SKOWHEGAN — A man charged with killing one man and assaulting another in February in Norridgewock has been deemed incompetent to stand trial but will be reevaluated regularly while being treated in an institutional setting.
Kendall Purnell, 38, appeared in Somerset County Superior Court on Friday before Chief Justice Robert Mullen in what was scheduled to be a mental competency hearing.
But more than hour after the scheduled 8:30 a.m. hearing was to begin, Mullen entered the courtroom and said a hearing was to be held but per agreement of lawyers for Purnell and the state attorney general’s office, Purnell was deemed to be incompetent to stand trial “at this time.”
That determination was based on an evaluation and report done by Luke Douglass, a psychologist contracted with the state forensic service, according to Mullen.
Purnell, 38, is charged with the intentional or knowing or depraved indifference murder of Harold Burgess, 71, on Feb. 7 at 40 Walnut Drive in Norridgewock, which is listed in court papers as Purnell’s address. He is also charged with elevated aggravated assault, a Class A offense, resulting in serious injury to Shawn Haggan, 45, according to a criminal complaint filed at the time by Sgt. James Andrews of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit Central. The weapon used was reported to be a 2-by-4 board. Purnell was indicted in February by a grand jury.
The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call Feb. 7 at the Walnut Drive home and deputies later found Burgess dead and Haggan with serious head injuries. At about 1 a.m. the next day, Waterville police stopped a vehicle at the Irving gas station and convenience store on Kennedy Memorial Drive and found Purnell inside, questioned him, and then arrested him. Purnell has been held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison since his arrest.
He entered the courtroom Friday wearing dark blue jail attire and escorted by corrections officers. He was handcuffed and shackled and had what appeared to be a large scrape on his upper right arm. He was accompanied by his attorneys, Jeremy Pratt of the law firm Pratt & Simmons of Camden and Caitlyn Smith of Rudman Winchell of Bangor. Assistant Attorney General Kate Bozeman represented the state.
About 10 Purnell family members and friends, including Purnell’s mother Robin Purnell, sat quietly in the first two rows of the courtroom.
Mullen said that with the incompetency determination, the case is continued until Purnell is declared by the court to be competent to stand trial. He will be turned over to the custody of the state Department of Health and Human Services commissioner and placed in an appropriate residential program where he will be observed and receive care and treatment, Mullen said.
Working toward Purnell’s becoming competent to stand trial, the institution would issue reports to the court, his attorneys and the attorney general’s office every 60 to 180 days, he said.
“We’ll see, basically, at the end of those time periods where we are on the spectrum of competence or incompetence,” Mullen said.
Asked after the court appearance if she wanted to say anything about her son, Robin Purnell said, “He’s a good person. He’d do anything for anybody.”
