Wendt claims insanity
Jerry HoffmanWendt is accused of killing his ex-wife, her sister and her friend March 5 outside the Isabella County Courthouse, 300 N. Main St.
Filed May 1, the notice will probably delay the trial until the fall, said County Prosecutor Larry Burdick.
“He will be examined at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti. They will evaluate him for competency to stand trial,” Burdick said.
Psychiatrists at the center also will decide whether Wendt was competent at the time he allegedly committed the crime, and if he should be responsible for his actions.
Following the evaluation, Burdick said both the prosecuting attorney and Wendt’s defense attorney, Mark Kowalczyk, have the option to request a “second opinion” on the results of the evaluation.
Kowalczyk did not return repeated phone calls from CM LIFE for comment.
“If (a second opinion is requested), it will take some time (to begin the trial),” Burdick said.
Although Kowalczyk has not filed a motion to change the venue, it still may play a factor, Burdick said.
One of the things court officials will try to do is find an impartial jury, and if one can’t be found in Isabella County, the trial may be moved elsewhere by the State Court Administrator’s Office, he said.
“It would not be in a neighboring county; it would be further away,” Burdick said.
If that happens, the trial will be put off for much longer.
Police said Wendt used a shotgun to kill Douglas Alan McCoy, Vicki Sue Keller-Wendt and Brandie Lea Keller outside the Courthouse, then fled to his home in Weidman and surrendered after a stand-off with police.
The four were scheduled for a probate hearing the morning of the shooting, to hear a case concerning Thomas Wendt’s probation violation.
During the preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that Thomas Wendt had made threats on Keller-Wendt’s life and that he had a history of domestic violence, as well.
