Judge says Okla. man accused of beheading co-worker fit to stand trial
NORMAN, Okla. -- An Oklahoma judge has decided that a man accused of beheading a co-worker at a food-processing plant is competent to be tried for first-degree murder and other charges.
Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley ruled Wednesday that 31-year-old Alton Nolen can stand trial for the September 2014 attack that killed 54-year-old Colleen Hufford and injured a second co-worker.
Walkley's decision came following two days of testimony during which psychologists for the defense and the state offered opposing opinions about whether Nolen is competent.
Police said Nolen, who had just been fired from the company, walked into the Vaughan Foods plant he'd recently been fired from and attacked Hufford with a large knife, severing her head on Sept. 25, 2014.
Nolen also repeatedly stabbed 43-year-old Traci Johnson before he was shot by Mark Vaughan, a reserve sheriff's deputy and the company's chief operating officer, police said.
Dr. Anita Russell, a defense witness, testified that Nolen is intellectually impaired, cannot communicate with his attorneys and apparently wants to get the death penalty.
But Dr. Shawn Roberson testified for the prosecution that Nolen is not mentally impaired and can communicate with his attorneys.
In a written order, the judge noted that Nolen graduated from high school, attended college and could socialize with others. "The fact that he does not agree with the strategy of his attorneys does not mean he is incompetent," Walkley wrote.
She ordered that proceedings resume in the criminal case against Nolen.