham man accused of killing brother, 11, with sword declared competent to stand trial
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