Source: Officials Opt Against Landfill Recovery For Missing Body Parts
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- New information is emerging one day after police charged a man in connection with the gruesome murder and dismemberment of his mother and stepfather in their Penn Hills home.
Investigators have recovered a number of garbage cans with body parts inside, but some others are still missing.
If those body parts were taken away during Monday's regular garbage collection and dumped in a landfill in New Stanton, officials say they may never be recovered.
A source tells KDKA's Harold Hayes that investigators have opted not to make a landfill recovery, because by now, Monday's deposits there are layered over, and the time and risk involved in a recovery operation like that is outweighed by the physical evidence they already have.
Meanwhile, the mental health and history of defendant Frederick Harris III will likely play a role in his case.
In 2011, after Harris was found squatting in a $625,000 home in Murrysville, a mental health evaluation was ordered and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed him anti-psychotic drugs.
That could affect the length of time it may take to even schedule a preliminary hearing in the case.
He could be sent for evaluation for months to determine competency to stand trial.
"That's exactly what will happen, and my understanding is that's exactly what happened with this particular defendant previously," said Jeff Burkoff, of Pitt's Law School. "That for a period of time he was incompetent, and you know these days, you can help to make someone competent through appropriate medication, et cetera, but they may not stay competent all their life. You release them and their taking of medication goes downhill. That sort of thing happens."
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