A mental patient who fatally repeatedly-stabbed a halfway house care giver to death claims he didn’t know what he was doing.
Armando Negrete, 40, of Portland is using the “incompetent to stand trial” excuse for savagely butchering Shalom House counselor Marlene McNeill last month.
McNeill, 44, of Gorham was meeting with Negrete at Shalom House in Portland when she told him he was paranoid, police records reviewed by WMTW’s Jim Keithley show.
Negrete pulled a knife and stabbed the program manager several times in the stomach, killing her.
WMTW says a court hearing was cancelled this week after Negrete pulled the “I’m crazy” defense to avoid going to trial.
Apparently that’s the defense in vogue for bringing a knife to a counseling session.
A judge ordered Negrete to be provided with counseling to restore the accused killer’s sanity so he can be tried at a later date.
