(RNS) The man charged with killing an Illinois pastor as he preached at a Sunday service is mentally unfit to stand trial, a judge ruled Tuesday (Oct. 20).
Madison County Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli made the ruling after a psychologist who performed a court-ordered examination said Terry Sedlacek was schizophrenic, the Associated Press reported.
Sedlacek was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery after the March 8 shooting that killed the Rev. Fred Winters in his pulpit. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
Tognarelli has placed Sedlacek in the custody of the state Department of Human Services, which is required to report within a month whether it is likely that Sedlacek’s mental capacity for a trial will improve within the next year.
Psychologist Robert Heilbronner told the court that Selacek would have difficulty following a trial process and would “be unable to respond in a relevant manner during pleading or testimony,” the AP reported.
Sedlacek’s public defender, John Rekowski, said the decision was “obviously the correct ruling.”