Baumhammers Ruled Competent To Stand Trial

April Shooting Spree Killed 5

PITTSBURGH, Updated 9:50 p.m. EDT September 15, 2000 -- A man accused of killing five people in a racially motivated shooting spree was deemed competent to stand trial Friday after spending four months in a mental hospital.

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Judge Lawrence O'Toole also ordered that Richard Baumhammers be moved from Mayview State Hospital to the Allegheny County Jail. A coroner's inquest must be scheduled within 10 days.

O'Toole made his ruling on Baumhammers' competence following testimony from Dr. Laszlo Petras, a psychiatrist who has been treating the 35-year-old Mount Lebanon man. The judge sent Baumhammers to Mayview for treatment in May, after doctors suggested his mental condition would not allow him to assist in his own defense.

Baumhammers is charged with killing his neighbor, a Jewish woman, and opening fire on two men in an Indian market, killing one on April 28. Police say Baumhammers then killed two men - one Vietnamese and one Chinese - at a restaurant some miles away and a black man outside a karate school.

In May, one psychiatrist said Baumhammers had a "psychotic thought disorder" and another said he suffered from delusions and emotional detachment from the crimes he is accused of committing.

Petras testified Friday that Baumhammers' mental condition has improved due to anti-psychotic drugs and individual counseling.

Defense attorney William Difenderfer asked that Baumhammers be allowed to stay at Mayview, despite the competency finding. O'Toole rejected the request.

A defendant can be ruled incompetent to stand trial if he cannot understand the charges against him or cannot assist his attorneys at trial.

At a hearing at the hospital last month, Petras testified Baumhammers' condition was improving with medication and a hearing officer ruled he should remain at Mayview for another month. At that time, O'Toole scheduled Friday's hearing on the issue of competency.

Baumhammers was an immigration lawyer with an inactive practice and was living at his parents' home in Mount Lebanon at the time of the shootings in April.

Prosecutors say Baumhammers targeted his victims because of their race, and investigators say they found a document on his computer that talked about ending American immigration from Third World nations.

Baumhammers also is charged with ethnic intimidation, Pennsylvania's hate crime law.

Previous Stories:

• September 15, 2000: Baumhammers To Attend Competency Hearing
• September 8, 2000: Baumhammers' Father Deposed In Civil Suit
• September 7, 2000: Baumhammers' Mother Finishes Deposition
• August 29, 2000: Lone Shooting Spree Survivor Goes Home
• August 25, 2000: Baumhammers Remains Committed
• August 25, 2000: Baumhammers Hearing To Be Held On Friday
• June 21, 2000: Widow Sues For Baumhammers' Medical Records
• June 21, 2000: Victims' Families Return Checks
• June 12, 2000: Baumhammers To Undergo Further Evaluation
• May 31, 2000: Woman Says She's Haunted By Baumhammers
• May 23, 2000: Inmate: Baumhammers Brags About Wealth
• May 12, 2000: Second Psychiatrist: Baumhammers Incompetent To Stand Trial
• May 12, 2000: Woman Says Baumhammers Struck Her
• May 12, 2000: Doctor Says Baumhammers Not Fit To Stand Trial
• April 29, 2000: Suspect Arraigned In Shooting Spree

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