Colorado Planned Parenthood killer declared incompetent, sent to mental hospital

A Colorado judge has ruled that the Planned Parenthood mass murder shooting suspect is not competent to stand trial.

Judge Gilbert Martinez cited a laundry list of reasons why Robert Dear, 57, is delusional and cannot be tried at this time.

Dear is charged with 179 counts of crime including the shooting deaths of three people at a nearby abortion clinic on Nov. 27. Nine others were injured in the surprise attack.

On Wednesday the judge ordered Dear to be sent to a state mental hospital in Pueblo, Colorado, for reexamination in 90 days.

Court sources told Xinhua that Dear may not appear in court again for many months, or possibly much longer.

Dear, dressed in a prison turquoise jump suit and wearing leg shackles, responded by calling the judge a "filthy animal and prejudiced," before being removed from the packed courtroom.

Judge Martinez's ruling followed two previous court hearings where two psychologists who evaluated the shooter said he was not competent to stand trial.

Forensic evaluator Jackie Grimmett and Dr. Thomas Gray, who interviewed Dear twice for more than two hours, testified in court the killer suffers from severe "systematized delusional disorder."

Dear's condition was confirmed by his numerous court outbursts, where he claimed to be a "warrior for the babies," his belief that he was being followed by the FBI, and that U.S. President Barack Obama was Satan, according to the judge Wednesday.

Grimmett and Gray both testified that Dear's condition is adversely impacting his ability to stand trial.

In his 30-minute ruling Wednesday afternoon, Martinez quoted Gray as saying that Dear was "so focused on and wrapped up in his ideas" that he is incompetent.

The judge also noted that Dear was uncooperative with psychologists, and was seen "laughing and giggling" in court. These observations factored into the judge's decision, he said.

In the courtroom Wednesday prior to the hearing, Dear shouted out, "Anybody want to know why I did it?"

An unidentified victim's family member yelled back, "because you're an inbred!" Dear responded by citing Psalm 149 from the Bible.

At a previous hearing in February, Dear announced that he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself, remarks that caused the judge to order the competency evaluation. Endit